The

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

's 28th Intelligence Squadron is an intelligence unit located at

Hurlburt Field Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force S ...

, Florida. The 28th Intelligence Squadron is a classic

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

associate unit supporting the

25th Intelligence Squadron The United States Air Force's 25th Intelligence Squadron (25 IS) is an intelligence unit located at Hurlburt Field, Florida. It provides intelligence support to Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). Mission The 25 IS is a uniquely task ...

conducting airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to provide threat warning to

Air Force Special Operations Command Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is the special operations component of the United States Air Force. An Air Force major command (MAJCOM), AFSOC is also the U.S. Air Force component command ...

. The squadron was previously active during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, providing photographic support to a very heavy bomber

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

and in the early years of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

as a photographic processing and interpretation unit for a strategic reconnaissance

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

Mission

The squadron is the first

tactical systems operator squadron. Its mission is to organize and train personnel to deliver specialized analysis directly to Air Force special operations forces, provide equipment maintenance and configuration, analysis and dissemination, airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and operational support.

History

World War II

The 28th Photographic Laboratory was activated at

Dalhart Army Air Field Dalhart Army Air Base is a former World War II military airfield complex near the city of Dalhart, Texas. It operated three training sites for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945. The majority of the namesake city of Dalhart, ...

and assigned to the 501st Bombardment Group, a

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...

unit. After training in the United States under

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

the unit deployed to the

in April 1945, where it was stationed at

Northwest Field Northwest Field (NWF; historically Northwest Guam Air Force Base) is a military airfield on the West Pacific island of Guam. Originally built during World War II, Northwest Field was closed as an airfield in 1949 but has been used for other mi ...

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

as an element of the

315th Bombardment Wing 315th may refer to: *315th (Kirkcudbright) Field Battery, Royal Artillery (RA) unit of Britain's part-time Territorial Army (TA) during World War II *315th (North Midland) Medium Regiment, Royal Artillery, part-time unit of Britain's Royal Artiller ...

XXI Bomber Command The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II. The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization and ...

. The unit received a

Distinguished Unit Citation The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed e ...

for its support of the 501st Group's attacks on the Maruzen oil refinery at Shimotsu, the Utsubo oil refinery at

Yokkaichi is a Cities of Japan, city located in Mie Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 310,259 in 142162 households and a population density of 1500 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Yokkaichi is located ...

, and the petroleum center at Kawasaki. The 28th remained on Guam after

V-J Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on wh ...

until it was inactivated in February 1946.

Cold War

The 28th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron was activated at Rapid City Air Force Base on 1 May 1950, shortly after the

28th Bombardment Wing The 28th Bomb Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Eighth Air Force (8 AF) of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) and is stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. The wing is also the "host unit" at Ellswort ...

began to convert to

Convair RB-36 Peacemaker The Convair B-36 "Peacemaker" is a strategic bomber built by Convair and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1949 to 1959. The B-36 is the largest mass-produced piston-engined aircraft ever built, although it was exceeded in span ...

s as the 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing.Ravenstein, pp. 52-54 The squadron took part in

Operation Tumbler–Snapper Operation Tumbler–Snapper was a series of nuclear weapons tests conducted by the United States in early 1952 at the Nevada Test Site. The ''Tumbler–Snapper'' series of tests followed ''Operation Buster–Jangle'' and preceded ''Operation Iv ...

, atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, from 1 April to 5 June 1952 by providing aerial and ground technical and training photography and motion pictures of various operations for the

Defense Nuclear Agency The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) is both a defense agency and a combat support agency within the United States Department of Defense (DoD) for countering weapons of mass destruction (WMD; chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, a ...

. The squadron was inactivated in 1955 when the 28th Wing returned to a primary bombardment mission.

Reserve associate unit

The 28th Squadron was redesignated the 28th Intelligence Squadron and activated in March 2014 as a reserve associate unit of the

, Florida. Six months later, the squadron was consolidated with the

photographic laboratory. The squadron achieved full operational capability in April 2016. Squadron operators perform their mission primarily aboard Pilatus U-28 surveillance aircraft.

Lineage

; 28th Photographic Laboratory * Constituted as the 28th Photographic Laboratory, Bombardment Group, Very Heavy on 25 May 1944 : Activated on 1 August 1944 : Inactivated on 22 February 1946 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948 : Reconstituted and consolidated with the 28th Intelligence Squadron as the 28th Intelligence Squadron on 18 September 2014 ; 28th Intelligence Squadron * Constituted as the 28th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron on 3 March 1950 : Activated on 1 May 1950 : Inactivated on 15 April 1955 * Redesignated 28th Intelligence Squadron on 19 March 2014 : Activated on 17 April 2014 : Consolidated with the 28th Photographic Laboratory on 18 September 2014

Assignments

* 501st Bombardment Group, 1 August 1944 – 22 February 1946 * 28th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, 1 May 1950 – 15 April 1955 *

655th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group The United States Air Force's 655th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing (655 ISRW) is an intelligence unit stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. One of the wing's new squadrons was activated in mid-2011, the 718th I ...

, 17 April 2014 – present

Stations

* Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 1 August 1944 * Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska, 23 August 1944 *

Fort Lawton Fort Lawton was a United States Army Military base, post located in the Magnolia, Seattle, Washington, Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington overlooking Puget Sound. In 1973 a large majority of the property, 534 acre ...

, Washington, 10–17 March 1945 * Hawaii, 25 March 1945 *

Tinian Tinian () is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Together with uninhabited neighboring Aguiguan, it forms Tinian Municipality, one of the four constituent municipalities of the Northern ...

, c. April 1945 * Northwest Field, Guam, c. 14 Apr 1945 – 22 February 1946 * Rapid City Air Force Base (later Ellsworth Air Force Base), South Dakota, 1 May 1950 – 15 April 1955 *

, Florida, 17 April 2014 – present

Awards and campaigns

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{United States Air Force intelligence units Military units and formations in Florida 0028