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38th Reconnaissance Squadron | |
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| Active | 1941–1946; 1947–1949; 1950–1970; 1979–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Reconnaissance andSurveillance |
| Part of | Air Combat Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Offutt Air Force Base |
| Mottos | Ducimus Ceteri Sequuntur (Latin for 'We Lead, Others Follow') (1957-1994)[1] |
| Engagements | European Theater of Operations Iraq War[2] Globalwar on terrorism[citation needed] |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Meritorious Unit Award Air Force Outstanding Unit Award[2] |
| Insignia | |
| 38th Reconnaissance Squadron emblem[b][2] |  |
| 38th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron emblem[c][1] |  |
| 38th Pursuit Squadron emblem[d][2] |  |
The38th Reconnaissance Squadron is aUnited States Air Force unit. It is a part of the55th Wing atOffutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. It operates theBoeing RC-135 aircraft conducting reconnaissance missions.
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.
Established in late 1942 as aLockheed P-38 Lightning fighter squadron, trained underSecond Air Force in the Pacific northwest. Deployed to theEuropean Theater of Operations, assigned toVIII Fighter Command in England in late 1943. Squadron's mission was to provide long range fighter escort forBoeing B-17 Flying Fortress andConsolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers on strategic bombing missions overOccupied Europe andNazi Germany. In April 1944 receivedP-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, and airfields and V-weapon sites in France.
The squadron flew air patrols over theEnglish Channel and bombed bridges in theTours area during theInvasion of France in June 1944. In July the squadron attacked gun emplacements during theSaint-Lô breakthrough. The unit patrolled theArnhem sector to support theAirborne invasion of the Netherlands in September 1944, and later in December, transportation facilities during theBattle of the Bulge. During theWestern Allied invasion of Germany, the squadron flew ground support missions by strafing trucks, locomotives, and oil depots nearWesel when the Allies crossed the Rhine in March 1945 and continued offensive operations until 21 April 1945.
After the German Capitulation, became part of theUnited States Air Forces in Europe Army of Occupation, at AAF Station Kaufbeuren, then moved toAAF Station Giebelstadt in early 1946 where it received its first jet aircraft, theLockheed P-80A Shooting Star. Inactivated in August 1946 when personnel were demobilized and aircraft were transferred to the31st Fighter Group.
The squadron was reactivated byStrategic Air Command in 1947 as a reconnaissance squadron, equipped with Boeing RB-17 Flying Fortress aircraft. It flew aerial photography, mapping, charting, and photo reconnaissance missions, some of which flew around borders of theSoviet Union and over the Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany. Little was known about theair 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 Sea to the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan.
The squadron was upgraded toBoeing RB-29 Superfortress aircraft in 1949 and continued its reconnaissance mission. However, it was again inactivated in 1949 due to budget reductions.
The squadron was again reactivated in 1950 atRamey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, again flying RB-29s performing strategic reconnaissance, charting photography, precise electronic geodetic mapping, and electronic reconnaissance missions, upgrading toBoeing RB-50 Superfortresses in 1952.
In 1953, the squadron was equipped withBoeing RB-47E Stratojets and conducted a variety of classified overflights of the Soviet Union during the 1950s. Some of these flights were mounted fromThule in Greenland 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 ofIgarka in Siberia. Beginning in 1958, used 3 specially modified Stratojets, known as EB-47Es (Tell Two), in Operation Iron Work to monitor Soviet missile tests fromBaikonur,Tyuratam andKapustin Yar. 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, on the south coast of the Black Sea, 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 toOffutt Air Force Base on 16 August 1966, the 38th took over theOperation Looking Glass mission from the34th Air Refueling Squadron and operatedBoeing EC-135C as well as operating 3 KC-135R Rivet Stand reconnaissance aircraft. On 1 April 1970 SAC reorganized the Post Attack Command and Control mission and the 38th inactivated and turned the mission over to the newly2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron.
The squadron flew worldwide strategic reconnaissance including in support of theCuban Missile Crisis in October 1962,Operation Urgent Fury in October 1983,Operation El Dorado Canyon in April 1986,Operation Just Cause in December 1989, and OperationsDesert Shield andDesert Storm from January–February 1991.[2]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| Air Combat Command (ACC) | |||||||||
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