The 82d Reconnaissance Squadron is part of the 55th Wing at

Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the ...

, Nebraska, USA. It is geographically separated from the 55th, operating from

Kadena Air Base (International Air Transport Association airport code, IATA: DNA, International Civil Aviation Organization airport code, ICAO: RODN) is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena, Okinawa, Kadena and Chatan, Okinawa, Chatan and the ...

in Japan. The squadron operates

Boeing RC-135 The Boeing RC-135 is a family of large reconnaissance aircraft built by Boeing and modified by a number of companies, including General Dynamics, Lockheed, LTV, E-Systems, L3Harris Technologies, and used by the United States Air Force and ...

aircraft flying

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 ...

missions.

History

The 82d flew

antisubmarine Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations a ...

patrols off the

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 ...

coast from 8 December 1941 to 16 August 1942. It went on to fly combat sorties in the Southwest and Western

Pacific 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 cont ...

from 27 November 1943 to 15 August 1945. On 11 January 1945, while flying an F-6D Mustang on an armed reconnaissance mission over northern Luzon in the Philippines, Captain William A. Shomo, the squadron commander at the time, sighted a Japanese formation of twelve fighters escorting a bomber. He attacked and succeeded in shooting down the bomber and six of the fighters while his wingman, Lieutenant Paul Lipscomb, shot down three more fighters. Shomo was awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

for this action. The squadron flew strategic

over

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

from August 1967 to March 1973.AFHRA 82 RS Page
/ref>

Operations

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 ...

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Lineage

*82d Observation Squadron (1937–1942) *82d Observation Squadron (Medium) (1942) *82d Observation Squadron (1942–1943) *82d Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter) (1943–1944) *82d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (1944–1947) *82d Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic (Jet-Propelled) (1947–1948) *82d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photo-Jet (1948–1954) *82d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Fighter (1954–1967) *82d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (1967–1991) *82d Reconnaissance Squadron (1991 – present)

Assignments

* IX Corps Area (1937–1940) * 4th Army (1940–1941) * III Corps (1941) *

4th Air Force The Fourth Air Force (4 AF) is a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California. 4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reserv ...

(1941) * 69th Observation Group (1941–1942) * 71st Reconnaissance Group (1942–1946) **Attached: 35th Fighter Group (20 October 1945 – 9 February 1946) * V Bomber Command (1946) *314th Composite Wing (1946–1947) * 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Group (1947–1949) * 71st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (1955–1957) *

3d Air Division The 3rd Air Division (3d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 1 April 1992. Th ...

(1967–1968) *4252d Strategic Wing (1968–1970) *376th Strategic Wing (1970–1976) * 55th Wing (1991 – present)

Stations

Moffett Field Moffett Federal Airfield , also known as Moffett Field, is a joint civil-military airport located in an unincorporated part of Santa Clara County, California, United States, between northern Mountain View and northern Sunnyvale. On November ...

(1937–1940) **Flight at: Brooks Field,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(28 June 1940 – 9 April 1941) * Hamilton Field, California (1940–1941) * Salinas, California (1941–1943) *Esler Field,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

(1943) *Laurel Army Air Field,

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

(1943) *

Milne Bay Milne Bay is a large bay in Milne Bay Province, south-eastern Papua New Guinea. More than long and over wide, Milne Bay is a sheltered deep-water harbor accessible via Ward Hunt Strait. It is surrounded by the heavily wooded Stirling Range (Papu ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

(1943) *Dobodura, New Guinea (1943–1944) **Detachment:

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

, New Guinea (December 1943 - 19 April 1944) *Saidor, New Guinea (1944) *

Biak Biak is the main island of Biak Archipelago located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The largest popula ...

(1944) *Owi,

Schouten Islands The Biak Islands (, also Schouten Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Southwest Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. Th ...

(1944) * Morotai (1944–1945) **Air Echelon: San Jose,

Mindoro Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ), it has a population of 1,408,454, as of the 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of ...

(29 December 1944 – 17 January 1945) *

Lingayen Lingayen, officially the Municipality of Lingayen (; ; ; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 10 ...

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 ...

(1945) * Ie Shima Airfield,

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 ...

, (1945) * Irumagawa Air Base,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

(1945–1947) * Yokota Air Base, Japan (1947–1949) * Johnson Air Base, Japan (1949) * Larson Air Force Base, Washington (1955–1957) *Yokota Air Base, Japan (1967–1968) *

, Japan (1968–1976, 1991 – present)

Aircraft operated

* O-31 (1937 - c. 1938) * O-43 (1937 - c. 1938) * O-47 (c. 1938 - 1940, 1941–1942) * O-46 (1940–1942) * O-49 Vigilant (1941–1942) * O-52 Owl (1941–1942) *

A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American light bomber, attack aircraft, Intruder (air combat), night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for ...

(1942–1943) *

B-25 Mitchell The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American medium bomber that was introduced in 1941 and named in honor of Brigadier General William "Billy" Mitchell, a pioneer of U.S. military aviation. Used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served ...

(1942–1943, 1946) *

P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by th ...

(1942–1944) *

P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry ...

(1942–1943, 1944–1945) * F-6 Mustang (1944–1947) * F-5 Lightning (1946) * FP-80 Shooting Star (1947 - 1945) * A-26 Invader (1946–1947) * F-2 Expeditor (1947–1948) * RF-61 Reporter (1949) * RF-84 Thunderflash (1955–1957) * RC-135 (1967–1976, 1991 – present)

References

External links

AFHRA 82d Reconnaissance Squadron history
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