During the early Cold War it was a Thor missile site, designed to deliver atomic warheads to the Soviet Union.

The nuclear missile site is now protected as a Grade II listed building as an example of Cold War architecture.

The squadrons flew agents and supplies into southern France with B-24 Liberators that had all armament removed except in the top and tail turrets.

Light bulbs were painted red to spare night vision and special radio gear was added to assist in navigation and homing in on drop zones.

The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses flown by the 788th and 850th Bombardment Squadrons were employed to drop leaflets over Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, France, Germany, Poland, Greece, and the Balkans.

The 492d was a "hard luck" B-24 group which had lost 52 aircraft to enemy action in only 89 days, suffering 588 men killed or missing.

By mid-November, Headquarters, Eighth Air Force decided that the Carpetbagger aircraft just were not suitable and finally allocated oxygen-equipped B-24s for the new mission.

The 492d returned to clandestine "Carpetbagger" operations over Germany and German-occupied territory, using B-24, A-26, and British Mosquito aircraft in March 1945 to drop leaflets, demolition equipment, and agents.

The Group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for these operations, performed at night despite adverse weather and vigorous opposition from enemy ground forces.

It returned to Sioux Falls AAFld, South Dakota during July and August 1945, and was redesignated as a Boeing B-29 Super Fortress (Very Heavy) group to be used over Japan.

Three rocket launch pads were constructed together with ancillary buildings, the whole area being declared top security, fenced off and floodlighted.

Today, with the exception of some single-tracked agricultural roads that outline the former perimeter track, there is very little left of Harrington airfield, although the three Thor Missile launch pads are still clearly visible.

As of late, Vattenfall United Kingdom is considering building a wind park at this airfield, consisting of seven two-megawatt turbines, in total producing 14 megawatts.