395th Strategic Missile Squadron The 395th Strategic Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with the 1st Strategic Aerospace Division , based at Vandenberg AFB , California . It was inactivated on 31 December 1969 . History . World War II . Antisubmarine Warfare . Activated on 1 April 1941 as the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron , its personnel and equipment being drawn from the inactivated 27th Reconnaissance Squadron at Borinquen Field , Puerto Rico . The squadron had actually been constituted as early as 22 November 1940 to augment the reconnaissance forces available to the Puerto Rican Department . The squadron consisted of three Douglas B - 18As , and these constituted the sole strength of the unit at Borinquen Field until the unit was redesignated as the 395th Bombardment Squadron ( Medium ) on 22 April 1942 . The 5th was initially attached as an element of the 40th Bombardment Group . A " Good Will " flight was made in July 1941 to Peru , stopping en route Trinidad , Albrook Field and Guayaquil , Ecuador , which gave the unit considerable confidence in the extent of their " reach " as a recon outfit . Between 4 and 16 November , the unit provided transportation throughout the Caribbean for a group of unidentified movie stars , stopping at Antigua , St . Lucia , Trinidad , Georgetown , St . Thomas , San Juan and back to Miami . That same month , one of the B - 18s represented the Air Corps at the opening ceremonies for the new Pan Am airfield at Port - au - Prince , Haiti . After the Japanese Pearl Harbor Attack , the unit was detached from the 40th Bomb Group and assigned briefly to the Antilles Air Task Force to perform antisubmarine patrols along the Antillies chain south to Dutch Guiana . On 25 April 1942 the squadron was re - designated as the 395th Bombardment Squadron , and on 17 June , was transferred as such from Borinquen Field , Puerto Rico , to Rio Hato Army Air Base , Panama . Concurrent with this reassignment , the unit was reassigned to the 6th Bombardment Group on 9 August 1942 . The Squadron received an infusion of new personnel in December 1942 , when , upon inactivation of the 6th Bombardment Group , many of the former members of that headquarters were transferred to the 395th along with new aircraft . As of 27 December 1942 , the Squadron had two Northrop A - 17 ' s , three Douglas B - 18 ' s , two Consolidated B - 24D ' s and three LB - 30 ' s , three Boeing B - 17B ' s and two B - 17E ' s . On 27 April 1943 , the Squadron was transferred to David Field , Panama and , exactly a month later , moved from there to Howard Field in the Canal Zone , preparatory to its departure from the Command on 15 June 1943 as part of the takeover by the United States Navy of antisubmarine patrols . B - 29 Superfortress era . Assigned to Pratt Army Airfield , Kansas in August 1943 , being re - manned with new personnel . Received prototype and early production - model B - 29 Superfortress very heavy bombers . Trained under Second Air Force for an extended period due to Boeing technicians making modifications of B - 29 aircraft . Deployed to the new XX Bomber Command as part of the 58th Bombardment Wing in the China - Burma - India Theater , flying to bases in India via South Atlantic Transport route ; across central Africa , Arabia to Karachi . Additional modifications of B - 29s were necessary in India to accommodate very high ground temperatures ( 115 degrees F ) . From airfields in eastern India , engaged in very long range bombardment raids on Japan . The squadron participated in the first American Air Force attack on the Japanese Home Islands since the 1942 Doolittle raid on 15 / 16 June 1944 , attacking the Imperial Iron and Steel Works at Yawata on Kyushu by using its forward staging base at Hsinching Airfield ( A - 1 ) , China , for refueling . Performed a total of nine missions to Japan , also engaged in very long range attacks against enemy targets in Thailand , Manchuria , Borneo , Formosa , Burma , Malaya , Japanese - occupied China , Singapore , Saigon and Cam Rahn Bay , French Indochina . Also engaged in aerial mining of Japanese - occupied seaports in Thailand Malaya and French Indochina . Inactivated in October 1944 as part of a XX Bomber Command reorganization . Strategic Air Command . Reactivated in 1959 as part of the development of the LGM - 25C Titan II Intercontinental Ballistic Missile . It operated three training facilities for the Titan II , launch complexes 395 - B , 395 - C and 395 - D . They were constructed between 1960 – 1962 and turned over to Strategic Air Command in 1964 . Flight test , evaluations , technical order verification research and development were performed at Vandenberg AFB . The squadron was inactivated at the end of 1969 , it ' s mission turned over to the 6596th Missile Test Group on 1 January 1970 .