The wing's first B-52G, "City of Blytheville, Arkansas", arrived in January 1960. That summer, SAC declared the 97th combat-ready and slightly changed the scope of the mission statement. Now operational, the 97th "was to conduct strategic bombardment operations on a global scale, either independently or in cooperation with land and sea forces." The wing's bomber crews, who were assigned to the 340th Bomb Squadron, would fly their share of Operation Chrome Dome missions, which kept a number of SAC's B-52s on airborne alert.