court action during the first half of 1952, thus becoming the owner and no longer a lessee. Reflecting official government ownership, Wichita Municipal Airport was redesignated as the Wichita Air Force Base on 15 May 1953. However, the name was changed to McConnell Air Force Base after less than a year in honor of Wichita brothers Fred and Thomas McConnell, both Air Force pilots and World War II veterans. Fred was killed in a private plane crash in 1945, while Thomas died in a bombing raid on Bougainville Island in the South Pacific. Air Training Command was host at the base from 1951 through 1958, training B-47 aircrews. Strategic Air Command took control over the base on 1 July 1958 and the B-47 training mission. The 4347th Combat Crew Training Wing replaced the 3520th and the 42d Strategic Aerospace Division was activated on 15 July 1959. B-47 crew training continued at McConnell until 1 March 1963 when the 4347th CCTW was inactivated. Titan II ballistic missiles On 1 March 1962, Strategic Air Command stood up the 381st Strategic Missile Wing (SMW). Using McConnell as their base, 18 Titan II ICBM missile silos formed a ring from the northeast around to the south and the west on an irregular radius of 20 to 50 miles from the base. This mission of deterrence dominated base activity for the next twenty-four years until 1986 when the 381st Strategic Missile Wing was inactivated. The removal of the missiles and of all Titan II ICBM systems began in July 1982 and was completed in June 1987. All of the missile silos in Kansas and Arkansas were demolished, and all but one of them in Arizona. Tactical fighter aircraft In October 1962, the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing was reactivated at McConnell with four (560th, 561st, 562d, 563d) fighter squadrons. The wing initially flew the North American F-100C Super Sabre, but was replaced in 1963 by the Republic F-105D/F Thunderchief. On 4 July 1963, Tactical Air Command became responsible for the base with the 388 TFW as host unit. On 21 July 1964, the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing was also reactivated at McConnell with four F-105 (354th, 357th, 421st, 469th) squadrons. Both wings would deploy to Thailand in support of the Vietnam War. On 8 November 1965, the 355th was ordered to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base and on 8 April 1966 the 388th TFW was