The 13th Intelligence Squadron (13 IS) is part of the 548th Intelligence Group at

Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base in Yuba County, California, Yuba County, California. It is outside Linda, California, Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville, California, Marysville and Yuba City, and abo ...

. It is one of the exploitation units for the

Lockheed U-2 The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed the "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-engine, high–altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) since the 1950s. Designed for all- ...

(operated out of Beale AFB),

MQ-1 Predator The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the Predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ...

and

MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, one component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS)) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations, developed by General Atomi ...

(operated out of Nellis, NV) and

RQ-4 Global Hawk The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, Unmanned aerial vehicle, remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft introduced in 2001. It was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical (now part of Northrop Grumman), and known as Tier II+ d ...

(operated by the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, also at Beale AFB) unmanned aircraft conducting

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

and

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

missions.

Mission

The mission of the 13 IS is to operate Distributed Ground Station-2 (DGS-2), and conduct exploitation of intelligence data collected by the U-2 and Global Hawk and Predator unmanned aerial vehicles, while providing actionable, multisource combat intelligence to combatant commanders.AFISR Agency FOIA request – 13 IS Mission Statement

History

Activated in 1994, the 13th has exploited intelligence from the deployable, long-endurance

(which is operated by the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron to fulfill training and operational requirements generated by the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

in support of unified commanders and the Secretary of Defense).

Organization

The 13th Intelligence Squadron's history dates to the Second World War. Originally constituted on 1 February 1945, as the 13th Photographic Technical Unit at Maastricht, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in April 1945, the unit reported to France. In May 1945 following allied advances, the 13th reported to Germany where it was assigned to the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Group. On 20 November 1945, at the close of World War II, the 13th was inactivated. The unit was reactivated as the 13th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron on 10 April 1963 at Ton Son Nhut Airfield,

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

. The 13th conducted tactical reconnaissance photo-processing and exploitation focused on Vietnam. On 15 June 1967, the unit moved to

Clark Air Base Clark Air Base is a Philippine Air Force base in Luzon, located west of Angeles City, and about northwest of Metro Manila. It was previously operated by the U.S. Air Force and, before that, the U.S. Army, from 1903 to 1991. The base cov ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

until it was again inactivated on 15 June 1971. In 1992, the 548th Air Intelligence Group (AIG), Detachment 1 was activated at

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to prepare a site for the Contingency Airborne Reconnaissance System (CARS), Deployable Ground Station Two (DGS-2). On 29 September 1994, the 548th AIG, Det 1 was re-designated the 13th Intelligence Squadron. At that point, the unit was charged with conducting near-real-time imagery exploitation and all-source analysis of U-2 derived intelligence. Using state-of-the-art ground and satellite relays, DGS-2 crews pioneered the practice of "reach-back" collection, using sensors on board a U-2 aircraft operating half-way around the world as if they were virtually on board the aircraft. In August 1995, the 13th IS, as part of DGS-2, supported Operation DELIBERATE FORCE, a brief

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

air campaign in the former Yugoslav republic of

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to the north a ...

. In November 1995, DGS-2 participated in Operation JOINT GUARDIAN supporting multi-national peacekeeping forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Because of its outstanding performance, completing over 450 successful missions, the 13th Intelligence Squadron was awarded the Director of the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation The National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation (NIMUC) is an award of the National Intelligence Awards Program, for contributions to the United States Intelligence Community. It may be "...awarded for the collective performance of a unit or g ...

for 1996 and 1997. In January 1998, the 13th IS conducted the first

operational tasking utilizing the Extended Tether Program (ETP) architecture. ETP provided DGS-2 with a worldwide, quickly deployable two-way satellite link to the U-2 aircraft. The operation, known as Operation BITTER DISTANT, was a counter-drug operation in the USSOUTHCOM area of operations. In October 1998, DGS-2 began round-the-clock surveillance and reconnaissance operations to monitor the deteriorating situation in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. On 24 March 1999, NATO-led

Operation ALLIED FORCE The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombings continued until an a ...

was launched with the aim of expelling Serbian forces from the province of Kosovo. DGS-2 participated in this operation for its duration, supporting 190 U-2 sorties over 78 days. In addition, DGS-2 conducted processing, exploitation, and dissemination for the Predator

unmanned aerial vehicle An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Dron ...

(UAV) during the first combat employment of a UAV to laser designate targets for

precision-guided munition A precision-guided munition (PGM), also called a smart weapon, smart munition, or smart bomb, is a type of weapon system that integrates advanced guidance and control systems, such as Global Positioning System, GPS, laser guidance, or Infrared ...

s. DGS-2 is credited with the destruction of 39 SAM systems and 28 aircraft during this operation.

Operations

*World War II *Vietnam *Bosnia-Herzegovina *Kosovo

Awards and decorations

Presidential Unit Citation with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters * 31 May 1944 – 30 Jun 1944 * 22 Feb 1945 – 23 Feb 1945 * 18 Feb 1966 – 12 Oct 1966 Meritorious Unit Award with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster * 1 Jun 2004 – 31 May 2006 * 1 Jun 2006 – 31 May 2007 Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and 8 Oak Leaf Clusters * 1 Jan 1965 – 30 Nov 1965 (with Valor) * 1 Jan 1993 – 31 Dec 1994 *1 Jun 1996 – 31 May 1998 *1 Jun 1998 – 31 May 2000 *1 Jun 2000 – 31 May 2001 *1 Jun 2002 – 31 May 2003 (with Valor) *1 Jun 2007 – 31 May 2009 *1 Jun 2009 – 31 May 2011 *1 Jun 2011 – 31 Dec 2012 *1 Jan 2013 – 31 Dec 2013 Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm Unit Citation *1 Apr 1966 – 31 Mar 1968

Mission

History

Organization

Operations

Awards and decorations

References

See also