95th Reconnaissance Squadron

95th Reconnaissance Squadron
95th Recon Sqn Emblem
Active	October 1, 1982 - present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Aerial reconnaissance
Part of	55th Operations Group
Garrison/HQ	Offutt Air Force Base
Nickname	"Kickin' Ass"
Engagements	World War I World War II

The 95th Reconnaissance Squadron (95 RS) is a United States Air Force reconnaissance unit based at Offutt Air Force Base, near Omaha, Nebraska. Although it is a component of the 55th Operations Group, main flying operations are conducted from RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom and Souda Bay, Crete.

Contents 1 Mission 2 History 2.1 Lineage 2.2 Assignments 2.3 Stations 3 Aircraft Flown 4 See also 5 References 6 Source of information 7 External links

Mission

Conducts RC-135 Rivet Joint flight operations in the European and Mediterranean theaters of operations as tasked by National Command Authorities and European Command. Provides all operational management, aircraft maintenance, administration, and intelligence support to produce politically sensitive real-time intelligence data vital to national foreign policy. Supports EC-135, OC-135, and E-4B missions when theater deployed.

History

The 95th RS was originally activated as the 95th Aero Squadron (a fighter unit) on August 20, 1917 at Kelly Field in Texas. It deployed to various locations in France during World War I, initially at Issoudun. On May 5, 1918, it was assigned to the 1st Pursuit Group. Well-known pilots with the 95th Aero Squadron who perished in World War I included Lt. Quentin Roosevelt, the youngest son of President Theodore Roosevelt, and Irby Curry. Both of them died while the squadron was based in Saints, France. A number of aces also served with the unit, including Lansing Holden, Sumner Sewall, Harold Buckley, Edward Peck Curtis, James Knowles, and one of its commanding officers, Captain David M. Peterson.^[1]

After the war ended on November 11, 1918, the 95th Aero Squadron was demobilized on March 18, 1919.

The 95th Aero Squadron underwent various activations and inactivations over the years and experienced numerous name changes. During World War II, it was known as the 95th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) and was a squadron in the 17th Bombardment Group that provided B-25 Mitchells and crews for the Doolittle Raid and later flew the B-26 Marauder in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.

After being inactivated on June 25, 1958, it was redesignated as the 95th Reconnaissance Squadron on January 20, 1982 and reactivated at RAF Alconbury in the United Kingdom on 1 October 1982. It flew U-2 and TR-1 aircraft in support of NATO and US Air Forces Europe missions. After the end of the Cold War, the 95th RS was no longer needed and the unit was inactivated on 15 September 1993. This hiatus did not last long as the unit was reactivated on 1 July 1994 at RAF Mildenhall, this time flying the RC-135 Rivet Joint, OC-135 Open Skies and E-4B aircraft.

Lineage

• Organized as 95 Aero Squadron on 20 Aug 1917

Demobilized on 18 Mar 1919

• Organized on 12 Aug 1919

Redesignated: 95 Squadron (Pursuit) on 14 Mar 1921

Redesignated: 95 Pursuit Squadron on 30 Sep 1922

Redesignated: 95 Pursuit Squadron, Air Service, on 25 Jan 1923

Redesignated: 95 Pursuit Squadron, Air Corps, on 8 Aug 1926

Inactivated on 31 Jul 1927

• Redesignated: 95 Pursuit Squadron, and activated, on 1 Jun 1928

Redesignated: 95 Attack Squadron on 1 Mar 1935

Redesignated: 95 Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 17 Oct 1939

Redesignated: 95 Bombardment Squadron, Medium, on 9 Oct 1944

Inactivated on 26 Nov 1945

• Redesignated: 95 Bombardment Squadron, Light, on 29 Apr 1947

Activated on 19 May 1947

Inactivated on 10 Sep 1948

• Redesignated: 95 Bombardment Squadron, Light, Night Intruder, on 8 May 1952

Activated on 10 May 1952

Redesignated: 95 Bombardment Squadron, Tactical, on 1 Oct 1955

Inactivated on 25 Jun 1958

• Redesignated: 95 Reconnaissance Squadron on 20 Jan 1982

Activated on 1 Oct 1982

Inactivated on 15 Sep 1993

• Activated on 1 Jul 1994

Assignments

Unknown, 20 Aug 1917-Nov 1917 3d Aviation Instruction Center, c. 16 Nov 1917 1st Pursuit Organization and Training Center, c. 19 Feb 1918 1st Pursuit Group, 5 May-24 Dec 1918 Unknown, 24 Dec 1918-18 Mar 1919 1st Pursuit Group, 12 Aug 1919 Air Corps Training Center, c. 7 Jun-31 Jul 1927 Unknown, 1 Jun 1928-30 May 1929 Possibly attached to 7th Bombardment Group

17th Pursuit (later, 17 Attack; 17 Bombardment) Group, 31 May 1929-26 Nov 1945 Attached to 7th Bombardment Group, 31 May 1929-29 Oct 1931 17th Bombardment Group, 19 May 1947-10 Sep 1948; 10 May 1952-25 Jun 1958 Attached to 17th Bombardment Wing, 8 Jun 1957-25 Jun 1958 17th Reconnaissance Wing, 1 Oct 1982 9th Strategic Reconnaissance (later, 9th Reconnaissance) Wing, 30 Jun 1991-15 Sep 1993 55th Operations Group, 1 Jul 1994-Present

Stations

Kelly Field, Texas, 20 Aug 1917 Hazelhurst Field, New York, 5-27 Oct 1917 Issoudun, France, 16 Nov 1917 Villeneuve-les-Vertus, France, 18 Feb 1918 Epiez, France, 1 Apr 1918 Toul, France, 4 May 1918 Touquin, France, 28 Jun 1918 Saints, France, 9 Jul 1918 Rembercourt, France, 2 Sep 1918 Flight operated from Verdun, France, 7 Nov 1918-unkn Colombey-les-Belles, France, c. 11 Dec 1918 Brest, France, 6-19 Feb 1919 Camp Mills, New York, 1 Mar 1919 Garden City, New York, 4-18 Mar 1919 Selfridge Field, Michigan, 12 Aug 1919 Kelly Field, Texas, 31 Aug 1919 Ellington Field, Texas, 1 Jul 1921 Selfridge Field, Michigan, 1 Jul 1922 March Field, California, 7 Jun-31 Jul 1927 Rockwell Field, California, 1 Jun 1928 March Field, California, 29 Oct 1931 Rockwell Field, California, 3 May 1932 March Field, California, 14 May 1932 Rockwell Field, California, 1 Jul 1932 March Field, California, 9 Aug 1932 Rentschler Field, Connecticut, 2 May 1938

March Field, California, 20 May 1938 Operated from Kern County Airport, Bakersfield, California, 14-26 Jan 1940 McChord Field, Washington, 26 Jun 1940 Pendleton Field, Oregon, 29 Jun 1941 Lexington County Airport, South Carolina, 15 Feb 1942 Barksdale Field, Louisiana, 24 Jun-18 Nov 1942 Telergma Airfield, Algeria, c. 24 Dec 1942 Sedrata Airfield, Algeria, 14 May 1943 Djedeida Airfield, Tunisia, 25 Jun 1943 Villacidro Airfield, Sardinia, c. 5 Dec 1943 Poretta Airfield, Corsica, c. 19 Sep 1944 Dijon Airfield (Y-9), France, c. 21 Nov 1944 Linz Airport, Austria, c. 14 Jun 1945 Ebensee, Austria (Ground echelon), 5 Jul 1945 Clastres Airfield, France, c. 3 Oct-c. 17 Nov 1945 Camp Myles Standish, Massachusetts, 25-26 Nov 1945 Langley Field, Virginia, 19 May 1947-10 Sep 1948 Pusan-East AB (K-9), South Korea, 10 May 1952 Operated from Pusan-West Airdrome (K-1), South Korea1 Oct-20 Dec 1952 Miho AB, Japan, c. 9 Oct 1954-c. 19 Mar 1955 Hurlburt Field, Florida, 1 Apr 1955-25 Jun 1958 RAF Alconbury, England, 1 Oct 1982-15 Sep 1993 RAF Mildenhall, England, 1 Jul 1994-Present

Aircraft Flown

• Nieuport 28, 1917–1918
• SPAD XIII, 1918
• B-25 Mitchell, 1941–1942
• B-26 Marauder, 1942–1945
• Lockheed U-2 and TR-1, 1983–1993
• RC-135U/V/W, 1994–present
• OC-135, 1994–present

See also

• List of American Aero Squadrons

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, AL: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• American Aces of World War I. Norman Franks, Harry Dempsey. Osprey Publishing, 2001. ISBN 1-84176-375-6, 9781841763750.

Source of information

External links

• Air Force Historical Research Agency
• Offutt Air Force Base web site
• July 14, 2008 - 90th anniversary Commemoration of 27th, 94th, 95th, 147th aero squadrons in France
• 95th Reconnaissance Squadron [95th RS]