38th Reconnaissance Squadron - History

History

Established in late 1942 as a P-38 Lightning fighter squadron, trained under Second Air Force in the pacific northwest. Deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), assigned to VIII Fighter Command in England in late 1943. Squadron's mission was to provide long range fighter escort for B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bombers on strategic bombing missions over Occupied Europe and Nazi Germany. 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, and airfields and V-weapon sites in France.

The squadron flew air patrols over the English Channel and bombed bridges in the Tours area during the Invasion of France in June 1944. In July the squadron attacked gun emplacements during the Saint-Lô breakthrough. The unit patrolled the Arnhem sector to support the Airborne invasion of Holland in September 1944, and later in December, transportation facilities during the Battle of the Bulge. During the Western Allied invasion of Germany, the squadron flew ground support missions by strafing trucks, locomotives, and oil depots near Wesel 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 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 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 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 to the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan.

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, Puerto Rico, 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 during the 1950s. Some of these flights were mounted from Thule 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 of Igarka in Siberia. 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, Tyuratam and Kapustin 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 to Offutt AFB on the 16th of August 1966, the 38th took over the Operation Looking Glass mission from the 34th Air Refueling Squadron and operated EC-135C as well as operating 3 KC-135R Rivit 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 newly 2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron.

The squadron flew worldwide strategic reconnaissance including in support of the Cuban 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 Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm from January–February 1991.