Active 1942-1945; 1962-1984 Type Squadron | Country United States | |
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Branch United States Air Force Role Intercontinental ballistic missile Garrison/HQ Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona | ||
The 570th Strategic Missile Squadron (570 SMS) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 390th Strategic Missile Wing, stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.
Contents
- World War II
- Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Squadron
- Lineage
- Assignments
- Stations
- Aircraft and missiles
- References
The 570 SMS was equipped with the LGM-25C Titan II Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), with a mission of nuclear deterrence. The squadron was inactivated as part of the phaseout of the Titan II ICBM on 31 July 1984.
World War II
Activated in early 1943 as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomber squadron, it trained under the Second Air Force. It deployed to England in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during July 1943, where it was assigned to VIII Bomber Command as a strategic bombardment unit. It participated in the air offensive over Nazi Germany and Occupied Europe until the German surrender in May 1945. Its personnel demobilized in England and returned to the United States; the squadron was reassigned to the Second Air Force and was programmed to be re-equipped with B-29 Superfortresses for deployment to the Pacific Theater. The Japanese capitulation led to the units' inactivation in August 1945, as it was neither manned or equipped.
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Squadron
The squadron was re-activated and redesignated as a Strategic Air Command LGM-25C Titan II ICBM Strategic Missile Squadron in 1961. It operated nine Titan II underground silos, construction beginning in 1960. Site 570-2 went on operational alert on 4 April 1963; the first Titan II silo to become operational; the remaining eight sites becoming operational by June. The nine missile silos controlled by the 570th Strategic Missile Squadron remained on alert for over 20 years during the Cold War.
In October 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced that as part of the strategic modernization program, Titan II systems were to be retired by 1 October 1987. Inactivation of the sites began in July 1982 (570-9); the last site (570-4) on 7 May 1984. The squadron was inactivated on 31 July.
After removal from service, the silos had reusable equipment removed by Air Force personnel, 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 civil use or abandonment.