874th Tactical Missile Squadron
TM-76 Mace of the 498th Tactical Missile Group
Active	1943–1946; 1961–1965
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Tactical missile
Engagements	Pacific Theater
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
874th Tactical Missile Squadron emblem
874th Bombardment Squadron emblem[a][1]

The874th Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with498th Tactical Missile Group atKadena Air Base,Okinawa. Thesquadron was first activated in late 1943 for service duringWorld War II as the874th Bombardment Squadron. After training in the United States withBoeing B-29 Superfortress bombers, the squadron moved to the Mariana Islands, where it participated in thestrategic bombing campaign against Japan, earning twoDistinguished Unit Citations before the end of hostilities in August 1945. The squadron returned to the United States in December 1945 and was inactivated in March 1946, and its personnel and equipment transferred to another organization.

The 874th was activated again at Kadena in 1961, and became one of the first Air Force units to operate theTM-76B Mace cruise missile, serving in that role until 1965.

Thesquadron was first activated atClovis Army Air Field, New Mexico in November 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the498th Bombardment Group, an earlyBoeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber squadrons. The squadron trained in New Mexico and atGreat Bend Army Air Field, Kansas with early model B-29s until July 1944, when it began its deployment to the Pacific.^[1][2]

The squadron arrived at its combat station,Isely Field,Saipan in September 1944.^[1] The squadron's first missions were flown against targets onIwo Jima andTruk Island. On 24 November 1944, the squadron participated in the first raid on Japan by bombers based in the Mariana Islands. The squadron initially engaged in high altitude daylight attacks against industrial targets in Japan. It was awarded aDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for an attack on an aircraft manufacturing plant inNagoya on 13 December 1944.^[2]

In March 1945, the tactics ofTwentieth Air Force changed and the squadron began flying low level night attacks withincendiaries against area targets. The 874th received a second DUC for its actions during a low level raid on urban industries nearKobe andOsaka in June 1945. Squadron operations also included attacks onairfields in Okinawa during theinvasion of Okinawa in April 1945. AfterV-J Day, the squadron remained on Saipan until November and reassembled atMarch Field, California the following month. It became one of the first bombardment units inStrategic Air Command in March 1946, but was inactivated atMacDill Field, Florida on 4 August and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the371st Bombardment Squadron, which was simultaneously activated.^[1][2][3]

The squadron was redesignated the874th Tactical Missile Squadron and reactivated in September 1961 as aTM-76 Mace surface to surface missile squadron atKadena Air BaseOkinawa.^[1] However, it was not until early in 1962 that the 498th Tactical Missile Group's first launch site atBolo Point became operational. Early arrivals to the squadron assisted contractor personnel in making the launch sites operational.^[4] Other launch sites were atOnna Point,White Beach, and inKin just north ofCamp Hansen. Once all four sites were operational, the squadron took over the two most recently completed sites.^[5] The squadron was equipped with the B model of the Mace, which was deployed so that a single crew was able to launch all missiles located at a single launch site directly from the underground bunkers in which they were stored. The 874th was one of the first squadrons equipped with the TM-76B, which used an inertial guidance system.^[6]

During theCuban Missile Crisis, the squadron was placed on highalert status. Missile down time for routine maintenance was not permitted, and when a malfunction required taking a missile off alert, its planned target had to be covered by placing aRepublic F-105 Thunderchief on cockpit alert at the end of Kadena's runway.^[7] The 874th was inactivated in July 1965^[1] and remaining Mace operations were transferred directly to the 498th Group, which remained active until 1969.^[8] One of the dismantled Mace sites now houses aBuddhist training center forSoka Gakkai International. The facility is now known as the "Fortress of Peace" and houses twomuseums including one devoted to the nuclear weapons once based on Okinawa.^[9]

• Constituted as the874th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 19 November 1943

Activated on 20 November 1943

Inactivated on 4 August 1946

• Redesignated874th Tactical Missile Squadron and activated, on 25 April 1961 (not organized)

Organized on 8 September 1961^[10]

Inactivated on 8 July 1965^[11]

• 498th Bombardment Group, 20 November 1943 – 4 August 1946
• Pacific Air Forces, 25 April 1961 (not organized)^[10]
• 498th Tactical Missile Group, 8 September 1961 – 8 July 1965^[8]

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1944
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1944–1946
• Martin M-76B (later MGM-13B, CGM-13B) Mace, 1961–1969^[10][11]

Award streamer	Award	Dates	Notes
	Distinguished Unit Citation	13 December 1944	Japan, 874th Bombardment Squadron[1]
	Distinguished Unit Citation	1–7 June 1945	Japan, 874th Bombardment Squadron[1]
	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award	8 February 1961 – 29 May 1963	874th Tactical Missile Squadron[1]

Campaign Streamer	Campaign	Dates	Notes
	Air Offensive, Japan	7 September 1944 – 2 September 1945	874th Bombardment Squadron[1]
	Eastern Mandates	7 September 1944 – 14 April 1944	874th Bombardment Squadron[1]
	Western Pacific	17 April 1945 – 2 September 1945	874th Bombardment Squadron[1]

• B-17 Flying Fortress units of the United States Army Air Forces
• List of B-29 Superfortress operators
• List of United States Air Force missile squadrons

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Fletcher, Harry R (1993).Air Force Bases, Vol. II, Air Bases Outside the United States of America(PDF). Washington, DC: Center for Air Force History.ISBN 0-912799-53-6. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 21 May 2022. Retrieved17 December 2016.
• Mindling, George; Bolton, Robert (2008).U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles, 1949-1969: The Pioneers. Raleigh, NC: Lulu Press.ISBN 978-0-557-00029-6.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961].Air Force Combat Units of World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-912799-02-1.LCCN 61060979. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 20 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969].Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-405-12194-6.LCCN 70605402.OCLC 72556. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 20 December 2016.

• Missile squadrons of the United States Air Force
• 1943 establishments in New Mexico

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