851st Strategic Missile Squadron The 851st Strategic Missile Squadron ( 851 SMS ) is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 456th Strategic Aerospace Wing , stationed at Beale Air Force Base , California . The 851 SMS was equipped with the HGM - 25A Titan I Intercontinental ballistic missile ( ICBM ) , with a mission of nuclear deterrence . It was the last Titan I ICBM Squadron to achieve alert status on 1 February 1961 . The squadron was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the Titan I ICBM on 25 March 1965 . History . World War II . The squadron was organized in early 1941 as the 78th Bombardment Squadron assigned to First Air Force as a medium bombardment squadron equipped with A - 20 Havoc s , and later B - 18 Bolo s . The unit was assigned to the 45th Bombardment Group at Savannah AAB , Georgia , then moving to Grenier Field , New Hampshire . After the United States entered World War II the group was ordered to search for German U - Boat s and to fly aerial coverage of friendly convoys off the northeast coast , then being reassigned to Langley Field , Virginia , then to Jacksonville AAF , Florida flying missions along the mid - atlantic and southeast coastline . In May 1942 , the squadron was redesignated as the 7th Antisubmarine Squadron and assigned to the 25th Antisubmarine Wing of the AAF Antisubmarine Command . The squadron was deployed to the Caribbean and attached to the Sixth Air Force 25th Bombardment Group on Trinidad , flying antisubmarine patrols over the Caribbean as part of the Antilles Task Force during the spring and summer of 1943 . In September 1943 due to the pending turnover of aerial antisubmarine patrolling to the Navy , the squadron was redesignated as the 851st Bombardment Squadron and returned to the role of a heavy B - 17 Flying Fortress squadron and deployed to RAF Eye , England as part of the VIII Bomber Command 490th Bombardment Group . From England , the squadron flew combat missions over Europe until the end of the war . The squadron returned to Drew Field , Florida on 3 September 1945 , then was inactivated on 7 November 1945 . Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Squadron . Reactivated in 1960 as a Strategic Air Command HGM - 25A Titan I ICBM launch squadron . On April 1 , 1961 , SAC placed the 851st Strategic Missile Squadron on operational status . In September 1962 , the 851st SMS became the last Titan I Squadron to achieve alert status . The squadron ' s missiles were deployed in a 3x3 configuration , which meant a total of nine missiles were divided into three bases . Each missile base had three ICBM missiles ready to launch at any given time . In November 1962 , two months after the squadron became fully operational , SAC subjected the unit to an Operational Readiness Inspection ( ORI ) . The 851st SMS became the first Titan I unit to pass . On May 24 , 1962 , during a contractor checkout , a terrific blast rocked launcher 1 at complex 4C at Chico ( 851 - C ) , destroying a Titan I and causing heavy damage to the silo . After the investigation , the Air Force concluded that the two separate explosions occurred because of a blocked vent and blocked valve . After damages were repaired , the Chico complex became operational on March 9 , 1963 . On November 19 , 1964 , Defense Secretary McNamara announced the phase - out of remaining first - generation SM - 65 Atlas and Titan I missiles by the end of June 1965 . Consequently , the Titan Is of the 851st SMS were removed from alert status on January 4 , 1965 . The last missile was shipped out on February 10 . The Air Force subsequently inactivated the squadron on 25 March . Missile sites were later sold off to private ownership after demilitarization . Today the remains of the sites are still visible in aerial imagery , in various states of use or abandonment .