on the Kuriles. After the disastrous attack, the focus of Eleventh Air Force was shifted to a defensive posture in the event of retaliatory attacks from the Japanese. Also the command was reorganized in light of the new mission and the reduction of forces in the Aleutians after the conclusion of the Aleutian Islands Campaign. The IX Strategic Command was activated as a provisional organization with the inactivation of IX Fighter and IX Bomber Command; remaining staff being assigned to the provisional Command. The 28th Bombardment Group and 404th Bombardment Squadron were assigned to Shemya; the 77th Fighter Squadron assigned to Alexi Point. The mission would be to carry out both day and night bombing and photo-reconnaissance attacks on the Kuriles, and also to conduct searches for Japanese shipping, including fishing vessels in the North Pacific. The Navy Fleet Air Wing Four at Naval Air Station Attu and IX Strategic Command would be assigned to the Navy's North Pacific Command for operational control. The 77th Bombardment Squadron with B-25 Mitchells assumed the primary responsibility for searching for Japanese shipping, as the Mitchells were very suited for low-level attacks. However, within a few weeks, IX Strategic Command was disestablished and all Eleventh Air Force units came under the direct control of HQ Eleventh Air Force, now at Davis AAF on Adak. The spring of 1944 brought improving weather and the B-24s and PV-1s to fly more missions over the Kuriles. Most flights were photo-reconnaissance or the occasional bombing attack to keep the Japanese off-guard and were flown at night using flash bombs for night photography. In early April, the 2d Photographic Charting Squadron arrived with four F-7 Liberators, from Peterson Field, Colorado, configured for photo-reconnaissance and mapping. Over the next five months, over 3,000 photographs of the Kuriles were taken and highly detailed and accurate maps of the islands were created. By August, Eleventh Air Force B-24s were carrying out successful and accurate attacks on the Japanese military installations and the B-25s were successful in driving the Japanese fishing and much of the shipping out of the North Pacific. In October, in an effort to cripple the Japanese food supply, the B-25s were ordered to fly missions against canneries and other food processing plants in the Kuriles. Additional aircraft and personnel reductions occurred in 1945 and almost all air bases other than Alexi Point, Shemya and Davis in the Aleutians were