The 42nd Attack Squadron is a

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 ...

unit assigned to the

25th Attack Group The 25th Attack Group is an active United States Air Force unit, stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It was activated in February 2018 as a geographically separate unit to operate unmanned aerial vehicles and is assigned to the 43 ...

located at

Creech Air Force Base Creech Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) command and control facility in Clark County, Nevada used "to engage in daily Overseas Contingency Operations …of remotely piloted aircraft systems which fly missions across the globe. ...

near

Indian Springs, Nevada Indian Springs is an unincorporated town and a census-designated place located on U.S. Route 95 next to Creech Air Force Base in northwestern Clark County and southern Nevada. The population was 912 at the 2020 census. History The communit ...

. It flew the

General Atomics 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 ...

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 ...

. The 42nd oversaw the training and combat deployment of aerial vehicle and sensor operators assigned to the Reaper. Created as the first operational MQ-9 Reaper squadron in 2006, the squadron flew its final sortie on 31 January 2020, following which its personnel and equipment were withdrawn, although it remained active as a "dormant" unit.

History

World War I

The first predecessor of the squadron was organized as the 42nd Aero Squadron on 17 June 1917, shortly after the United States declared war on Germany. Based at

Camp Kelly Kelly Field (formerly Kelly Air Force Base) is a Joint-Use facility located in San Antonio, Texas. It was originally named after George E. M. Kelly, the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. I ...

, Texas, the squadron trained new pilots as part of the

United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...

until it was demobilized on 21 February 1919.

Interwar years

The second predecessor of the squadron was organized in 1922 as the 42nd Squadron (School) and became the 42nd School Squadron in January 1923 as part of the 10th School Group at Kelly Field. In April 1924 it was consolidated with the 42nd Aero Squadron. The 42nd squadron continued its flying training role as part of the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

in 1926, and was assigned to the Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field in 1931. On 1 March 1935, with the activation of the

General Headquarters Air Force The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

, the squadron was redesignated the 42nd Bombardment Squadron, although it remained a training squadron at Kelly until its inactivation in September 1936. It was organized once again only a month later, as a

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a ...

inactive unit assigned to the Eighth Corps Area, on 23 October 1936. Until September 1939, the squadron existed only as an inactive cadre of Organized Reserve officers, at Brownsville Municipal Airport, Texas. On 1 February 1940, squadron was activated as one of the original four squadrons of the

11th Bombardment Group International direct dialing (IDD) or international subscriber dialling (ISD) is placing an international telephone call, dialed directly by a telephone subscriber, rather than by a telephone operator. Subscriber dialing of international calls t ...

Hickam Field Hickam may refer to: ;Surname * Homer Hickam (born 1943), American author, Vietnam veteran, and a former NASA engineer **'' October Sky: The Homer Hickam Story'', 1999 American biographical film * Horace Meek Hickam (1885–1934), pioneer airpower ...

, Hawaii. Beginning in May 1941, the squadron began training with the Boeing B-17D Flying Fortress, with the capability to fly longer missions from its base at Hickam.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 53-55Williams, pp. 172-173

World War II

The squadron was at Hickam during the

Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. At the tim ...

on 7 December 1941. The squadron flew patrol and search missions from the Hawaiian Islands, including air support during the

Battle of Midway The Battle of Midway was a major naval battle in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II, Pacific Theater of World War II that took place on 4–7 June 1942, six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and one month after the Battle of t ...

. In June 1942, shortly after the

, the 11th Group was authorized as a mobile force by the

Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

in order to respond to a

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

request by Admiral Nimitz for long-range armed search planes to locate Japanese fleets, accompanied with firepower to withstand defending Japanese

interceptors An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are cap ...

while tracking the fleet. The 11th Group left Hawaii to support Navy operations in the South Pacific Theater during the

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...

and Northern Solomon Islands Campaigns. The squadron moved to the

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

on 22 July 1942 and became part of

Thirteenth Air Force The Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force (13 EAF) is a provisional numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on the island of Oahu, ...

. It bombed airfields, supply dumps, ships, docks, troop positions, and other objectives in the South Pacific from July to November 1942, and 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 those operations. It continued operations in the South Pacific, attacking Japanese airfields, installations, and shipping until late March 1943. B-24 Liberators after attacking Iwo Jima 15 December 1944

B-24 Liberators after attacking Iwo Jima 15 December 1944

The squadron returned to Hawaii and the control of

Seventh Air Force The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...

on 8 April 1943. In Hawaii, the squadron equipped with

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

bombers, which it flew until the end of the war. Its training Included missions against

Wake Island Wake Island (), also known as Wake Atoll, is a coral atoll in the Micronesia subregion of the Pacific Ocean. The atoll is composed of three islets – Wake, Wilkes, and Peale Islands – surrounding a lagoon encircled by a coral reef. The neare ...

and other central Pacific bases held by the Japanese. It deployed to the

Gilbert Islands The Gilbert Islands (;Reilly Ridgell. ''Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia.'' 3rd. Ed. Honolulu: Bess Press, 1995. p. 95. formerly Kingsmill or King's-Mill IslandsVery often, this name applied o ...

on 9 November 1943 and resumed combat participating in the Allied offensive through the Gilbert,

Marshall Marshall may refer to: Places Australia *Marshall, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria ** Marshall railway station Canada * Marshall, Saskatchewan * The Marshall, a mountain in British Columbia Liberia * Marshall, Liberia Marshall Is ...

and

Marianas Islands The Mariana Islands ( ; ), also simply the Marianas, are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, between the 12th and 21st pa ...

, while operating from Funafuti, Tarawa, and Kwajalein. "The quadronmoved to

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 ...

on 25 October 1944 and attacked shipping and airfields in the Volcano and Bonin Islands. It moved to

Okinawa most commonly refers to: * Okinawa Prefecture, Japan's southernmost prefecture * Okinawa Island, the largest island of Okinawa Prefecture * Okinawa Islands, an island group including Okinawa itself * Okinawa (city), the second largest city in th ...

on 2 July 1945 to participate in the final phases of the air offensive against Japan, bombing railways, airfields, and harbor facilities on

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

and striking Japanese airfields in Eastern China."

Postwar operations in the Pacific

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 ...

, the squadron flew surveillance and reconnaissance missions over China and ferried former

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

to the Philippines. In December 1945 the squadron moved without personnel or equipment to

Fort William McKinley Fort Andres Bonifacio (formerly Fort William McKinley) is the site of the national headquarters of the Philippine Army (Headquarters Philippine Army or HPA) located in Taguig, Philippines. The camp is named after Andres Bonifacio, the revolutio ...

, Philippines. At the end of April 1946, it was designated as a very heavy bomber unit. The following month, it moved to

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 and began to re-equip with

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 ...

es, but terminated all operations and training by October. The squadron remained on Guam on paper until inactivating on 20 October 1948.

Strategic Air Command

The squadron was reactivated as a unit of the

on 1 December 1948. Assigned to the 11th Bombardment Group as part of the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

, it flew

Convair B-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 spa ...

intercontinental bombers from

Carswell Air Force Base Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings. Carswe ...

, Texas. In 1957 it moved to Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, to convert to

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic aircraft, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the ...

es. In 1960 was reassigned to the 4043rd Strategic Wing, being re-equipped with B-52E intercontinental heavy bombers. The squadron moved to

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene County, Ohio, Greene and Montgomery County, Ohio, Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patte ...

, Ohio by SAC to disperse its heavy bomber force. Conducted worldwide strategic bombardment training missions and providing nuclear deterrent. Was inactivated in 1963 when SAC inactivated its strategic wings, replacing them with permanent Air Force Wings. Squadron was inactivated with its aircraft, personnel and equipment transferred to the 34th Bombardment Squadron. In 1989-90 it was part of the 11th Strategic Wing at

RAF Fairford Royal Air Force Fairford or more simply RAF Fairford is a Royal Air Force (RAF) List of Royal Air Force stations, station in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom. While being an RAF station, Fairford hosts United States Air Force personnel. Since 20 ...

in the UK, as the 42nd Strategic Squadron.

Unmanned aerial vehicles

On 9 November 2006, the squadron was redesignated the 42nd Attack Squadron and reactivated at

, Nevada, initially as part of the

57th Wing The 57th Wing (57 WG) is an operational unit of the United States Air Force (USAF) United States Air Force Warfare Center, Warfare Center, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The 57 WG's mission is to provide well trained and wel ...

before being assigned as one of the six

squadrons of the 432nd Wing, and the only squadron designated as an attack squadron. The 42nd received its first

on 13 March 2007. Officially combat-operational in Afghanistan since September 2007, the typical MQ-9 system consists of several aircraft, a ground control station, communications equipment/links, spares, and active duty and/or contractor personnel. The crew consists of one unmanned aerial system pilot, one sensor operator and one mission intelligence coordinator. The squadron flew its last combat sortie on 31 January 2020, following which all personnel and equipment were withdrawn from the unit, although it remained active as a "paper unit."

Lineage

; 42nd Aero Squadron * Organized as the 42nd Aero Squadron on 13 June 1917 * Demobilized on 21 February 1919 * Reconstituted on 8 April 1924 and consolidated with the 42nd School Squadron as the 42nd School Squadron ; 42nd Attack Squadron * Authorized 10 June 1922 as the 42nd Squadron (School) : Organized on 5 July 1922 : Redesignated 42nd School Squadron on 25 January 1923 : Consolidated with the 42nd Aero Squadron on 8 April 1924 : Redesignated 42nd Bombardment Squadron on 1 March 1935 : Inactivated on 1 September 1936 * Organized as a Regular Army Inactive unit on 23 November 1936 * Redesignated 42nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 22 December 1939 : Activated on 1 February 1940 : Redesignated 42nd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 11 December 1940 : Redesignated 42nd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 1 August 1944 : Redesignated 42nd Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 30 April 1946 : Inactivated on 20 October 1948 * Redesignated 42nd Bomb Squadron, Heavy and activated on 1 December 1948 : Discontinued and inactivated on 1 February 1963 * Redesignated 42nd Attack Squadron on 24 October 2006 * Activated on 9 November 2006

Assignments

* Unknown, 13 June 1917 – 21 February 1919 * 10th School Group, 5 July 1922 * Air Corps Advanced Flying School, 16 July 1931 * 3rd Wing, GHQ Air Force, 1 March 1935 – 1 September 1936 (attached to Air Corps Advanced Flying School) * Eighth Corps Area as a Regular Army Inactive unit on 23 November 1936 *

, 1 February 1940 – 20 October 1948 * 11th Bombardment Group, 1 December 1948 (attached to 11th Bombardment Wing after 16 February 1951) * 11th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 * 4043rd Strategic Wing, 1 June 1960 *

57th Operations Group The 57th Operations Group (57 OG) is the operational component of the 57th Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The Group provides direct oversight of the Ne ...

, 9 November 2006 * 432nd Operations Group, 1 May 2007 *

, 12 July 2019 – present

Stations

* Camp Kelly, Texas, 13 June 1917 *

Wilbur Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was a military installation and an airfield used as a World War I List of Training Section Air Service airfields, pilot, mechanic, and armorer training facility and, under different designations, conducted United States Army ...

, Ohio, 25 August 1917 – 21 February 1919 * Kelly Field, Texas, 5 July 1922 – 1 September 1936 * Brownsville Municipal Airport, Texas as a Regular Army Inactive unit on 23 November 1936 * Hickam Field, Hawaii, 1 February 1940 * Kualoa Airfield, Hawaii, 5 June 1942 * Mokuleia Airfield, Hawaii, 8 July 1942 *

Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield Plaine Des Gaiacs Airfield is a former World War II airfield on New Caledonia in the Oceania, South Pacific. It is located at Plaine Des Gaiacs near the village of Pouembout. The airfield was also known as De Gaiacs and was named for the Gaiac t ...

, New Caledonia, 22 July 1942 * Luganville Airfield, Espiritu Santo,

New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium () and named after the Hebrides in Scotland, was the colonial name for the island group in the South Pacific Ocean that is now Vanuatu. Native people had inhabited the islands for three th ...

, 23 November 1942 * Kualoa Point Field, Hawaii, 8 April 1943 * Funafuti Airfield,

Nanumea Nanumea is the northwesternmost atoll in the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu, a group of nine coral atolls and islands spread over about of the Pacific Ocean just south of the equator and west of the International Date Line. Nanumea is with a po ...

, Gilbert Islands, 9 November 1943 * Mokuleia Field, Hawaii, 9 January 1944 * Kahuku Army Air Field, Hawaii, 19 March 1944 * Mokuleia Field, Hawaii, 13 June 1944 *

Agana Airfield Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport — also known as Guam International Airport — is an international airport located in Tamuning and Barrigada, east of the capital city of Hagåtña (formerly Agana) in the United States territory of G ...

, Marianas Islands, 22 September 1944 * Yontan Air Base,

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Geography of Taiwan, Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands (Ōsumi Islands, Ōsumi, Tokara Islands, Tokara and A ...

, 2 July 1945 *

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

, Philippines, 11 December 1945 * Northwest Field (Guam) (later Harmon Field), Guam, 15 May 1946 – 20 October 1948 * Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, 1 December 1948 * Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 13 December 1957 – 1 June 1960 * Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, 1 June 1960 – 1 February 1963 * Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. 9 November 2006

Aircraft

* Standard J-1, 1917–1919 *

Curtiss JN-4 The Curtiss JN "Jenny" is a series of biplanes built by the Glenn Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Although the Curtiss JN series was originally produced as a training aircraft ...

, 1917–1919 *

Airco DH.4 The Airco DH.4 is a British two-seat biplane day bomber of the First World War. It was designed by Geoffrey de Havilland (hence "DH") for Airco, and was the first British two-seat light day-bomber capable of defending itself. It was desig ...

, 1917–1919, 1923–1931 * Douglas O-2, 1926–1933 * Curtiss O-11 Falcon, 1930–1932 * Thomas-Morse O-19, 1930–1935 *

Keystone B-3 The Keystone B-3A was a bomber aircraft developed for the United States Army Air Corps by Keystone Aircraft in the late 1920s. Design and development The B-3 was originally ordered as the LB-10A (a single-tail modification of the Keystone LB- ...

, 1935–1936 * Keystone B-4, 1935–1936 * Keystone B-5, 1935–1936 * Douglas B-18 Bolo, 1940–1941 * Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1941–1943 * Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945 * Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1946 * Convair B-36 Peacemaker, 1949–1957 * Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, 1958–1963 * General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, 2006–2013 * General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper, 2006–present