533d Training Squadron The 533d Training Squadron is a United States Air Force unit . It is assigned to the 381st Training Group , stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base , California . Mission . The mission of the unit is to conduct training for the nation ' s space and Intercontinental Ballistic Missile ( ICBM ) operations and ICBM and Air Launched Missile ( ALM ) maintenance forces . It trains electronic , electro - and missile - mechanical , facility , and spacelift maintenance technicians . It also produces six career development courses in support of the maintenance and management of the nation ’ s ALCM , ICBM , and spacelift systems . History . The 533d was constituted as the 533d Bombardment Squadron , Heavy on October 28 , 1942 , and then activated as a part of the 381st Bombardment Group , Heavy on November 3 , 1942 at Gowen Field , Idaho Soon after , the 533d trained under II Bomber Command and took station at Pyote Army Air Field , Texas where the first two phases of unit training took place . The rest of the training was conducted at Pueblo Army Air Base , Colorado and in the simulations throughout the country . Received deployment orders for the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) in May 1943 . During the three years before its inactivation , the 533d Bombardment Squadron was part of the rapid buildup of the Army Air Forces in the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) . At that time , the Eighth Air Force and the Royal Air Force Bomber Command were engaged in a combined bomber offensive against strategic targets in Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe . Armed with B - 17 Flying Fortress es , the 533d was a part of many bombardment raids . These included the campaigns in Normandy , Northern France , Rhineland , Ardennes - Alsace and Central Europe . The 533d also bombed targets in support of the Battle of the Bulge . After V - E Day , the unit returned to Sioux Falls Army Air Field , South Dakota in July 1945 , although many combat personnel were demobilized upon return to the United States . A small cadre of personnel were formed with replacement personnel assigned . The unit was programmed for conversion to B - 29 Superfortress very heavy bombers however no aircraft were assigned . The Japanese Capitulation in early August led to the units inactivation on 28 August , with personnel either reassigned to other units or demobilized . Effective 20 December 1946 , the squadron was activated at Offutt Field , Nebraska . Having been allotted to the organized reserves , with assignment to Second Air Force , Air Defense Command , it was redesigned as a very heavy bombardment unit on 27 December 1946 . Late in September 1947 , the squadron was assigned to the 381st Bombardment Group , Very Heavy . In July 1948 , the group was reassigned from the Second Air Force to the Tenth Air Force , which in December , became a part of the Continental Air Command . The 533d Squadron was inactivated at Offutt Air Force Base on 27 June 1949 due to budget restrictions . Effective 29 November 1961 , the unit was redesigned the 533d Strategic Missile Squadron ( ICBM - Titan ) , Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) and organized on 8 March 1962 as a part of the 381st Strategic Missile Wing . Operated nine Titan II underground silos constructed beginning in 1960 ; the first site going operationally ready in July 1963 . The 9 missile silos remained on alert for over 20 years during the Cold War . On 27 August 1978 , an accident at Site 537 - 7 involving an oxidizer leak killed two Air Force personnel , and caused the temporary evacuation of local communities . The damage to the site was determined to be unrepairable and 537 - 7 was permanently closed . In October 1981 , President Ronald Reagan announced that as part of the strategic modernization program , Titan II systems were to be retired by October 1 , 1987 . Inactivation of the sites began in July 1984 , with the last being closed in May 1986 ; the squadron being inactivated on 8 August . After removal from service , the silos had reusable equipment removed by Air Force personnel , and contractors retrieved salvageable metals before destroying the silos with explosives and filling them in . Access to the vacated control centers was blocked off . 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 . Redesignated and activated on 30 September 1994 as the 533d Training Squadron , Air Education and Training Command ( AETC ) , the 532nd serves Air Combat Command ( ACC ) and Air Force Global Strike Command ( AFGSC ) by providing initial and advanced maintenance training in LGM - 30G Minuteman III , and AGM - 86 ALCM air - launched cruise missile ( ALCM ) systems as well as spacelift maintenance training . Aircraft and missiles . . * Site closed 24 Aug 1978 after an accident involving an oxidizer leak killed two Air Force personnel , caused the temporary evacuation of local communities , and damaged the site .