A notable moment in the Group's history is that a Douglas DB-17P (Formerly B-17G-90-DL) 44-83684 of the unit's 3225th Drone Squadron flew the last operational mission by a USAF Flying Fortress on 6 August 1959.

[1] At the end of World War II, the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator were obsolete as strategic bombers, having been replaced by the Boeing B-29 Superfortress.

[1] The postwar Air Force B-17s found uses as personnel and VIP transports (CB/VB-17), loaned to defense contractors for various research purposes (EB-17 and JB-17), for mapping (FB-17), for air-sea rescue (SB-17), for weather reconnaissance (WB-17), and for trainers (TB-17).

[1] Air Proving Ground Command obtained B-17s for guided missile launching and as aerial targets for new weapons systems.

[1] In 1946, the 1st Experimental Guided Missiles Group was activated at Eglin Air Force Auxiliary Field #3, Florida.

The unit's formation was a result of the Air Materiel Command's Engineering Division at Wright-Patterson AFB looking for places to allow its contractors to launch missiles.

[2][3] On 13 January 1947 the group flew a QB-17 drone, guided by a director DB-17, from its base at Eglin to Washington, D.C., on a simulated bombing mission as a demonstration of capability.

[2] In 1949, the 2nd GMS tallied 3,052 flight hours without mishap and secured the green and white pennant denoting safety supremacy for USAF B-17 type aircraft for the fourth straight time, gaining permanent possession of the three-starred flag.

[4] The 550th wing moved to Patrick Air Force Base, Florida on 11 December 1950 as a result of a reorganization of Proving Ground Command into Air Research and Development Command and to facilitate the development of long-range atmospheric guided missiles using the Florida Missile Test Range.

The QB-47s also carried electronic countermeasures gear and chaff dispensers in order to make for a more realistic target for the Bomarc during the tests.

[9][10] A second batch of 14 QF-80s were converted in December 1953 at McClellan that featured larger center-mounted wingtip tanks equipped with cameras rather than fuel so that attacking aircraft could be photographed.

The wartime bombers were not designed or built for long-term use when new, and the supply of replacement parts was extremely limited, causing the aircraft to be very expensive to maintain.

It was never assigned to an operational unit, instead being placed in long-term storage at South Plains Army Airfield, Lubbock, Texas in October.

With the closure of South Plains AAF, the plane was flown to Pyote Army Airfield, Texas in July 1947 where it was stored by the 2753d Aircraft Storage Squadron.

It was pulled from storage in March 1950 and flown to the Middletown Air Depot, Olmsted AFB, Pennsylvania, where it was inspected and modified to a DB-17G.

[12] Aircraft 44-83684 remained and flew the last operational mission by a USAF B-17 on 6 August 1959 when it directed QB-17L 44-83717 from Holloman as a target for an AIM-4 Falcon air-to-air missile fired by an F-101 Voodoo.

[1][13] With the retirement of the Flying Fortress, the group's activities were taken over by Headquarters, Air Proving Ground Center at Eglin in 1961.

The program at Eglin went on to use QF-104A Starfighter drone aircraft until 1972, and subsequently was transferred to Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida as part of Aerospace Defense Command, for Aerospace Defense Command interceptor aircraft weapons targets using the Eglin range.