from France into Germany during the last months of the war. The unit was at Biblis, Germany on V-E Day. The squadron remained in Germany with the Army of Occupation until October 1945 before returning to the US, where it was inactivated upon arriving at the port of embarkation in November. Army of Occupation Duty Within a year, the 524th was again activated under the United States Air Forces Europe as part of the occupation forces in Germany at Fritzlar Air Base when the 27th Fighter Group took over the mission, personnel, and P-47 Thunderbolts of the inactivating 366th Fighter Group. Less than a year later, in June 1947, the squadron was transferred without personnel or equipment to Bad Kissingen Airfield, then to Andrews Field, Maryland where it was assigned to Strategic Air Command (SAC). Strategic Air Command SAC moved the squadron to Kearney Army Air Field Nebraska the following month as Kearney was taken out of caretaker status. At Kearney the 524th was initially equipped with the North American P-51D Mustang. The mission of the squadron was to fly long-range escort missions for SAC Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers. In 1948 the 524th upgraded to North American F-82 Twin Mustangs. With the arrival of the F-82s, the older F-51s were sent to Air National Guard units. The first production F-82Es reached the 27th in early 1948, and almost immediately the unit deployed to McChord AFB, Washington in June where its squadrons stood on alert on a secondary air defense mission due to heightened tensions resulting from the Berlin Airlift. The 27th could launch an escort mission if conflict broke out in Europe. From McChord, the group flew its Twin Mustangs on weather reconnaissance missions over the northwest Pacific, but problems were encountered with their fuel tanks. Unused Northrop F-61 Black Widow external tanks were found at Hamilton AFB, California that could be modified for the F-82 which were fitted on the pylons of the Twin Mustang that solved the problem. With a reduction in tension, the unit returned to its home base in Nebraska during September. In January 1949, Eighth Air Force planned a large airshow at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. All of its assigned units were to participate in a coordinated flyover. Kearney AFB was socked-in with a blizzard on the day of the show. Nevertheless, paths were cut through the snow for the aircraft to taxi and