| 1st Reconnaissance Squadron | |
|---|---|
Emblem of the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron |
|
| Active | 5 March 1913– |
| Country | United States of America |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Aerial reconnaissance |
| Role | Training Squadron |
| Part of | 9th Reconnaissance Wing Air Combat Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Beale Air Force Base |
| Engagements | Mexico 1916–1917; World War I World War II Vietnam War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Benjamin Delahauf Foulois |
The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron (1 RS) 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,[1] and the first organization to be established as a U.S. military flying unit. Since 1922 the 1st Squadron has been associated with the USAAF 9th Bomb Group and the USAF 9th Reconnaissance Wing, where it continues to be an active flying training unit operating the Lockheed U-2 and the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance aircraft.[2]
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The squadron was provisionally created as the 1st Aero Squadron of the U.S. Army Signal Corps on 5 March 1913,[3] when eight Wright and Burgess designs were brought together for the first time as a unit. Under the command of Captain Charles deForest Chandler (Chief of the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps) and led in the field by 1st Lt. Thomas DeWitt Milling, the provisional unit was based in Texas City, Texas, to support the United States Army ground forces gathering as a response to a possible war with the revolutionary forces of General Victoriano Huerta in Mexico.[4] The 1st Aero Squadron relocated to North Island, San Diego, California, as a flying training unit on 28 November 1913.
The 1st Aero Squadron was officially announced in general orders as a unit of the U.S. Army on 8 December 1913.[2] The Chief Signal officer approved a table of organization for the unit on 7 January 1914, consisting of two companies of eight officers and 45 enlisted men each, and eight aircraft. At the time of its formation, 1st Company consisted of Burgess Model H tractors S.C. No. 9, 24, 25, and 26; while 2nd Company consisted of Curtiss aircraft S.C. No. 2 (a Curtiss Model D), 6 (Curtiss Model E), 22 (Curtiss Model G) and 23 (an aircraft assembled from spare parts for the Curtiss E). The initial composition of the squadron was short three pilots. (According to the U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, during this period other training aircraft included at least one example of the Wright Model B, Burgess F, Burgess I-Scout, Burgess J-Scout, and the Martin T.[2])
Detachments of the 1st Aero Squadron returned to Fort Crockett, Texas, on April 30, 1914 when the Tampico Affair threatened war again, although they arrived too late to be transshipped to Mexico and their aircraft were never uncrated, and to Brownsville in March 1915 when civil war broke out between Francisco "Pancho" Villa and the government of Venustiano Carranza. Now a unit of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, the squadron transferred by rail on 29 July 1915, to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, to learn artillery spotting using new Curtiss JN-2s. A fatal crash occurred on 12 August, followed by a second crash on 5 September after protests about its safety were overruled by squadron commander Capt. Benjamin D. Foulois. The six surviving JN-2s were grounded until 14 October, when they were converted to the newer JN-3. The squadron flew to Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, on 15 November 1915.
On 9 March 1916, Villista forces raided Columbus, New Mexico, attacking units of the U.S. 13th Cavalry. The 1st Aero Squadron, consisting of 11 officers, 84 enlisted men, and a civilian mechanic, moved to Columbus by rail. Its first reconnaissance sortie on 16 March. On 19 March 1916, assigned to the punitive expedition commanded by Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing, the squadron flew into Mexico, where it operated until February 1917. A forward base was established at Colonia Dublán, the field headquarters of the Expedition near Nueva Casas Grandes in northern Chihuahua. Detachments continued to serve in Mexico after the squadron returned to Columbus on 22 April 1916, including San Geronimo, San Antonio, Satevo, Namiquipa, and El Valle, and by the end of May the squadron numbered 16 pilots and 122 enlisted men.
The squadron's 90 horsepower (67 kW) Curtiss JN3 airplanes were unable to climb over the 10,000 to 12,000-foot (3,700 m) mountains of the region or overcome the high winds of the passes through them. Dust storms frequently grounded the aircraft and wooden propellers de-laminated in the heat. The squadron carried mail and dispatches, flew limited reconnaissance, and acted as liaison between Pershing and forward units. By 20 April, only two airplanes remained in service (neither flyable, and both were destroyed), four having crashed and two others scavenged to provide replacement parts. Four new Curtiss N8 airplanes were delivered on 22 April, but they were little better than the JN3s which they closely resembled and were soon transferred to North Island as trainers. Another Curtiss airplane, the R2, was sent to the 1st Aero Squadron with 12 delivered by late May. The R2 was the latest type available but it too proved unsatisfactory for use on the border. Between 15 March and 15 August 1916, the 1st Aero Squadron flew 540 missions in Mexico.
The USAF Historical Research Agency notes that in addition to its Curtiss aircraft, the 1st Aero Squadron also field tested "H–2, H–3, Curtiss Twin JN, R–Land, Sturtevant Advanced Trainer, V–1, D–5, and Curtiss JN–4 during period 1916–1917."[2]
When the United States declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, the 1st Aero Squadron was still based at Columbus, New Mexico. The Army ordered the 1st Aero Squadron to Fort Jay, New York City, to accompany the 1st Division to France. The squadron arrived in August 1917, too late to join the 1st Division, but sailed for France on its own under the command of Major Ralph Royce. It arrived at Le Havre on 3 September 1917, the first U.S. squadron in France.
Untested U.S. squadrons were initially sent to a fairly inactive sector of the Front north of Toul to acquire combat experience at minimum risk. The 1st Aero Squadron trained at Avord, Issoudun and Amanty, France, during the winter of 1917–18. While at Amanty a member of the squadron, Lt. Stephen W. Thompson, achieved the first aerial victory by the U.S. military. The aircraft used by the squadron were the Curtiss AR-1, Spad XIII pursuit plane, and Salmson 2 observation plane.
On 8 April 1918, the 1st Aero Squadron was assigned to an aerodrome at Ourches, and was joined shortly after by the 12th and 88th Aero Squadrons to form the 1st Corps Observation Group, the first U.S. air group. The group served as an observation unit for both the French XXXVIII Corps and the U.S. I Corps, moving its location nine times between April and November.
Early in July, when a German buildup was noted, the 1st Corps Observation Group moved westward to Saints to reinforce the French on the Marne River. Flying new Salmsons over the Champagne-Marne region, the 1st Aero Squadron supported U.S. Marines at Château-Thierry to prevent the German Army from crossing the Marne. The squadron then supported operations along the Aisne and Marne Rivers between (18 July to 6 August 1918).
In early September the I Corps Observation Group reorganized and operated from Toul and Bicqueley in preparation for the St. Mihiel offensive, beginning 12 September, the first large scale coordinated air effort by the United States. The 1st Aero Squadron relocated with the group to Remicourt as the largest and bloodiest battle involving American troops began, the Meuse-Argonne offensive from 26 September to 11 November 1918. The four Maltese crosses on the 9th Reconnaissance Wing's emblem represent these battles.
The squadron's primary duties were infantry contact patrols, photo reconnaissance, and artillery surveillance, but flying "protection" (escort) missions for other reconnaissance craft, 1st Aero Squadron pilots recorded 13 aerial victories during the war, commemorated by 13 Maltese crosses encircling the 1st's squadron emblem. The 1st Aero squadron lost 16 pilots killed in action and 3 missing-in-action.
After the Armistice the 1st Corps Observation Group was disbanded. The 1st Aero Squadron accompanied the U.S. III Corps as part of the occupation of Germany, stationed at Trier beginning 6 December 1918, and Weissenthurm from 21 January to July 1919, after which it returned to the United States, based first at Park Field, Tennessee, on 4 August 1919, and then at Mitchel Field, New York, on 10 October 1919, where it remained until 1940.[2]
Assigned as a component of the Air Service's 1st Army Observation Group (briefly the 7th Observation Group in 1921) from 1 October 1919, to 30 August 1921, the 1st Aero Squadron was redesignated the 1st Squadron (Observation) on 14 March 1921. It was attached to the 1st Provisional Air Brigade from 1 May to 3 October 1921. This temporary unit, organized by Gen. William L. Mitchell, sank the German battleship Ostfriesland on 21 July in bombardment tests. The squadron functioned briefly as part of the 2nd Wing before being assigned to the Second Corps Area on 30 September 1921. The 1st Aero Squadron used the de Havilland DH-4 observation airplane as its primary equipment from 1919 to 1928.
The 1st Squadron was assigned as a component squadron of the new 9th Observation Group on 1 August 1922. It was assigned directly to the II Corps on 23 March 1923, as the 1st Observation Squadron, but remained attached to the 9th Observation Group. This command arrangement continued until 15 February 1929, when the 1st Observation Squadron was permanently assigned to the 9th Group.[2]
Its aircraft from 1928 to 1935 was primarily the Curtiss O-1B Falcon observation plane, but it also field tested and employed other Falcon variants (O-13, O-39, and Y1O-40 Raven) and several Douglas observation types, the Y1O-31, Y1O-35 and O-35. The 1st Observation Squadron's O-35s all participated in delivering the U.S. Mail in 1934 without loss.[2]
The Air Service became the U.S. Army Air Corps on 2 July 1926, and kept that title until reorganized as the United States Army Air Forces on June 20, 1941. In early 1935 the Air Corps was re-organized, with all combat groups being centrally controlled for the first time, under a new command organization called General Headquarters, Air Force. The role of observation as the primary function of the air arm had been de-emphasized in the creation of eight new Air Corps groups between 1927 and 1932. With the creation of General Headquarters Air Force (GHQAF) it was further de-emphasized when the 9th and its component squadrons were converted into a bombardment group and made a part of the 2nd Wing, responsible for the air defense of the East Coast of the United States.[5]
The 1st Observation Squadron became the 1st Bombardment Squadron on 1 March 1935, and was equipped with Keystone B-6 bombers. It converted to Martin B-10 bombers in 1936 and operated these until 1938, when it again re-equipped, with Douglas B-18 bombers. The designations of the squadron changed in the late 1930s as the role of bombardment became pre-eminent in the Air Corps, becoming the 1st Bomb Squadron (Medium) on 6 December 1939, and the 1st Bomb Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940. During the period 1935–1940 the 1st Bomb Squadron trained aircrews, took part in maneuvers, and participated in air shows.[2]
The 1st deployed with its parent group on 12 November 1940, to Rio Hato, an airfield on the Gulf of Panama, to serve as part of the defense force for the Panama Canal. The 9th Bomb Group was then relocated in a series of moves to Caribbean bases to conduct antisubmarine patrols, with the 1st Bomb Squadron sent to Piarco Airport, Trinidad, on 24 April 1941; followed on 30 October by a second move to join the group headquarters squadron at Trinidad's Waller Field. The group's Headquarters Squadron was disbanded on 22 July 1942, and the 1st Bomb Squadron switched stations to Edinburg Field, Trinidad, on 23 August, where as part of the Antilles Air Task Force it continued antisubmarine patrols and conducted reconnaissance of the Vichy French fleet at Martinique.[5][6]
The 9th Bomb Group and its squadrons were returned without personnel or equipment to the US in October 1942, where all were reconstituted as part of the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) at Orlando Army Air Base, Florida. The 1st Bomb Squadron was assigned to AAFSAT's satellite airfield at Brooksville, Florida, where it used Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress aircraft to train cadres for heavy bomb groups in organization and operations, performed bombing pattern tests, experimented with tactical formations to attack moving ships, and performed equipment tests.[6]
On 1 March 1944, the 1st Bomb Squadron was moved without aircraft or personnel to Dalhart Army Airfield, Texas. There, on 28 March, it was re-designated the 1st Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) and began to organization process for training as a B-29 Superfortress squadron.[2]
During April the key personnel of the new squadron assembled at Dalhart, forming the command cadre, and were transferred with the group to McCook Army Airfield, Nebraska. After a brief period establishing the unit at McCook, the cadre of group and squadron operations staffs went by train to AAFSAT in May for the 4-week training course in organizing and operating very heavy bombardment units in the field. While the cadre was at AAFSAT, the influx of new personnel continued at McCook.[7]
After the return of the squadron staff in June, 1944, the squadron organized new crews and conducted an intensive program of ground and flying training using B-17 aircraft to practice takeoffs, landings, instrument and night flying, cross-country navigation, high altitude formation flying, and bombing and gunnery practice.
The development of the B-29 as an operational weapon had been plagued since an early flight test on 28 December 1942, resulted in an engine fire, culminating in a massive emergency modification program in the winter of 1943–44 ordered by General Henry H. Arnold, Chief of the Army Air Forces, and nicknamed the "Battle of Kansas". In particular the program sought to resolve a spate of problems with serious engine fires and faulty gunnery central fire control systems. All B-29s modified in this program were diverted to the 58th Bomb Wing to meet President Franklin D. Roosevelt's commitment to China to have B-29s deployed to the China-Burma-India Theater in the spring of 1944, leaving none available to equip the 12 new groups being formed in the 73rd, 313th, and 314th Wings.
The 9th Group received its first training B-29 on 13 July 1944. After four further months of training the group commander declared the unit ready for movement overseas, and its ground echelon left McCook for Seattle, Washington, Port of Embarkation on 18 November 1944, traveling by troopship to the Mariana Islands on a voyage that required thirty days. The ground echelon of the group debarked at Tinian on 28 December and was assigned a camp on the west side of the island between the two airfields.[7]
The air echelon of the 1st Bomb Squadron began its overseas movement on 15 January 1945, from its staging base at Mather Army Airfield, California, after accepting the first of its 14 new B-29s at Herington Field, Kansas. The squadron's bombers proceeded individually by way of Hickam Field, Hawaii, and Kwajalein to North Field, Tinian, with the first three arriving on 18 January 1945. The final two of the original 14 airplanes arrived on Tinian on 3 February by which time the squadron had already flown three practice missions to the Maug Islands in the Northern Marianas.
The 1st Bomb Squadron conducted its first combat mission on 9 February 1945, against a Japanese naval airfield located on the island of Moen at Truk atoll (now known as the Chuuk Islands). Flown by day at an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,600 m), it was in actuality a further training mission, encountering no opposition. Its second mission was to Iwo Jima on 12 February, one week prior to D-Day for Operation Detachment. The capture of Iwo Jima had as its objective an emergency landing field for Twentieth Air Force bombers attacking Japan and a base for escorting P-51 and P-47 fighters.[8]
The first mission to the Japanese home islands was the 1st Bomb Squadron's fifth, flown 25 February 1945. Again a day mission flown at high altitude, the target was the port facilities of Tokyo. On the squadron's seventh mission, March 9–10, 1945, Tokyo was attacked with incendiaries by night and at low altitudes of 6,400 to 7,800 feet (2,400 m). This mission also resulted in the first loss of a 1st Squadron B-29 when the crew of L'il Iodine was forced to crash-land at sea when it ran out of fuel returning to Tinian, although the crew was rescued.[8]
The Tokyo fire raid was the first of five flown between 9 March and 18 March, resulting in devastation of four urban areas (Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe) and extensive civilian loss of life. The squadron had a bomber shot down and crew lost on 24 March 1945, attacking the Mitsubishi Aircraft factory at Nagoya, ironically the same crew that had ditched on 10 March.
On 27 March the 1st Squadron began a week of night missions sowing aerial anti-shipping mines of Japanese harbor approaches and Inland Sea ship passages, a mission they would again conduct during the entire second half of May. Attacks in April were a combination of night and medium altitude day missions against the Japanese aircraft industry, and beginning 18 April, three weeks of daytime attacks against Japanese airfields on Kyūshū launching Kamikaze attacks against U.S. naval forces at Okinawa.
On 1 June the 1st Bomb Squadron began a grim campaign of night fire raids against the remaining urban areas of Japan not previously attacked that continued to its final mission, 14 August 1945. In all the 1st Bomb Squadron flew 71 combat missions, 3 post-hostilities flyover missions, and one mission to drop medical and food supplies to liberated prisoners-of-war.
Of the 71 combat missions, 27 were fire raids, 14 mining, 13 against airfields, 9 against aircraft production, and 9 against other industry or targets other than the home islands. 39 of the missions were flown at night, and 32 by day. Only 6 of the 71 combat missions were flown above 20,000 feet (6,100 m) altitude.[8]
The 1st Bomb Squadron had 28 B-29s assigned to it on Tinian. Two were reassigned to other units, one was declared "war-weary" and used for local flights only, two were written off for salvage, one crashed on takeoff 20 May, destroying two parked bombers of another group and itself, and six were lost on missions—an aircraft attrition rate of 34.6% over six months. The squadron had 33 combat crews of 11 airmen each on its rosters during its combat operations. Four crews were missing in action or killed (12%), and three crews completed a full operational tour of 35 missions before the Japanese surrender.[9]
After the end of the war, the squadron received two Presidential Unit Citations as part of the 9th Bomb Group, for a mission against Kawasaki On April 15–16, 1945, and for mine-laying operations May 13–28, 1945.[5]
The 1st Bomb Squadron remained on Tinian until 7 March 1946, although most of its crews and aircraft were returned to the United States in the interim to be de-mobilized. On 14 March 1946, the group and squadron set up limited operations at Clark Field, Luzon, where they remained until 9 June 1947. By that date, although still an active unit, the squadron was unmanned, and was transferred "on paper" to Harmon Field, Guam, where it remained in a paper status until 10 October 1948.[5]
The United States Air Force became a separate military service on 18 September 1947, during the period of time when the 1st Squadron was without personnel or equipment. On 10 October 1948, the 1st Squadron was removed from the 9th Bomb Group (which was inactivated), re-designated the 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic, and assigned to the 311th Air Division of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas. Equipped with RB-29 and RB-17 aircraft, the 1st SRS was attached for operations to the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Group on 20 October 1948, where it remained until 31 May 1949.[2]
On 1 June 1949, the 1st SRS was transferred to Fairfield-Suisun Air Force Base, California, and re-assigned to the newly activated 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Group, now the combat component of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. The 1st SRS was re-designated the 1st Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 1 April 1950, and began training with both B-29 and B-36 bombers. On 2 October 1950, the 1st Squadron became the 1st Bombardment Squadron, Medium, equipped now with only B-29s.[2]
The 1st Bomb Squadron remained at Fairfield-Suisun AFB, which was re-named Travis Air Force Base in April 1951, and was attached to the 9th Bomb Wing in February 1951 as SAC began a phase-out of groups as operational units. On 16 June 1952, the 9th Group was inactivated and the squadron was assigned directly to Wing control.
On 1 May 1953, the 1st Bomb Squadron was transferred with the 9th Bomb Wing to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. In 1954 the squadron converted to the B-47 all-jet bomber. It remained at Mountain Home until 1966, with one overseas deployment in 1955 to RAF Fairford from 22 May to 8 July. The 1st Bomb Squadron was awarded an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for the period 1 January 1957 to 31 January 1958.[2]
During January to June 1966 the 1st Bomb Squadron phased out its operations at Mountain Home AFB. On 25 June 1966, as the 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, it took over the personnel and equipment of the 4201st SRS at Beale Air Force Base, California, and began training with the SR-71 strategic reconnaissance aircraft.
The squadron began flying operational sorties with the SR-71 in March 1968 with missions to North Vietnam and North Korea, and conducted high-altitude mach 3 photo reconnaissance missions worldwide until 1990, winning a Presidential Unit Citation for the period 31 March – 31 December 1968, and an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award With Combat "V" Device for the period 1 July 1972 – 30 June 1973. The 1st SRS also received ten Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards for the periods 1 July – 30 June of the years 1967–1968, 1970–1971, 1971–1972, 1975–1977, 1981–1982, 1983–1984, 1985–1986, 1986–1987, 1989–1990, and 1991–1993.[2]
On 1 July 1990, with the phase-out of SR-71 operations, the role of the 1st SRS changed when it became the 1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (Training), responsible for the selection and training of U-2 pilots using the U-2ST trainer. Since 1 July 1994, the squadron has been designated as the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron.
World War I:
World War II: