The 74th Reconnaissance Squadron is an active

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, part of the

9th Reconnaissance Wing The 9th Reconnaissance Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command and Sixteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California. The wing is also the host unit at Beale. Its mission is to organize ...

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 ...

, California. The squadron was first 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 ...

as the 74th Aero Squadron. In 1933 it was consolidated with the 74th Pursuit Squadron, which had been organized as a

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 ...

training organization in 1927, activating in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone (), also known as just the Canal Zone, was a International zone#Concessions, concession of the United States located in the Isthmus of Panama that existed from 1903 to 1979. It consisted of the Panama Canal and an area gene ...

, where it served during

as the 74th Bombardment Squadron. During the Korean War, the squadron was redesignated the 135th Bombardment Squadron and assigned to the

106th Bombardment Wing 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, a federalized

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

unit, at

March Air Force Base March Air Reserve Base (March ARB), previously known as March Air Force Base (March AFB), is located in Riverside County, California, between the cities of Riverside, Moreno Valley, and Perris. It is the home to the Air Force Reserve Comm ...

, California. It was inactivated on 1 December 1952 when the 106th Wing was returned to the National Guard and replaced by the regular

320th Bombardment Wing 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

. The squadron was reactivated as a reconnaissance unit in December 2019.

History

Aero Squadron

The first predecessor of the squadron was established at

Waco, Texas Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and Interstate 35, I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin, Texas, Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 popul ...

in February 1918 as the 74th Aero Squadron,This was the second Air Service unit designated as the 74th Aero Squadron. The first had been redesignated as the 486th Aero Squadron In July 1918, the 74th moved to the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

area, where it served, probably with

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 ...

aircraft as a tactical defense unit until it was demobilized in January 1919. It was again organized at

Langley Field Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Langley Wakeman Collyer (1885–1947), one ...

, Virginia in June, but was again demobilized on 25 September 1919

Interwar years

74th Attack Squadron flight Northrup A-17s

74th Attack Squadron flight Northrup A-17 Ground Crew

The second predecessor of the unit was constituted as the 74th Attack Squadron in October 1927 as a Regular Army Inactive unit and allotted to the Eighth Corps Area. Although inactive as a regular unit, it was partially organized with

personnel at

Fort Crockett Fort Crockett is a government reservation on Galveston Island overlooking the Gulf of Mexico originally built as a defense installation to protect the city and harbor of Galveston and to secure the entrance to Galveston Bay, thus protecting the c ...

, Texas.

Organized Reserve The United States Army Reserve (USAR) is a reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the Army element of the reserve components of the United States Armed Forces. History Origi ...

officers assigned to the unit participated in summer training at Fort Crockett with elements of the

3d Attack Group The 3rd Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 3rd Wing. It is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska, and is assigned to Pacific Air Forces' Eleventh Air Force. The group (military ...

. In May 1929, it was redesignated the 74th Pursuit Squadron and assigned to the 18th, then to the

20th Pursuit Group The 20th Operations Group (20 OG) is the flying component of the 20th Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. It is stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is a successor organization of the 20th ...

for administration.Clay, p. 1425 The squadron was activated as a regular unit in October 1933 at

Albrook Field Albrook Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force facility in Panama. It was closed on 30 September 1997 as a result of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties which specified that United States military facilities in the former Panama Canal Zon ...

and equipped with

Boeing P-12 The Boeing P-12 or Boeing F4B is an American pursuit aircraft that was operated by the United States Army Air Corps, United States Marine Corps, and United States Navy. It was the chief fighter aircraft in American service during the early 193 ...

s, while its reservists remained at Fort Crockett. It was assigned to the

16th Pursuit Group The 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of three United States Air Force active duty Special Operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The 1st Special Operations Wing i ...

at Albrook. Three years later the two squadrons were consolidated into a single unit. The squadron was redesignated the 74th Attack Squadron on 1 September 1937 and equipped with

Northrop A-17 The Northrop A-17, also known as the Northrop Model 8, a development of the Northrop Gamma 2F model, is a two-seat, single-engine, monoplane, attack bomber built in 1935 by the Northrop Corporation for the United States Army Air Corps. When in ...

s. Reorganized and redesignated 74th Bombardment Squadron on 1 November 1939. Redesignated as the 74th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 6 December 1939. Relieved from assignment to the 16th Pursuit Group. Designated as the 74th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) at Albrook Field circa 5 March 1940, converting to Douglas

B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American twin-engined medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Airc ...

. On 20 November 1940, the squadron was again re-designated as the 74th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy). On 14 July, the squadron moved from Albrook to

Howard Field Howard is a masculine given name derived from the English surname Howard. ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names'' notes that "the use of this surname as a christian name is quite recent and there seems to be no particular reason for i ...

, in anticipation of receipt of its first Boeing B-17B Flying Fortress the following month.

World War II

B-24D Liberators Rio Hato Panama 1944 41-24063

The Squadron moved from Howard Field to Aguadulce Field, Panama, on 8 November 1941 and, following the

Pearl Harbor Attack 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 ti ...

, moved to Rio Hato Army Airfield on 11 December. By 16 January 1942, the unit had been transformed, and found itself at Guatemala City Airport, Guatemala, equipped with six Boeing B-17B's and four B-17E's taken over and consolidated from other units. In August 1942, the Squadron was assigned to the

40th Bombardment Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the H ...

and this assignment lasted until 12 May 1943. Began conversion to Consolidated B-24D Liberators in mid-1943. By October 1943, the 74th was the only Sixth Air Force tactical unit still operating from Guatemala City Airport and, the following month, ended its association with the

6th Bombardment Group Alec Trevelyan is a fictional character who is the main antagonist in the 1995 James Bond film ''GoldenEye,'' portrayed by actor Sean Bean. Bean's likeness was also used as the model for Alec Trevelyan in the 1997 video game '' GoldenEye 007'' ...

, when that organization was disbanded. It subsequently fell directly under

VI Bomber Command The VI Bomber Command was a military formation of the United States Army Air Forces. Its last assignment was with Sixth Air Force. It was based throughout its service at Albrook Field, in the Panama Canal Zone. It was inactivated on 1 November ...

. The period between April and August, the unit moved again to the remote

Seymour Island AAF Seymour Galapagos Ecological Airport (Spanish: ''Aeropuerto Ecológico Galápagos Seymour'') is an airport serving the island of Baltra, one of the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. Name The airport preserves part of Baltra's other name, South ...

on the Galapagos Islands. The move accomplished, the unit engaged in patrols over the eastern Pacific. The unit returned to Aguadulce Field, Panama, on 13 February 1945 after only some seven months. In May. the Squadron moved to Rio Hato Field, remaining until the end of the war, being inactivated on 1 November 1946.

Korean War

The squadron was reactivated as the 135th Bombardment Squadron on 27 March 1951. It operated

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), 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 ...

es as part of the Federalized

106th Bombardment Group 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

New York Air National Guard The New York Air National Guard (NY ANG) is the aerial militia of the U.S. state of New York. It is an element of the New York National Guard as part of the larger Air National Guard, a reservist force under the command of the United States Ai ...

that was elevated to active duty at

, California during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. The 135th Bomb Squadron continued operations under SAC's

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Forc ...

until it was inactivated, with personnel and equipment being assigned to the

when the guardsmen were relieved from active duty on 1 December 1952.

Reconnaissance operations

The squadron was redesignated the 74th Reconnaissance Squadron and activated at

, California in December 2019. At Beale, it was assigned to the

9th Operations Group The 9th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing, stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California. The 9th OG's mission is to organize, train and equip Lockheed U-2R, RQ-4 Global Hawk and MC-12W Libe ...

. Its organization is believed to have originated from the 9th Operations Group Detachment 5, which was activated in 2018 and whose logo contained elements similar to the 74th's current patch.

Lineage

; 74th Aero Squadron * Organized as the 74th Aero Squadron (Service) on 22 February 1918 : Demobilized on 28 January 1919 * Organized on 17 June 1919 : Demobilized on 25 September 1919 * Reconstituted and consolidated with the 74th Attack Squadron as the 74th Attack Squadron c. 16 October 1936Lineage information in Ream, Factsheet 74 Reconnaissance Squadron, except as noted. ; 74th Reconnaissance Squadron * Constituted as the 74th Attack Squadron on 18 October 1927 and organized as a Regular Army Inactive unit : Redesignated 74th Pursuit Squadron on 8 May 1929 : Activated on 1 October 1933 * Consolidated with the 74th Aero Squadron c. 5 December 1936 : Redesignated 74th Attack Squadron on 1 September 1937 : Redesignated 74th Bombardment Squadron on 1 November 1939 : Redesignated 74th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) on 6 December 1939 : Redesignated 74th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940 : Redesignated 74th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. August 1943 : Inactivated on 1 November 1946 * Redesignated: 135th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 27 March 1951 : Activated on 1 May 1951 : Inactivated on 1 December 1952 * Redesignated 74th Reconnaissance Squadron on 4 December 2019 : Activated on 19 December 2019

Assignments

* Unknown, 1918–1919 * Allotted to Eighth Corps Area on 18 October 1927 * 18th Pursuit Group, 8 May 1929 * 20th Pursuit Group, 15 June 1932 * 16th Pursuit Group, 1 October 1933 *

, 1 February 1940 *

, 9 August 1942 * 6th Bombardment Group, 12 May 1943 *

, 1 November 1943 – 1 November 1946 * 106th Bombardment Group, 1 May 1951 * 106th Bombardment Wing, 16 June – 1 December 1952 * 9th Operations Group, 19 December 2019 – present

Stations

* Waco, Texas, 22 February 1918 *

Call Field Call Field is a former World War I military airfield, located southwest of Wichita Falls, Texas. It operated as a training field for the United States Army Air Service between 1917 until 1919. The airfield was List of airfields of the Training ...

, Texas, 1 March 1918 *

Hazelhurst Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aer ...

, New York, 29 July 1918 *

Roosevelt Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located in the East Garden City section of Uniondale, on Long Island, New York, United States. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aero ...

, New York, September 1918 *

Garden City, New York Garden City is a village located in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 23,272 at the time of the 2020 census. The Incorporated Village of Garden City is primarily located within the Town of Hempstead ...

, Unknown-28 January 1919 * Langley Field, Virginia, 17 June – 25 September 1919 * Fort Crockett, Texas, 18 October 1927 *

, Panama Canal Zone, 1 October 1933 *

, Panama Canal Zone, 14 July 1941 * Aguadulce Airfield, Panama, 8 November 1941 * Rio Hato Airfield, Panama, c. 11 December 1941 *

Guatemala City Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Depa ...

, Guatemala, 9 January 1942 * Rio Hato Airfield, Panama, c. 7 April 1944 *

Seymour Island Airfield Seymour Galapagos Ecological Airport (Spanish: ''Aeropuerto Ecológico Galápagos Seymour'') is an airport serving the island of Baltra, one of the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. Name The airport preserves part of Baltra's other name, South ...

Galápagos Islands The Galápagos Islands () are an archipelago of volcanic islands in the Eastern Pacific, located around the equator, west of the mainland of South America. They form the Galápagos Province of the Republic of Ecuador, with a population of sli ...

, Ecuador, c. 21 August 1944 * Aguadulce Airfield, Panama, 13 February 1945 * Rio Hato Airfield, Panama, 3. May 1945-1 November 1946 * March Air Force Base, California, 1 May 1951 – 1 December 1952 * Beale Air Force Base, California, 19 December 2019 – present

Aircraft

* DH-4 Liberty Plane, 1918–1919 * Boeing P-12, 1933–1937 * OA-3, 1933–1937 * B-6, 1933–1937 * Northrop A-17 Nomad, 1937–1940 * A-8, 1937–1940 * 0A-9, 1937–1940 *

Douglas B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American twin-engined medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Airc ...

, 1939–1942 *

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engined heavy bomber aircraft developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). A fast and high-flying bomber, the B-17 dropped more bombs than any other aircraft during ...

, 1942–1943 *

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 ...

, 1942–1946 *

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 ...

, 1951–1952

References

Notes

; Explanatory Notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

AFHRA Document 00044435 74th Bombardment Squadron, 1918-1941

AFHRA Document 00044436 74th Bombardment Squadron, 1941–1942

AFHRA Document 00044458 74th Bombardment Squadron, 1942–1945

AFHRA Document 00044437 74th Bombardment Squadron, 1944

AFHRA Document 00044438 74th Bombardment Squadron, 1944

AFHRA 135th Bombardment Squadron, 1951–1952
* http://www.footnote.com/image/#19955968 * http://www.footnote.com/image/#19067759 * {{USAAF 6th Air Force World War II Reconnaissance squadrons of the United States Air Force