until bombing missions ceased on 15 November 1973. Operation Linebacker II continued the mission of Operation Arc Light, and was most notable for its 11-day bombing campaign between 18 and 29 December 1972, in which more than 150 B-52s flew 729 sorties in 11 days. The B-52s at Andersen, combined with other bombers stationed at U-Tapao Field in Thailand, constituted about 50 percent of SAC's total bomber force and 75 percent of all combat crews. Two bases contained the equivalent of 13 stateside bomber wings. A ceasefire came into effect in Vietnam on 27 January 1973. The B-52s continued to fly missions over Cambodia and Laos until those were halted on 15 August 1973. With the end of these runs, more than 100 B-52s, both D and G Models, were deployed elsewhere in the world by October 1973. The Eighth Air Force moved to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and the 3rd Air Division was reactivated on 1 January 1975. When the North Vietnamese forces overran South Vietnam later in 1975, the base provided emergency relief and shelter for thousands of Vietnamese evacuees as a part of Operation New Life. After the Fall of Saigon, Andersen received almost 40,000 refugees and processed another 109,000 for transportation to the United States. The base returned to routine operations by the late 1970s, but continued to serve as one of SAC's strategic locations. Crews and aircraft were regularly sent to sites between Australia, Alaska and South Korea and supported sea surveillance operations support for the U.S. Navy. Andersen was also home to the 54th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Typhoon Chasers" during the 1960s through the 1980s. Air crews flying WC-130s tracked and penetrated typhoons, providing advanced warnings to military and civilian populations throughout the western Pacific. During the Vietnam War, the 54th also provided cloud seeding capability along the Ho Chi Minh Trail and synoptic reconnaissance, deploying from Udorn RTAFB when not in Guam. The 54th WRS was inactivated in September 1987. Post-Vietnam In 1983, the 43rd completed its transition from the B-52D to the B-52G and became one of only two SAC bomber wings equipped with the Harpoon anti-ship missile. The base saw a major change in 1989, when control transferred from SAC to Pacific Air Forces. The 633rd Air Base Wing activated on 1 October 1989, which led to the inactivations of the 43rd Bombardment Wing on 26 March 1990 and the