Subsequently, in the immediate postwar years the Navy acquired 150 surplus A-26s for use by land-based utility squadrons as target tugs. Some of the early deliveries were from a batch of Invaders that had been ordered by the Royal Air Force but never delivered, but most of the planes were ex-USAAF Invaders from postwar stocks that were now deemed to be surplus to requirements.

The JD-1s were operated well into the 1960s by seven US Navy utility squadrons (VU-1, VU-2, VU-3, VU-4, VU-5, VU-7, and VU-10) as target tugs, drone directors, and general utility aircraft. Those that were modified as drone directors were redesignated JD-1D. As a teenager back in the 1950s, I remember seeing them operate from the Chincoteague Naval Air Station on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

In 1962, the surviving JD-1s were redesignated UB-26J in accordance with the new Tri-Service designation system. The JD-1D drone directors became DB-26J.