38th Reconnaissance Squadron
Encyclopedia
55th Wing
The 55th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command. The unit is stationed at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska....
at Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
. It operates the RC-135 aircraft conducting reconnaissance missions.
Mission
The mission of the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron is to provide RC-135 aircraft and personnel to conduct global reconnaissance for national intelligence agencies, key decision makers and warfighters.History
Established in late 1942 as a P-38 LightningP-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
fighter squadron, trained under 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....
in the pacific northwest. Deployed to the European Theater of Operations
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...
(ETO), assigned to VIII Fighter Command
VIII Fighter Command
The VIII Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, being stationed at RAF Honington, England. It was inactivated on 20 March 1946....
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in late 1943. Squadron's mission was to provide long range fighter escort for B-17 Flying Fortress and 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...
heavy bombers on strategic bombing missions over Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
. In April 1944 received P-51D Mustang fighter aircraft and continuing its primary task of escorting B-17 and B-24 bombers that attacked such targets as industries and marshalling yards in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and airfields and V-weapon sites in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
The squadron flew air patrols over the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and bombed bridges in the Tours
Tours
Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire department.It is located on the lower reaches of the river Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Touraine, the region around Tours, is known for its wines, the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the...
area during the Invasion of France
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
in June 1944. In July the squadron attacked gun emplacements during the Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in Normandy.-History:Originally called Briovère , the town is built on and around ramparts. Originally it was a Gaul fortified settlement...
breakthrough. The unit patrolled the Arnhem
Arnhem
Arnhem is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located near the river Nederrijn as well as near the St. Jansbeek, which was the source of the city's development. Arnhem has 146,095 residents as one of the...
sector to support the Airborne invasion of Holland in September 1944, and later in December, transportation facilities during the Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge was a major German offensive , launched toward the end of World War II through the densely forested Ardennes mountain region of Wallonia in Belgium, hence its French name , and France and...
. During the Western Allied invasion of Germany, the squadron flew ground support missions by strafing trucks, locomotives, and oil depots near Wesel
Wesel
Wesel is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Wesel district.-Division of the town:Suburbs of Wesel include Lackhausen, Obrighoven, Ginderich, Feldmark,Fusternberg, Büderich, Flüren and Blumenkamp.-History:...
when the Allies crossed the Rhine in March 1945 and continued offensive operations until 21 April 1945.
After the German Capitulation, became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe
United States Air Forces in Europe
The United States Air Forces in Europe is the United States Air Force component of U.S. European Command, a Department of Defense unified command, and is one of two Air Force Major Commands outside of the continental United States, the other being the Pacific Air Forces...
Army of Occupation, at AAF Station Kaufbeuren, then moved to AAF Station Giebelstadt in early 1946 where it received its first jet aircraft, the P-80A Shooting Star. Inactivated in August 1946 when personnel were demobilized and aircraft were transferred to the 31st Fighter Group.
Reactivated by Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
in 1947 as a reconnaissance squadron, equipped with RB-17 Flying Fortress aircraft. Flew aerial photography, mapping, charting, and photo reconnaissance missions, some of which flew around borders of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and over the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany. Little was known about the air defense capability of the Soviet Union at this time and the most effective way of determining their capability was to probe the borders and see whether they would respond. Gradually the RB-17s and other aircraft mapped the perimeter of the Soviet Air Defenses from the Baltic
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
to the Sea of Okhotsk
Sea of Okhotsk
The Sea of Okhotsk is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, lying between the Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands on the southeast, the island of Hokkaidō to the far south, the island of Sakhalin along the west, and a long stretch of eastern Siberian coast along the west and...
, north of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Upgraded to RB-29 Superfotress aircraft in 1949 and continued its reconnaissance mission, however inactivated in 1949 due to budget reductions. Reactivated in 1950 at Ramey Air Force Base
Ramey Air Force Base
Ramey Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. In addition to a small on-site Air Force detachment, and occasional operations by the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, a portion of the former Air Force Base is operated by the United States Coast Guard as Coast...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, again flying RB-29s performing strategic reconnaissance, charting photography, precise electronic geodetic mapping, and electronic reconnaissance missions, upgrading to RB-50 Superfortresses in 1952.
Equipped in 1953 with RB-47E Stratojets and conducted a variety of classified overflights of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
during the 1950s. Some of these flights were mounted from Thule
Thule
Thule Greek: Θούλη, Thoulē), also spelled Thula, Thila, or Thyïlea, is, in classical European literature and maps, a region in the far north. Though often considered to be an island in antiquity, modern interpretations of what was meant by Thule often identify it as Norway. Other interpretations...
in 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...
and probed deep into the heart of the Soviet Union, taking a photographic and radar recording of the route attacking SAC bombers would follow to reach their targets. Flights which involved penetrating mainland Russia were termed SENSINT (Sensitive Intelligence) missions. One RB-47 even managed to fly 450 miles inland and photograph the city of Igarka
Igarka
Igarka is an town in Turukhansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia, located north of the Arctic Circle. It is also a port on the Yenisei River, located away from the river's mouth...
in Siberia
Siberia
Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...
. Beginning in 1958, used 3 specially modified Stratojets, known as EB-47E’s (Tell Two), in Operation Iron Work to monitor Soviet missile tests from Baikonur
Baikonur
Baikonur , formerly known as Leninsk, is a city in Kyzylorda Province of Kazakhstan, rented and administered by the Russian Federation. It was constructed to service the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was officially renamed Baikonur by Russian president Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995.The shape of the...
, Tyuratam
Tyuratam
Tyuratam is a station on the main Moscow to Tashkent railway, located in Kazakhstan. The name is a word in the Kazakh language and means "Töre's grave"; Töre, or more formally, Töre-Baba, was a noble, a descendant of Genghis Khan...
and Kapustin Yar
Kapustin Yar
Kapustin Yar is a Russian rocket launch and development site in Astrakhan Oblast, between Volgograd and Astrakhan. Known today as Znamensk , it was established 13 May 1946 and in the beginning used technology, material, and scientific support from defeated Germany...
. The early EB-47E ‘Tell Two’ was easily recognizable as the aircraft were equipped with 2 large telemetry pods attached to either side of the fuselage, just aft of the nose, which intercepted data from Soviet data from missile tests. A later version of the ‘Tell Two’ housed the telemetry pods internally and had a streamlined nose. The USAF long range radar site at Samsum in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, on the south coast of the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
, also assisted in this activity.
Missions flown on a reduced scale after February 1958 when events showed the vulnerability of the RB-47 to Soviet air defenses and the development of the U-2 aircraft.
When the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing relocated to Offutt AFB on the 16th of August 1966, the 38th took over the Operation Looking Glass mission from the 34th Air Refueling Squadron
34th Air Refueling Squadron
The 34th Strategic Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 11th Strategic Group, stationed at Zaragoza Air Base, Spain...
and operated EC-135C as well as operating 3 KC-135R Rivit Stand reconnaissance aircraft. On the 1st of April 1970 SAC reorganized the Post Attack Command and Control mission and the 38th inactivated and turned the mission over to the newly 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron
2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron
The United States Air Force's 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron was an airborne command and control unit located at Offutt AFB, Nebraska...
.
The squadron flew worldwide strategic reconnaissance including in support of the Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
in October 1962, Operation Urgent Fury in October 1983, Operation El Dorado Canyon
Operation El Dorado Canyon
The 1986 United States bombing of Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, comprised the joint United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps air-strikes against Libya on April 15, 1986. The attack was carried out in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.-Origins:Shortly after his...
in April 1986, Operation Just Cause in December 1989, and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm from January-February 1991.
Lineage
- Constituted as 38 Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 20 Nov 1940
- Activated on 15 Jan 1941
- Redesignated: 38 Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) (Twin Engine), on 31 Jan 1942
- Redesignated: 38 Fighter Squadron (Twin Engine), on 15 May 1942
- Redesignated: 38 Fighter Squadron, Twin Engine, on 20 Aug 1943
- Redesignated: 38 Fighter Squadron, Single Engine, on 5 Sep 1944
- Inactivated on 20 Aug 1946
- Redesignated 38 Reconnaissance Squadron, Very Long Range, Mapping, on 3 Feb 1947
- Activated on 15 Mar 1947
- Redesignated 38 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Photo-Mapping, on 1 Jul 1949
- Inactivated on 14 Oct 1949
- Redesignated 38 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Medium, Photo, on 27 Oct 1950
- Activated on 1 Nov 1950
- Redesignated: 38 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Medium, on 16 Jun 1952
- Redesignated: 38 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron on 16 Aug 1966
- Inactivated on 1 Apr 1970
- Activated on 1 Apr 1979
- Redesignated 38 Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 Sep 1991.
Assignments
- 55th Pursuit (later, 55th Fighter) Group, 15 Jan 1941-20 Aug 1946
- 5th Reconnaissance Group, 15 Mar 1947
- 311th Air Division311th Air DivisionThe 311th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, being stationed at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas...
, 26 May 1949
- Attached to 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 26 May-1 Jun 1949
- 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Group, 1 Jun-14 Oct 1949; 1 Nov 1950
- Attached to: 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 1 Nov 1950-6 Jan 1951
- Attached to: 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 6 Jan 1951-15 Jun 1952
- Further attached to: 3d Air Division, 15 Jan-28 May 1951
- Further attached to: 7th Air Division, 5 Apr 1952-
- 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 16 Jun 1952-1 Apr 1970
- Remained attached to 7th Air Division to 9 Aug 1952
- 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 1 Apr 1979
- 55th Operations Group55th Operations GroupThe 55th Operations Group is a component of the 55th Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Offut Air Force Base, Nebraska....
, 1 Sep 1991–Present
Stations
- Hamilton FieldHamilton Air Force BaseHamilton Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located along the western shore of San Pablo Bay, south of Novato, California.-History:...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(1941) - Columbia Airport, OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
(1941) - McChord Field, Washington (1941–1942)
- Paine FieldPaine FieldPaine Field, also known as Snohomish County Airport is a public airport located in unincorporated Snohomish County, between Mukilteo and Everett, Washington...
, Washington (1942–1943) - RAF NuthampsteadRAF NuthampsteadRAF Nuthampstead is a former World War II airfield in England. The airfield is located mostly in Hertfordshire between the villages of Nuthampstead and Anstey in Hertfordshire and Langley and Lower Green in Essex. The eastern part of the airfield including part of the East-West Runway, the Fuel...
, England (1943–1944) - RAF WormingfordRAF WormingfordRAF Station Wormingford is a former World War II airfield in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately northwest of Colchester....
, England (1944–1945) - KaufbeurenKaufbeurenKaufbeuren is an independent city in the Regierungsbezirk of Schwaben, southern Bavaria. The city is completely enclaved within the district of Ostallgäu.- Culture and Objects of Interest :* Townhall * Crescentiakloster...
, Germany (1945–1946) - GiebelstadtGiebelstadtGiebelstadt is a municipality in the district of Würzburg in Bavaria in Germany.History of GiebelstadtThe town is the birthplace of Florian Geyer , also known as "Florian Geier from Giebelstadt", a Franconian nobleman who led the Black Company during the Peasants War resulting from the Protestant...
, Germany (1946) - Clark Air BaseClark Air BaseClark Air Base is a former United States Air Force base on Luzon Island in the Philippines, located 3 miles west of Angeles City, about 40 miles northwest of Metro Manila. Clark Air Base was an American military facility from 1903 to 1991...
, LuzonLuzonLuzon 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...
(1947–1949) - Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California (1949)
- Forbes Air Force BaseForbes Air Force BaseForbes Field, previously Forbes Air Force Base, is a joint-use civil-military airport operated by the Topeka Airport Authority located approximately south of Topeka, Kansas....
, KansasKansasKansas 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...
(1949) - Barksdale Air Force BaseBarksdale Air Force BaseBarksdale Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately east-southeast of Bossier City, Louisiana.The host unit at Barksdale is the 2d Bomb Wing , the oldest Bomb Wing in the Air Force. It is assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command's Eighth Air Force...
, LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
(1950–1951) - Ramey Air Force BaseRamey Air Force BaseRamey Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. In addition to a small on-site Air Force detachment, and occasional operations by the Puerto Rico Air National Guard, a portion of the former Air Force Base is operated by the United States Coast Guard as Coast...
, Puerto RicoPuerto RicoPuerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
(1951–1952)- Deployed: RAF BassingbournRAF BassingbournRAF Bassingbourn is a former military airbase located in Cambridgeshire approximately north of Royston, Hertfordshire and south west of Cambridge. During World War II it served first as an RAF station and then as a bomber base of the U.S. Eighth Air Force...
, England (15 January - 28 May 1951) - Deployed: RAF SculthorpeRAF SculthorpeRAF Sculthorpe is a military training facility for the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence, situated about west of Fakenham in Norfolk, England...
, England (5 April - 15 May 1952) - Deployed: RAF Upper HeyfordRAF Upper HeyfordRAF Upper Heyford was a Royal Air Force station located north-west of Bicester near the village of Upper Heyford, Oxfordshire, England. The base was brought into use for flying in July 1918 by the Royal Flying Corps. During World War II it was used by many units of the RAF, mainly as a training...
, England (15 May - 9 August 1952)
- Deployed: RAF Bassingbourn
- Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas (1952–1966)
- Deployed: Benguerir Air Base, French MoroccoFrench MoroccoFrench Protectorate of Morocco was a French protectorate in Morocco, established by the Treaty of Fez. French Morocco did not include the north of the country, which was a Spanish protectorate...
(30 May - 6 August 1955)
- Deployed: Benguerir Air Base, French Morocco
- Offutt Air Force BaseOffutt Air Force BaseOffutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S...
, Nebraska (1966–1970, 1979–present)
Aircraft Operated
- P-43 LancerP-43 LancerThe Republic P-43 Lancer was a single-engine, all-metal, low-wing monoplane fighter aircraft built by Republic, first delivered to the United States Army Air Corps in 1940. A proposed development was the P-44 Rocket. While no world-beater as a fighter, the P-43A had a very good high-altitude...
(1941) - P-38 LightningP-38 LightningThe Lockheed P-38 Lightning was a World War II American fighter aircraft built by Lockheed. Developed to a United States Army Air Corps requirement, the P-38 had distinctive twin booms and a single, central nacelle containing the cockpit and armament...
(1941–1944) - P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
(1943) - P-51 MustangP-51 MustangThe North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
(1944–1946) - P-80 Shooting StarP-80 Shooting StarThe Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces. Designed in 1943 as a response to the German Messerschmitt Me-262 jet fighter, and delivered in just 143 days from the start of the design process, production models were flying but...
(1946) - A-26 InvaderA-26 InvaderThe Douglas A-26 Invader was a United States twin-engined light attack bomber built by the Douglas Aircraft Co. during World War II that also saw service during several of the Cold War's major conflicts...
(1946) - B-17 Flying Fortress (1947)
- FB/RB-17 (1947–1949)
- RC-45 Expeditor (1948–1949)
- C-46 CommandoC-46 CommandoThe Curtiss-Wright C-46 Commando was a transport aircraft originally derived from a commercial high-altitude airliner design. It was instead used as a military transport during World War II by the United States Army Air Forces as well as the U.S. Navy/Marine Corps under the designation R5C...
(1948–1949) - C-47 SkytrainC-47 SkytrainThe Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
(1948–1949) - B-29 SuperfortressB-29 SuperfortressThe 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...
(1949) - RB-50 (1950–1954)
- RB-47 (1954–1965)
- EB-47B-47 StratojetThe Boeing Model 450 B-47 Stratojet was a long-range, six-engined, jet-powered medium bomber built to fly at high subsonic speeds and at high altitudes. It was primarily designed to drop nuclear bombs on the Soviet Union...
(1957–1965) - EC-135Boeing EC-135The Boeing EC-135 was a command & control version of the C-135 Stratolifter. Modified for the "Looking Glass" program, during the Cold War EC-135 were airborne 24 hours a day to serve as flying command platforms for the military in the event of nuclear war...
(1966–1970) - KC-135 StratotankerKC-135 StratotankerThe Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an aerial refueling military aircraft. It and the Boeing 707 airliner were developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype. The KC-135 was the US Air Force's first jet-powered refueling tanker and replaced the KC-97 Stratotanker...
(1966 - c. 1968) - RC-135 (1979–present)
Operations
- World War II
- Operation Urgent Fury
- Operation El Dorado CanyonOperation El Dorado CanyonThe 1986 United States bombing of Libya, code-named Operation El Dorado Canyon, comprised the joint United States Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps air-strikes against Libya on April 15, 1986. The attack was carried out in response to the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing.-Origins:Shortly after his...
- Operation Just Cause
- Operation Desert Shield
- Operation Desert Storm