 These replacements permitted most of the ground echelon of the 69th and 70th squadrons, which had been engaged in combat since before the group arrived in the theater, to rotate back to the United States.At the beginning of 1944, the group added a fifth squadron, the 106th Reconnaissance Squadron (soon renamed the 100th Bombardment Squadron).It began using the new airfield on Stirling Island as a staging point for strikes in early January and relocated there before the end of the month.