Lockbourne AFB, Ohio on 15 April 1958 where it became an electronic countermeasures (ECM) unit and was engaged in various clandestine intelligence missions. To provide air defense for the base, the U.S. Army established the Barksdale Defense Area in 1959 and constructed Nike Hercules surface-to-air missile sites for air defense. Sites were located near Bellevue (N.E. of Shreveport) (BD-10) , and Stonewall (BD-50) in Louisiana. The unit involved may have been from the 562nd Air Defense Artillery Regiment. They were operational between November 1960 and March 1966 when they were inactivated as part of the reduction of the air defenses in the United States against aircraft. 376th Bombardment Wing On 10 October 1951 the 376th Bombardment Wing was reassigned to Barksdale from Forbes AFB Kansas. Initially equipped with obsolescent B-29 Superfortresses, the 514th Bombardment Squadron trained to drop A-bombs until the wing upgraded to the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber in June 1953 which took over the A-bomb duty. The 376th began flying EB-47 Stratojets in 1954 for ECM operations, which became the wing's primary mission in September 1953. The wing was reassigned to Lockbourne AFB on 1 December 1957 where it replaced and absorbed the personnel and assets of the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing and was redesignated the 376th Bombardment Wing (ECM), flying EB-47E Stratojets . 4238th Strategic Wing Following the transfer 301st and 378th Bomb Wings in 1957 and 1958 respectively, Barksdale was slated to receive Boeing's newest pair of strategic aircraft: the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress and the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. The mission of Barksdale was also changed from being a SAC training base to a front-line operational base. It received its new aircraft and mission in the form of the 4238th Strategic Wing which was a derivative of the 7th Bomb Wing from Carswell AFB, Texas. The 4238th was equipped with the B-52F and KC-135A strategic tankers that were assigned to Barksdale. Its units consisted of the 436th Bomb Squadron and 913th Air Refueling Squadron. It was assigned to Barksdale on 3 May 1958 as part of SAC's plan to disburse its big bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. The 436th Bomb Squadron consisted of 15 aircraft. Half of the planes were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled, armed, and ready for combat. The remaining planes were