1st Reconnaissance Squadron (World War II)
Encyclopedia
This is for the United States Army Air Force squadron. See: 1st Reconnaissance Squadron
1st Reconnaissance Squadron
The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron is a United States Air Force reconnaissance training unit based at Beale Air Force Base, near Marysville, California. It is the oldest squadron in the Air Force, and the first organization to be established as a U.S. military flying unit...

 for the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 reconnaissance unit

The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 unit. It was last assigned to the Thirteenth Air Force
Thirteenth Air Force
The Thirteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States...

. It was inactivated at Clark Field, Philippines on 10 March 1947.

History

Established by Headquarters, United States Army Air Corps
United States Army Air Corps
The United States Army Air Corps was a forerunner of the United States Air Force. Renamed from the Air Service on 2 July 1926, it was part of the United States Army and the predecessor of the United States Army Air Forces , established in 1941...

 in early 1940; performed aerial mapping primarily over the northeastern United States prior to the Pearl Harbor Attack using obsolescent cargo and Martin B-10
Martin B-10
The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to go into regular use by the United States Army Air Corps, entering service in June 1934...

 bombers as aerial platforms. After the United States entry into World War II, equipped with A-29 Hudsons, C-45 Expeditors and A-20 Havocs (all in phot/recon configuration) and performed aerial photography and mapping in uncharted areas of Newfoundland, Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...

 and Greenland
Greenland
Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for...

 for development of Northeast Transport route for movement of aircraft; personnel and supplies across the North Atlantic from the United States to Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 and the United Kingdom.

Re-equipped with long-range B-24 Liberator
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...

 reconnaissance aircraft and deployed to Alaska Territory
Alaska Territory
The Territory of Alaska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from August 24, 1912, until January 3, 1959, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Alaska...

 in late 1943, assisting in the establishment of landing fields in the Aleutian Islands; also to map uncharted areas of internal Alaska to establish Lend Lease aircraft emergency landing fields over trans-Alaska route from Fairbanks
Fairbanks
Fairbanks may refer to:Places in the United States*Fairbanks, Alaska, city*Fairbanks, California, unincorporated community in El Dorado County*Fairbanks, Mendocino County, California, former settlement*Fairbanks, Indiana, unincorporated community...

 and Anchorage to Nome
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...

.

Relieved from assignment in Alaska and returned to Continental United States. Deployed to Mediterranean Theater of Operations
Mediterranean Theater of Operations
The Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army was originally called North African Theater of Operations and is an American term for the conflict that took place between the Allies and Axis Powers in North Africa and Italy during World War II...

 (MTO) across South Atlantic Transport Route to North Africa in early 1944. Performed aerial surveys and mapping over Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

; Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and along the North African Coast and Middle East with B-24s and some B-17Fs converted to F-9 reconnaissance configuration over non-combat areas. Deployed to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and China; performing unarmed long-range mapping of remote areas of the China-Burma-India Theater over combat areas in support of ground forces and strategic target identification over Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

 and Malay Peninsula
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...

 for follow-up raids by XX Bomber Command
XX Bomber Command
The XX Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Far East Air Forces, based on Okinawa. It was inactivated on July 16, 1945.- History:...

 operating from India.

Returned to the United States in late 1944; equipped with very long range B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...

es converted to F-13A reconnaissance configuration. Deployed to the Central Pacific Area (CPA) and assigned to Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....

 in the Pacific Theater after the Japanese Capitulation. Remained in the Western Pacific performing reconnaissance mapping flights over Japan, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

 and China. B-29s returned to the United States in early 1946 for storage or reassignment; unit largely demobilized on Okinawa, flying some light liaison and courier aircraft. Inactivated in early 1947.

Disbanded on 8 October 1948 when 1st Bombardment Squadron
1st Reconnaissance Squadron
The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron is a United States Air Force reconnaissance training unit based at Beale Air Force Base, near Marysville, California. It is the oldest squadron in the Air Force, and the first organization to be established as a U.S. military flying unit...

was redesignated as 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (Photographic). There is no shared lineage or history between the two units.

Lineage

  • Constituted 1st Photographic Squadron on 22 December 1939.
Activated on 1 February 1940
Redesignated: 1st Mapping Squadron on 13 January 1942
Redesignated: 1st Photographic Mapping Squadron on 9 June 1942
Redesignated: 1st Photographic Charting Squadron on 11 August 1943
Redesignated: 1st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron (Very Heavy) on 10 November 1944
Redesignated: 1st Reconnaissance Squadron (Very Long Range, Photographic-RCM) on 4 October 1945
Redesignated: 1st Reconnaissance Squadron (Very Long Range, Photographic) on 13 November 1945
Inactivated on 10 March 1947
Disbanded on 8 October 1948

Assignments

  • Office of Chief of Air Corps, 1 February 1940
  • 1st Photographic (later Mapping; Photographic Charting) Group
    1st Photographic Group
    The 1st Photographic Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 311th Photographic Wing, stationed at Buckley Field, Colorado. It was inactivated on 5 October 1944.-History:...

    , 10 June 1941
  • 11th Photographic Group
    11th Photographic Group
    The 11th Photographic Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Third Air Force stationed at MacDill Field, Florida...

    , 1 December 1943
  • 311th Photographic Wing, 5 October 1944
  • Second Air Force
    Second Air Force
    The Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....

    , 10 November 1944
Attached to: Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....

, c. 9 September 1945
  • 311th Reconnaissance Wing, 4 October 1945
Attached to: Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....

, 4 October 1945
Attached to: VIII Bomber Command (Very Heavy)
20th Bombardment Wing (World War II)
The 20th Bombardment Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Eighth Air Force, based at MacDill Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 10 November 1946.-History:...

, 10 December 1945
Attached to: Eighth Air Force
Eighth Air Force
The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....

, March 1946
Attached to: 1st Air Division, 7 June 1946
  • Far East Air Forces, 3 February 1947
  • Thirteenth Air Force
    Thirteenth Air Force
    The Thirteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. 13 AF has never been stationed in the continental United States...

    , 11 February – 10 March 1947.

Headquarters Stations

(Squadron deployed worldwide)
  • Bolling Field, District of Columbia, 1 February 1940
  • Bradley Field
    Bradley International Airport
    Bradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut....

    , Connecticut
    Connecticut
    Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

    , 5 December 1941
  • MacDill Field, Florida, 15 January 1944
  • Smoky Hill Army Airfield, Kansas
    Kansas
    Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

    , 26 October 1944 – 31 July 1945
  • Kadena Airfield, Okinawa, 9 September 1945
  • Clark Field, Luzon
    Luzon
    Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...

    , Philippines, 11 February – 10 March 1947.

Aircraft

  • Fairchild C-8
    Fairchild 71
    -Bibliography:* Donald, David, ed. The Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada: Prospero Books, 1997. ISBN 1-85605-375-X.* Milberry, Larry. Aviation In Canada. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979. ISBN 0-07-082778-8....

    , 1940
  • Martin B-10
    Martin B-10
    The Martin B-10 was the first all-metal monoplane bomber to go into regular use by the United States Army Air Corps, entering service in June 1934...

     1940
  • C-45/F-2 Expeditor, 1940, 1946–1947
  • A-29 Hudson, 1941–1942
  • A-20/F-3 Havoc, 1942
  • B-24/F7 Liberator, 1942–1945

  • B-34 Lexington
    Lockheed Ventura
    The Lockheed Ventura was a bomber and patrol aircraft of World War II, used by United States and British Commonwealth forces in several guises...

    , 1942–1944
  • B-25 Mitchell
    B-25 Mitchell
    The North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...

    , 1943
  • B-17/F-9 Flying Fortress, 1943–1944
  • B-29/F-13A Superfortress, 1944–1947
  • L-5 Sentinel
    L-5 Sentinel
    The Stinson L-5 Sentinel was a World War II era liaison aircraft used by all branches of the U.S. military and by the British Royal Air Force. Along with the Stinson L-1 Vigilant, the L-5 was the only other American liaison aircraft of WWII that was purpose-built for military use and had no...

    , 1946–1947
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