389th Strategic Missile Wing The 389th Strategic Missile Wing is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force . Its last assignment was with the 13th Strategic Missile Division , being stationed at Francis E . Warren Air Force Base , Wyoming . It was inactivated on 25 March 1965 . During World War II , its predecessor unit , the 389th Bombardment Group was a VIII Bomber Command B - 24 Liberator unit in England . Assigned to RAF Hethel in early 1943 , the group was one of three Eighth Air Force B - 24 groups that took part in Operation Tidal Wave , the Ploesti Mission of 1 August 1943 ( AAFRH - 3 ) . For his actions during the Ploesti operation , Second Lieutenant Lloyd Herbert Hughes was awarded the Medal of Honor . History . World War II . Constituted as 389th Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) on 19 December 1942 and activated on 24 December . Prepared for duty overseas with B - 24 ' s . Moved to RAF Hethel England , June – July 1943 , and assigned to Eighth Air Force . The 389th was assigned to the 2nd Combat Bombardment Wing , and the group tail code was a " Circle - C " . Upon its arrival at Hethel , almost immediately a detachment was sent to Libya , where it began operations on 9 July 1943 . The detachment flew missions to Crete , Sicily , Italy , Austria , and Romania . The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for the detachment ' s participation in the famed low - level attack against oil refineries at Ploesti on 1 August 1943 . For his action during the same operation , Second Lieutenant Lloyd Herbert Hughes was awarded the Medal of Honor . Refusing to turn back although gasoline was streaming from his flak - damaged plane , Lt Hughes flew at low altitude over the blazing target area and bombed the objective . The plane crashed before Hughes could make the forced landing that he attempted after the bomb run . The detachment returned to England in August and the group flew several missions against airfields in France and the Netherlands . The unit deployed again temporarily to Tunisia during September and October 1943 with the group supporting Allied operations at Salerno and hit targets in Corsica , Italy , and Austria . Resumed operations from England in October 1943 the group concentrated primarily on strategic objectives in France , the Low Countries , and Germany . Targets included shipbuilding yards at Vegesack , industrial areas of Berlin , oil facilities at Merseburg , factories at Münster , railroad yards at Sangerhausen , and V - weapon sites in the Pas de Calais . The group participated in the intensive air campaign against the German aircraft industry during Big Week , 20 – 25 February 1944 . Also flew support and interdictory missions on several occasions , bombing gun batteries and airfields in support of the Normandy invasion in June 1944 , striking enemy positions to aid the breakthrough at St Lo in July 1944 , hitting storage depots and communications centers during the Battle of the Bulge ( December 1944 – January 1945 ) , and dropping food , ammunition , gasoline , and other supplies to troops participating in the airborne assault across the Rhine in March 1945 . The 389th Bomb Group flew its last combat mission late in April 1945 . It returned to Charleston AAF South Carolina on 30 May 1945 and was inactivated on 13 September 1945 . Cold War . During the Cold War , the Strategic Air Command established the unit as the 389th Strategic Missile Wing in 1961 . The Wing received the honors , lineage and heritage of its like - numbered World War II predecessor group . It conducted strategic missile training operations as directed by SAC . The Wing was placed in readiness during the Cuban Missile Crisis in November 1962 . In May 1964 , as the Atlas D missiles were being phased out , the 389th Strategic Missile Wing received SAC ' s last operational readiness inspection for this system . In September 1965 , SAC inactivated the 389th SMW , completing the phaseout of the Atlas E at Warren .