First in the Far East with Matador missiles was the 17th Tactical Missile Squadron on 1 February 1958, which had been activated earlier in Florida. Just four months after arrived on the island nation of Taiwan (officially the Republic of China), the 17 TMS was replaced by the 868 TMS, which assumed the personnel, missiles, and mission of the former unit. Assigned to Thirteenth Air Force, the868th was attached to Air Task Force 13, Provisional, for operational control and further attached to Detachment 2 of the 6200th Air Base Wing, which was also known as the "Tainan Air Base Group" for administrative and logistical support. This support organization was renumbered several times and on 18 August 1958, the detachment was replaced by the 6214th Support Group, that for a time was apparently designated either the 6214th Tactical Missile Group or the 6214th Tactical Group (it is referred to both ways in period documents). Getting back to the unit’s mission, the 868 TMS was assigned to Taiwan as part of their first Quick Strike commitment, and it stood alert duty assigned to the Taiwan Straits. When the 498 TMG on Okinawa became operational in 1962 with its longer-range Mace missiles, the Matador missiles on Taiwan, like those in South Korea, were no longer needed and the squadron was inactivated in March 1962. Twenty years later, the 868th was reactivated in Arizona as the 868th Tactical Missile Training Squadron to train personnel on the BGM-109G Gryphon ground-launched cruise missile (GLCM). That unit’s emblem was based on the emblem of the 868 TMS.