bombs were simply left out to the elements. A small Radar squadron was assigned briefly then was moved out and the last operational combat unit, the 66th Fighter Squadron, left the airfield on 30 May 1947. For a time the Air Force considered transferring the island to the Civil Aeronautics Authority, the forerunner of the Federal Aviation Administration. However, the Air Force decided to retain Shemya because its location provided an ideal refueling stop on the Great Circle Route from Japan to McChord Field, Washington. The Korean War brought extensive use by the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) for the logistical support of Korea and Japan. Its strategic location drastically shortened the air route to the orient. With the development of Trans-Pacific airlifters (C-124), Shemya was declared surplus and the base was inactivated on 1 July 1954. The facilities were turned over to the Civil Aeronautics Authority in 1955. They were then leased to Northwest Orient Airlines who remained on the island until 1961 and used the airport as a technical stop for their service between the U.S. and Asia. The airfield was also used as a technical stop by Canadian Pacific Airlines during the early 1950s for its weekly Vancouver, B.C.-Tokyo service. Airline service In later years during the 1970s through to the 1990s, passenger and cargo service into the airfield was operated by Reeve Aleutian Airways flying Lockheed L-188 Electra turboprops and Boeing 727-100 jetliners with service to and from Anchorage via several intermediate stops at other locations in the Aleutian Island chain. The Reeve operated Electra propjets and 727 jets were both configured as combi aircraft and were capable of transporting mixed loads of passengers and freight on their respective main decks. Cold War In 1958, the Air Force resumed operations on Shemya in support of various Air Force and Army strategic intelligence collection activities. Shemya also continued to support the Great Circle Route for MATS and later Military Airlift Command transports between Japan and Elmendorf AFB. The 5040th Air Base Squadron was activated on 15 July 1958 to provide base support. The stations initial use was that of a long range weather station, with WB-50D Superfortresses being flown from the base by the MATS 7th Weather Group, Air Weather Service. It also became a Strategic Air Command refueling site for B-52 Stratofortress bombers and KC-135 tankers as part of Operation Chrome Dome. SAC would have the