72d Test and Evaluation Squadron The 72d Test and Evaluation Squadron ( 72 TES ) is part of the 53d Wing at Eglin Air Force Base , Florida . The squadron is geographically separated but operated from Whiteman Air Force Base , Missouri . It conducts testing and evaluation of the B - 2 Spirit aircraft . Mission . The squadron is the focal point for executing operational test and evaluation of the $ 44 . 6 billion B - 2 weapon system . The squadron evaluates the ability of the B - 2 weapons system to support all major requirements and reports weapon system capabilities . The unit provides experienced operations , maintenance , engineering , and analysis personnel who plan and conduct ground and flight tests , and analyze , evaluate , and report on the effectiveness and suitability of B - 2 logistics support , tactics and survivability , foreign military exploitation , weapons and mission planning . The squadron reports results and conclusions to support DoD acquisition , deployment and employment decisions . History . The squadron was formed in Texas in early 1918 . After a period of training and organization , it departed from New York in the late summer of 1918 , arriving in France in September . Its role during the latter part of World War I on the western front is undetermined , but it remained in France after the armistice until June 1919 , arriving back in New York and subsequently demobilized in July . Reorganized in 1923 as a reconnaissance squadron , assigned to 5th Composite Group in Hawaii Territory as part of the islands air defense organization . Assigned to Hawaii on Ford Island . Activities included training , participating in Army - Navy maneuvers , staging aerial reviews and sowing seeds from the air for the Territorial Forestry Division . In 1935 , the squadron helped save the city of Hilo , Hawaii , during the eruption of the Mauna Loa volcano . Ten Keystone B - 3 and B - 4 bombers from the group ’ s 23d and 72d Bombardment Squadron s dropped 20 , 600 - pound bombs around the volcano to divert molten lava away from the town . When the Navy moved its Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Pearl Harbor in 1939 , was reassigned to Hickam Field . Was equipped with a mixture of B - 18 Bolo s and early B - 17C / D Flying Fortress es in 1941 when the Japanese attacked Hawaii . The group suffered devastating personnel and aircraft losses in the Pearl Harbor Attack , remaining in Hawaii until September 1942 re - equipping . Deployed to the South Pacific , engaging in long - range bombing of enemy targets in the Solomon Islands and Central Pacific using Very Long - Range B - 24 Liberator s . participating in MacArthur ' s island - hopping campaign in New Guinea and the Dutch East Indies . Participated in the Philippines Campaign , earning a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in combat , 1944 – 1945 . Inactivated at Clark Field , 1947 although most personnel had already returned to the United States . Reactivated at Ladd Field , Alaska Territory in 1947 as a redesignation of the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron with a mission to conduct strategic reconnaissance operations over the Arctic . The squadron ' s reconnaissance missions included electronic and weather monitoring flights used to track Soviet activities in the area . Between 1948 - 19499 the RB - 29 Superfortresss of the 72nd SRS conducted numerous photographic reconnaissance and ELINT missions over the Soviet Arctic and Far East . Equipped with cameras that enabled then to remain in international airspace , whilst photographing targets deep inside Soviet territory , the aircraft searched for evidence of Soviet military activity , but unsurprisingly , found little going on in the inhospitable Arctic wastes but nobody knew what was happening further inland . To investigate activity deeper inside the Soviet Union , some RB - 29s were stripped of all unnecessary equipment , allowing them to increase their operating ceiling , and began overflying Soviet territory . President Harry Truman , authorized the first overflight on 5 August 1948 when an RB - 29 took off from Ladd AFB and , after routing over Siberia and spending over 19 hours in the air , eventually landed at Yokota AB , Japan . Even longer flights soon became routine with aircraft operating up to 35 , 000 ft , covering 5000 miles and remaining airborne for occasionally up to 30 hours . Although the Soviet Military was equipped rudimentary radar , copied from World War II US supplied equipment , large gaps existed in their radar coverage , particularly over the vast Arctic region . These gaps were soon identified and exploited by the RB - 29s as they penetrated deeper inside the Soviet Union . Although they were detected on many occasions , none of the RB - 29s was ever intercepted because the early MiG - 15 was the only fighter with sufficient performance to reach these high - flying aircraft and none of the new fighters were then stationed in Siberia . The most significant of these missions included one on 3 September 1949 which identified the first evidence of a successful explosion of a Soviet nuclear weapon in the Semipalatinsk test site in Eastern Kazakhstan on 29 August 1949 . Reassigned to the Continental United States in 1951 , being re - equipped with Very Long Range RB - 36H Peacemaker strategic reconnaissance bombers and assigned to the 5th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Fairfield - Suisun ( later , Travis ) AFB , California . The aircraft were equipped with four J47 jet engines and with fourteen K - 17C , K - 22A , K - 38 , and K - 40 cameras . It also received some advanced electronics . Its normal crew was 22 , which included 5 gunners to man the 16 M - 24A - 1 20 - mm cannon . Conducted global strategic reconnaissance until 1955 , conducting ELINT and Ferret missions along the east Asian coastline . Gradually shifting to bombardment training mission beginning in 1954 as the 72d Bombardment Squadron , Heavy , on 1 October 1955 . Flew B - 36Js heavy bombers until their phaseout in 1958 , being reassigned to SAC provisional 4134th Strategic Wing , being re - equipped with B - 52F Stratofortress intercontinental heavy bombers . Was reassigned to Mather AFB , California by SAC to disperse its heavy bomber force . Conducted worldwide strategic bombardment training missions and providing nuclear deterrent . Was inactivated in 1963 when SAC inactivated its provisional Strategic Wings , redesignating them permanent Air Force Wings . Squadron was inactivated with aircraft / personnel / equipment being redesignated 441st Bombardment Squadron in an in - place , name - only transfer . Reactivated as a B - 52H heavy bomb squadron at Minot AFB , North Dakota in late 1994 , but inactivated on 1 July 1996 . Reactivated as a B - 2 Spirit stealth bomber evaluation squadron in 1998 . Lineage . Note : Operated as the 46th / 72d Reconnaissance Squadrons ( and subsequent redesignations ) between 16 September 1947 and 28 June 1949