9th Combat Operations Squadron | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1943–1945; 1946–1947; 1953–1971; 1999–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Space operations |
| Part of | Air Force Reserve Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Vandenberg Space Force Base, California |
| Nickname | Blackhawks[citation needed] |
| Motto | Semper Summatum (Latin for 'Always the Highest') |
| Engagements | European Theater of Operations |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Air Force Organizational Excellence Award |
| Insignia | |
| 9th Combat Operations Squadron emblem[b][1] |  |
| 9th Reconnaissance Squadron emblem[c][2] |  |
TheUnited States Air Force's9th Combat Operations Squadron is anAir Force Reserve Command space operations unit located atVandenberg Space Force Base, California. The 9th augments the614th Air and Space Operations Center in operating theJoint Space Operations Center, performing combat operations, plans, strategy and intelligence assessments that enable the Commander,Joint Functional Component Command for Space to command and control space forces by providing worldwide space effects and theater support to combatant commanders.
Thesquadron was first activated in 1943 as the761st Bombardment Squadron. After training in the United States, it deployed to theMediterranean Theater of Operations, where it participated in thestrategic bombing campaign against Germany, and it earned aDistinguished Unit Citation for its actions. FollowingV-E Day, the squadron moved to Brazil, where it became part ofAir Transport Command, returning troops to the United States before it was inactivated on 26 September 1945.
The squadron was redesignated the9th Reconnaissance Squadron and reactivated in the Far East in 1946. For the next two years, it performed mapping andreconnaissance missions, until it transferred its assets to another unit and was inactivated. It was activated again in 1953 as the9th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, and in 1956, became the first squadron to fly theDouglas RB-66 Destroyer. During theCuban Missile Crisis, the squadron flew photographic reconnaissance missions. It deployed equipment and personnel to Southeast Asia, although it remained in the United States as a training unit until inactivating in 1971.
The squadron was activated in thereserve in 1999 as the9th Space Operations Squadron.
The9th Combat Operations Squadron is anassociate squadron to the614th Air and Space Operations Center and augments the active duty center in day-to-day operations of theJoint Space Operations Center, a 24-hour operations center designed to provide commanders with assistance coordinating, planning, and conducting space operations.[3]
Thesquadron is composed of four divisions that provide steady-state and surge support in theCombined Space Operations Center.
The squadron was first activated as the761st Bombardment Squadron atAlamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico on 1 July 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the460th Bombardment Group.[1][5] Acadre of the unit's air echelon went toOrlando Army Air Base, Florida for specialized training with theArmy Air Forces School of Applied Tactics. In August, the unit was filled out with ground personnel atKearns Army Air Base, Utah, then moved toChatham Army Air Field, Georgia to complete its training withConsolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombers.[6] Upon completing training, the squadron departed for theMediterranean Theater of Operations in January 1944.[1][5]
Thesquadron completed its deployment toSpinazzola Airfield, Italy by the middle of February 1944, and entered thestrategic bombing campaign against Germany the following month, with an attack on amarshalling yard and docks atMetković, Yugoslavia.[7] It attacked oilrefineries and storage facilities, railroads, industrial areas, including aircraft manufacturing plants in Austria, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Yugoslavia.[5]
On 26 July 1944, the squadron was part of a 460th Group formation that led the55th Bombardment Wing on an attack against an airfield and aircraft manufacturing plant atZwolfaxing, Austria. It attacked the target through heavy enemyflak and adverse weather, for which it was awarded aDistinguished Unit Citation.[5]
The squadron was occasionally diverted from the strategic bombing mission to performair interdiction andclose air support missions. In August 1944, it supportedOperation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France by attackingsubmarine pens,marshalling yards andartillery batteries in the area of the amphibious landings. It strucklines of communications, railroads,ammunition dumps and other targets in connection withOperation Grapeshot, theallied offensive in Northern Italy.[5] The squadron flew its last mission against a target in northern Italy on 26 April 1945.[7]
AfterV-E Day, the 460th Group and its squadrons were transferred to theSouth Atlantic Division, Air Transport Command, moving toParnamirim Field, nearNatal, Brazil to participate in the Green Project. Green Project was aimed at transporting 50,000 military personnel a month from the European and Mediterranean Theaters back to the United States, with priority for those that plans called for redeploying to the Pacific.[8] The squadron's combat veterans proved none too happy with this assignment,[9] but continued supporting the project until inactivating on 26 September 1945.[1]
In 1946, the 761st was redesignated the9th Reconnaissance Squadron and assigned to the314th Composite Wing, ofFifth Air Force, atJohnson Air Base and thenYokota Air Base, Japan.[2] 9th airmen flew theBell P-39 Airacobra, as well as the Consolidated F-7 Liberator, Boeing F-9 Flying Fortress, andBoeing F-13 Superfortress bombers retrofitted to perform photographic reconnaissance performing mapping missions over occupied Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Indochina, and other areas underFar East Air Forces' control after World War II. The squadron also flew classified missions over the Soviet Far East.
The squadron was inactivated in October 1947 and its personnel, equipment and mission were transferred to the31st Reconnaissance Squadron.[2][10] The squadron was reactivated atShaw Air Force Base, South Carolina on 11 November 1953, as the9th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, and was assigned to the363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group.[1] The squadron's initial equipment was theDouglas RB-26 Invader, plus oneNorth American B-25 Mitchell. These aircraft had been modified with specialelectronic warfare equipment, includingAN/APR-4 and AN/APR-9 radar receivers, andAN/APA-17 direction finders. Some were also fitted withAN/APT-1 jammers and chaff dispensers. Although the unit's wartime role was to fly ferret and stand-off jamming missions, the main task assigned to it was to provide jamming training for ground radar operators.[11]
In January 1956, the squadron was the first in the Air Force to receive jet poweredDouglas RB-66B Destroyers, which added weather sampling capability.[12] The unit later flew other upgraded models of the plane (RB-66C and WB-66D).[13] The arrival of the B-66s enabled the squadron to retire its RB-26s as well as theLockheed RT-33A Shooting Stars it had begun using forweather reconnaissance. WhenTactical Air Command adopted the dual deputy organization, it inactivated the squadron's parent 363d Reconnaissance Group, and assigned the squadron directly to the363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing.[1] In 1961, three of the squadron's WB-66s deployed toClark Air Base in Operation Long Pass, a joint deployment exercise in the Philippines.[11]
In 1962, 9th had aNavy squadron commander, Commander Chester E. Kingsbury,[citation needed] and flew classified film missions supporting theCuban Missile Crisis starting in October 1962.[1] Between 1963 and 1966, the 9th routinely deployed aircraft and crews to Southeast Asia[1] and served as an Air Force training squadron for the upgraded B-66 Destroyer.[citation needed]
In 1969, the 9th moved toBergstrom Air Force Base, Texas, where it became part of the75th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing and flewMcDonnell RF-4 Phantom IIs. On 31 August 1971, the squadron inactivated.[1] The squadron's aircraft and personnel were transferred to the12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, which moved to Bergstrom on paper from Vietnam as USAF forces in Southeast Asia were reduced.[14]
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Since the early 1990s, the space command and control mission evolved rapidly. In 1994,14th Air Force was activated atVandenberg Air Force Base, California and became responsible for space operations. Between 1994 and 1998, United States Air Force reservists supportedFourteenth Air Force on various man-day tours, primarily asindividual mobilization augmentees. In 1999, Captain Patrick Assayag led a team to discuss the possibility of activating a reserve squadron to support the 614th Space Operations Flight.
On 1 October 1999, the9th Space Operations Squadron was activated as areserve squadron[15] with 37 billets and the responsibility of supporting the newly redesignated614th Space Operations Squadron to build the weekly Space Tasking Order. Many reservists supporting Fourteenth Air Force were then reassigned to the 9th Squadron. At the unit activation ceremony, Major General Robert Hinson, commander of Fourteenth Air Force, stated "our ability to maintain our nation's superiority in space is dependent upon the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve as critical contributors to part of a cohesive Total Force."
In 2002, the space mission transferred fromUnited States Space Command toUnited States Strategic Command, as Space Command inactivated. Then in 2003, Strategic Command's Joint Force Component Command was developed, and the Joint Space Operations Center was activated under the command's Space and Global Strike.[citation needed]
In 2005, as the Fiscal Year 2008 Program Objective Memorandum was drafted, Air Force Space Command increased the squadron's manpower authorization from 37 to 126 billets, ensuring additional support to the 614th and the new614th Space Intelligence Squadron. Also that year, the1st Space Control Squadron moved to Vandenberg to become part of the 614th Space Operations Squadron. The 1st and 614th Space Operations Squadron combined to form the 614th Air and Space Operations Center in 2007.
In 2010, the command structure of the 9th was adjusted to bring it more in line with the host 614 AOC's O-6 led command and division chief structure.[clarification needed what does this mean?]
The 9th was redesignated the9th Combat Operations Squadron in a ceremony held on 3 June 2017[4] to follow the name standard of other reserve units associated with Air Operations Centers throughout the Air Force. Today, the 9th is a unit of over 100 space, intelligence and communications professionals, expanding the role of support of the 614th and theCombined Space Operations Center.
| Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Distinguished Unit Citation | 26 July 1944 | Austria 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 23 October 1962-24 November 1962 | 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 November 1969-31 May 1971 | 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 15 July 1971-31 August 1971 | 9th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 October 2002–30 July 2004 | 9th Space Operations Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 August 2004–31 July 2006 | 9th Space Operations Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 August 2006–31 July 2008 | 9th Space Operations Squadron[1] |
 | Air Force Organizational Excellence Award | 1 October 2001–30 September 2003 | 9th Space Operations Squadron[1] |
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Air Offensive, Europe | c. 11 February 1944 – 5 June 1944 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Air Combat, EAME Theater | c. 11 February 1944 – 11 May 1945 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Rome-Arno | c. 11 February 1944 – 9 September 1944 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Central Europe | 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Normandy | 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Northern France | 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Southern France | 15 August 1944 – 14 September 1944 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| North Apennines | 10 September 1944 – 4 April 1945 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Rhineland | 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Po Valley | 3 April 1945 – 8 May 1945 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
.png) | American Theater without inscription | 15 June 1945–25 September 1945 | 761st Bombardment Squadron[1] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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