(Heavy) 24 December 1942 – 1 February 1943 392nd Bombardment (Heavy) 26 January – 1 March 1943 399th Bombardment (Heavy) 1 March – 10 April 1943 400th Bombardment (Heavy) April – 2 May 1943 446th Bombardment (Heavy) 1 April – 8 June 1943 449th Bombardment (Heavy) 1 May – 5 July 1943 451st Bombardment (Heavy) 1 May – 3 June 1943 459th Bombardment (Heavy) 20 September – 1 November 1943 466th Bombardment (Heavy) 15 August – 17 October 1945 486th Bombardment (Heavy) 9 November 1943 – March 1944 489th Bombardment (Heavy) 3 April – 13 July 1945 491st Bombardment (Heavy) 1 October – 11 November 1943 444th Bombardment (Very Heavy) 1 March – 29 July 1943 499th Bombardment (Very Heavy) 20 November – 1 December 1943 Training at the airfield came to a halt on 14 August 1945, when the Japanese surrendered. Davis–Monthan played a post-war role by housing German POWs from June 1945 to March 1946. It also served as a separation center, which brought the base populace to a high of 11,614 in September 1945. With the end of the war, operations at the base came to a virtual standstill. It was then that the base was selected as a storage site for hundreds of decommissioned aircraft, with the activation of the 4105th Army Air Force Unit. The 4105th oversaw the storage of excess B-29s and C-47 "Gooney Birds." Tucson's low humidity and alkali soil made it an ideal location for aircraft storage and preservation, awaiting cannibalization or possible reuse—a mission that has continued to this day. Cold War Strategic Air Command The Cold War era was ushered in at Davis–Monthan on 21 March 1946, with the installation placed under the claimancy of the recently established Strategic Air Command (SAC). SAC's presence at the base began in the form of the 40th and 444th Bombardment Groups, both equipped with B-29s. As part of the postwar austerity, these groups were later inactivated, with the personnel and equipment being consolidated into the 43d Bombardment Group in October. On 11 January 1948, with the establishment of the United States Air Force as independent service four months earlier, the facility was renamed Davis–Monthan Air Force Base. On 30 June 1948, the Air Force activated the 43rd Air Refueling Squadron, whose KB-29Ms were newly equipped with aerial refueling equipment purchased from the British firm FRL. The 43rd ARS, along with the 509th ARS