The 13th Reconnaissance Squadron is part of the

926th Wing The 926th Wing is an Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The unit is a composite organization consisting of two Ope ...

Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located approximately east of Marysville, California. It is located outside Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, and about north of Sacramento. The ...

, California. It operates

RQ-4 Global Hawk The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft of the 1990s–2020s. It was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical (now part of Northrop Grumman), and known as Tier II+ during development. T ...

unmanned aircraft conducting

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

and surveillance missions.

Mission

The squadron provides theater commanders with near-real-time

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as the a ...

, surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition data.

History

World War II

The 13th flew combat in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Fo ...

from 28 March 1943 – 26 April 1945.

Airlift

In 1952, it converted to a troop carrier mission and provided intra-theater

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distan ...

for high-ranking USAFE military and civilian officials and small mission-essential equipment from, 1987–1993. In 1987, it was renamed the 13th Military Airlift Squadron. The squadron moved without personnel and equipment to

McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the j ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

, on 1 October 1993 and absorbed personnel and equipment of the

30th Airlift Squadron The 30th Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 19th Airlift Wing. It was the first active-duty associate unit attached to an Air National Guard wing, working with the 187th Airlift Squadron at Chey ...

and was renamed the 13th Airlift Squadron. Equipped with

C-141 The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a retired military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of t ...

, the squadron took on a new worldwide airlift mission until its inactivation in 2000.

Unmanned reconnaissance

Since 2005 the 13th has operated and maintained deployable, long-endurance

aircraft and ground control elements 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, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and t ...

in support of unified commanders and the Secretary of Defense. It currently trains all RQ-4B pilots and sensor operators.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on 9 June 1943 : Activated on 20 June 1942 : Redesignated 13th Photographic Squadron (Light) on 6 February 1943 : Redesignated 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on 13 November 1943 : Inactivated on 1 December 1945 * Redesignated 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic on 11 March 1947 : Activated in the reserve on 6 July 1947 : Inactivated on 27 June 1949 * Redesignated 13th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 26 May 1952 : Activated in the reserve on 14 June 1952 : Inactivated on 1 April 1953 * Redesignated 13th Military Airlift Squadron on 14 July 1987 : Activated on 1 October 1987 : Redesignated 13 Airlift Squadron on 1 April 1992 : Inactivated on 31 March 2000 * Redesignated 13th Reconnaissance Squadron on 10 February 2005 : Activated in the reserve on 12 March 2005

Assignments

3d Photographic Group The United States Air Force's 543d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is an intelligence unit located at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. It has been located there since 1997, when it was activated as the 543d Intelligence Grou ...

(later 3d Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group), 20 June 1942 (attached to

1st Bombardment Wing The 1st Bombardment Wing is a disbanded United States Army Air Force unit. It was initially formed in France in 1918 during World War I as a command and control organization for the Pursuit Groups of the First Army Air Service. Demobilized after ...

from 2 December 1942,

8th Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...

from 16 February 1943) * 7th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group, 7 July 1943 * Unknown 21 November 1945 – 1 December 1945Probably New York Port of Embarkation on arrival at Camp Kilmer. * 65th Reconnaissance Group, 6 July 1947 – 27 June 1949 * 65th Troop Carrier Group, 14 June 1952 – 1 April 1953 *

374th Tactical Airlift Wing The 374th Airlift Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to Fifth Air Force. It is stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is part of Pacific Air Forces. The 374th Airlift Wing is the only airlift wing in PACAF and provides airl ...

, 1 October 1987 * 316th Airlift Support Group, 1 April 1992 * 18th Operations Group, 1 June 1992 * 438th Operations Group, 1 October 1993 *

305th Operations Group The 305th Operations Group is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 305th Air Mobility Wing. It is stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. During World War II, the group's predecessor unit, the 305th Bombardment Gro ...

, 1 October 1994 – 31 March 2000 * 610th Regional Support Group, 12 March 2005 * 940th Operations Group, 1 July 2009 * 726th Operations Group, 10 February 2016 – present

Stations

* Army Air Base Colorado Springs, Colorado, 20 June – 17 October 1942 *

RAF Podington Royal Air Force (RAF) Podington is a former Royal Air Force station in northern Bedfordshire, England, south-east of Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. History Podington airfield was originally built between 1940 and 1941 to accommodate two ...

, England, 2 December 1942 *

RAF Mount Farm Royal Air Force Station Mount Farm or more simply RAF Mount Farm is a former Royal Air Force station located north of Dorchester, Oxfordshire, England. History USAAF use Mount Farm was originally a satellite airfield for the RAF Photograph ...

, England, 16 February 1943 * RAF Chalgrove, England, 8 April 1945 * RAF Grove, England, c. 13 October – 23 November 1945 *

Camp Kilmer Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...

, New Jersey, 30 November – 1 December 1945 * Rome Army Air Field, New York, 6 July 1947 * Chemung County Airport, New York, 26 January 1948 – 27 June 1949 *

Mitchel Air Force Base Mitchel Air Force Base also known as Mitchel Field, was a United States Air Force base located on the Hempstead Plains of Long Island, New York, United States. Established in 1918 as Hazelhurst Aviation Field #2, the facility was renamed later ...

, New York, 14 June 1952 – 1 April 1953 *

Kadena Air Base (IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its high ...

, Japan, 1 October 1987 *

, New Jersey, 1 October 1993 – 31 March 2000 *

, California, 12 March 2005 – present

Aircraft

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive twi ...

(1942–1945) *

Piper L-4 Grasshopper The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

(1942–1943) *

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

(1943) *

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

(1945) *

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

(1952–1953) *

Beechcraft C-12 Huron The Beechcraft C-12 Huron is the military designation for a series of twin-engine turboprop aircraft based on the Beechcraft Super King Air and Beechcraft 1900. C-12 variants are used by the United States Air Force, United States Army, Unite ...

(1987–1993) *

Lockheed C-141 Starlifter The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a retired military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of th ...

(1993–2000) *