12th Reconnaissance Squadron

12th Reconnaissance Squadron
12th Reconnaissance Squadron RQ-4 Global Hawk
Active	2 June 1917–March 31, 1946 29 July 1946-March 28, 1949 25 February 1951-March 8, 1960 3 November 1965-September 30, 1992 8 November 2001 – present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Aerial reconnaissance
Size	Squadron
Part of	Air Combat Command
Garrison/HQ	Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota
Motto(s)	Know Your Enemy
Engagements	World War I World War II Korean War Vietnam War Operation Desert Storm Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lewis H. Brereton Robert Merrill Lee
Insignia
12th Reconnaissance Squadron emblem
Aircraft flown
Reconnaissance	RQ-4 Global Hawk

The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron (12 RS) is a United States Air Force squadron, assigned to the 69th Reconnaissance Group at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota

The squadron traces its lineage to the Air Service, United States Army 12th Aero Squadron, activated on 2 June 1917 at Kelly Field, Texas. It earned seven Campaign Streamers in World War I flying the French Salmson 2A2 aircraft as a Corps Observation squadron. The squadron again flew tactical reconnaissance missions in France and Northern Europe during World War II as part of Ninth Air Force. As a United States Air Force squadron, it flew reconnaissance missions in the Korean War, Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm and the Global War on Terrorism.

Aircrews of the 12th have flown over 40 different aircraft since its beginnings in 1917, fought in more than 25 major campaigns, operated from over 60 stations, and received more than 20 unit citations. Today, it continues its history of reconnaissance today, now equipped with the RQ-4 Global Hawk Unmanned Reconnaissance Vehicle (UAV).

Overview

The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron plans and executes worldwide high-altitude combat surveillance and reconnaissance missions including peacetime intelligence gathering, contingency operations and conventional warfare. Operating the RQ-4B Global Hawk Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA), the 12 RS provides signals intelligence and near real-time imagery intelligence to fulfill operational requirements generated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in support of the Secretary of Defense and unified commanders.

History

World War I

The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron originated at Kelly Field, Texas in May 1917 when the unit was organized from men picked from about 5,000 aviation recruits being drilled in provisional training companies. Those men formed “H” Company and were selected for their mechanical ability and experience. On 2 June, the unit was given its official designation, 12th Aero Squadron.

After several weeks of classes on aircraft engines and parts, the squadron went to Wilbur Wright Field at Fairfield, Ohio. Arriving on 5 July 1917, the men began assembling Standard J-1 and Curtiss JN-4 training airplanes shipped direct from the factory, and they took part in the training of the flying cadets that began pouring into the field in late July. The squadron’s first flight is supposed to have been made by a Captain Christy on 17 July 1917 in a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny".

At the end of October, preparations for overseas movement were made. The squadron left Wright Field on 31 October, for the Aviation Concentration Center, Camp Mills, Garden City, New York, arriving at Field #1 on 2 November. At Garden City, the squadron remained for about a month awaiting transportation. On 5 December it boarded the SS Northland sailing from Philadelphia. After a week waiting at Halifax Nova Scotia, the trans-Atlantic crossing was made without incident, and the ship arrived at Liverpool, England on 25 December. The squadron then took a train to Southampton, and made the cross-channel crossing to Le Harve, France, arriving at a British Rest Camp the next day. After a few days, it was moved by a French train south to the large American base at St. Maixent Aerodrome on 1 January 1918.

After two weeks at St. Maixent, where the squadron largely performed guard duty and drills, orders were received to move to Chaumont Aerodrome, arriving on January 16th. where its mechanics took charge of maintenance on French Nieuports and SPAD aircraft. On 2 February, the 12th finally began its combat training, being moved to Amanty Airdrome in Lorraine where it joined the 1st, 91st and 88th Aero Squadrons. At Amanty, the squadron was equipped with Avion de Reconnaissance 1 (AR 1) trainers. classes were held in radio and machine-gun work and ground training was conducted by French officers. In addition the squadron helped in airfield construction projects. The AR-1s were inferior, obsolete machines, called “Antique Rattletraps” by the pilots, which the French had retired to training duties. However, they were suitable for training and after several weeks of making do with the training provided, on 3 May orders were received to head to the front, being assigned to the I Corps Observation Group at Ourches Aerodrome, where the 12th was designated as a Corps Observation squadron.

Combat in France

At Ourches, the 12th joined the 1st Aero Squadron and began active operations over the front. It was equipped with SPAD S.XIA.2s aircraft. In combat, the mission of the 12th Aero Squadron was general surveillance of the enemy rear areas by means of both visual and photographic reconnaissance. These missions were carried out for the purpose of intelligence-gathering and informing First Army headquarters informed of enemy movements and preparations for attacks or retreats of its infantry forces. The 12th identified enemy activity along roads and railroads, ground stations, various storage dumps and airfields; the numbers of fires and activities of enemy aircraft, and the amount of anti-aircraft artillery was also monitored and reported. Due to the nature of the missions and the depths of enemy area which was penetrated, the missions were carried out at high altitudes, usually between 4,500 and 5,500 meters.

12th Aero Squadron - SPAD XIA2, probably at Ourches, France

With few exceptions, the 12th’s pilots had never flown combat, but most of the observers had spent a number of weeks flying with French squadrons on active missions. One of these, Lieutenant Stephen W. Thompson, was at the 1st Squadron Gunnery School at Cazaux Airdrome, near Bordeaux when he was loaned on 5 February to the 123d French Breguet Squadron due to a shortage of observers in that unit. Returning from a bombing raid on Saarbruken, the aircraft in which Lt Thompson was operating the rear guns was attacked by German Albatross pursuit ships. He shot one down, becoming the first man in an American uniform to shoot down an enemy airplane. Later, on 28 July 1918, as a member of the Twelfth, he was credited with two more “kills.”

The 12th’s operations in the Toul Sector was a seasoning period for the squadron as it gained experience over a relatively inactive front with almost no enemy air opposition. “On the other hand,” according to an Air Service report after the war, “the enemy antiaircraft fire in the sector was exceedingly dense, active and accurate. Pilots of the Group were adept at evading antiaircraft fire after a month in the sector.” On 10 June, the 12th Aero Squadron moved to the Baccarat Sector and to the unfinished Flin Aerodrome, from which they supported the 42d American and 167th French Divisions. There, the 12th began to receive the latest in French observation aircraft, the Salmson 2A2. This front, too, was considered “stabilized” or quiet, but the opposing German air force, while not flying the latest types, was active and aggressive. The 12th flew visual and photographic reconnaissance, adjusted artillery fire, and staged “infantry-contact patrols” to locate the front lines.

Battle of Château-Thierry

Newly-received 12th Aero Squadron Salmson 2A2

By 29 June, the squadron had relocated to Saints Aerodrome in the Marne Sector to participate in the Battle of Château-Thierry. The 12th encountered intense opposition in the air from a concentration of German squadrons equipped with the most advanced Fokker aircraft. Encounters with up to 20 enemy aircraft on a patrol was a daily occurrence. On 5 July, the squadron moved again to a neighboring field at Francheville in support of the 26th Division, but because of its distance from the front, what would later be known as a “forward operating location,” or FOL, was established at Moras (or Morass) Ferme. Two 12th Squadron aircraft and two from the 88th Aero Squadron were flown to it at daybreak each day and held ready for developing requirements. The Allied counteroffensive was launched on 18 July and the squadron's support was vital in photographing targets ahead of the advance according to priorities set by corps intelligence. It was during this operation that oblique photography, sometimes from as low as 400 meters, began to be used; previously all photos had been vertical. The Moras Ferme location was upgraded to a full airfield on 22 July when the squadron occupied it to participate in the Chateau-Thierry offensive, during which it lost five officers.

St. Mihiel offensive

In the first half of August, the unit moved three times, finally being withdrawn from the sector on 12 August for a brief rest at Chailly-en-Brie Aerodrome. The 12th moved to Gengault Aerodrome near Toul on 23 August and operated in support of the St. Mihiel offensive. During that offensive, 12-13 September, the unit was equipped with 16 additional Salmsons and flew continuously to support the rapidly advancing 5th Division. Two aircraft, one piloted by Major Lewis Brereton, commander of the I Corps Observation Group and former 12th C.O., were lost, but all four crewmembers survived after landing inside friendly lines. Immediately after the St. Mihiel salient was reduced, the squadron was assigned to support the 90th Division.

Meuse-Argonne offensive

Squadron photograph, probably taken at Julvecourt in November 1918 after the armistice.

On 20 September, the 12th was transferred to Remicourt Aerodrome to prepare for the Meuse-Argonne offensive which began on 26 September. During the Argonne operation the 12th Aero Squadron was very much in demand. One morning after many assignments had been made, a call came in for a photographic mission. Five planes were ordered for the flight, but only four observers were available. Eddie Foy, a radio officer, volunteered to serve as an observer for the mission. The planes encountered a large formation of Germans near the target and three were shot down, one carrying Eddie Foy, who had been wounded. It is believed that he had the distinction of being the only non-flyer in the Air Service to be wounded and taken prisoner as a result of aerial combat.

In the last few months of the war, the 12th was called in many times to help locate Allied troops that had been cut off from their units. On one such occasion during the Argonne offensive, the 82d Division reported that troops near Verpel, just east of Grand Pre were out of contact with division headquarters. Because of the foul weather and approaching darkness, Captain Steve N. Noyes, squadron commander of the 12th would not send any of his pilots on the mission, going himself instead. Flying in dense fog and rain, Captain Noyes located the troops and landed near the division HQ after dark. The information proved to be exact, and the squadron was highly commended for this as well as many other missions. The 12th completed its World War I operations from Julvecourt Aerodrome, where it moved on 5 November in order to operate closer to the front lines.

Third Army of occupation

After the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918, the 12th Aero Squadron became a part of the Army of Occupation. The unit was located at several different places in France and Germany until 30 December, when it went to Fort Alexander (Feste Kaiser Alexander) at Koblenz, Germany, to take part in construction work. The squadron left Koblenz on 16 April 1919 and prepared for its movement back to the United States. Sailing from Brest aboard the USS Liberator on 3 June, the 12th arrived at Garden City, New York, on 17 June 1919.

Inter-War era

Arriving at Mitchell Field, New York in June 1919, most squadron members were separated from the Air Service and returned to civilian life. A small cadre of members remained on duty, and on the 8 October, Lt Alexander Pearson in a 12th Squadron De Havilland DH-4 took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island in the first transcontinental air race, a round trip to Crissy Field, San Francisco, California, which he won with a flying time of 48 hours, 37 minutes, and 16 seconds, or an average speed of 111.3 mph.

After a brief attachment to Scott Field, Illinois, the 12th was transferred back to Kelly Field, where it immediately began preparations for service along the Mexican Border. By February 1920, the squadron (less A Flight, which was detached to Douglas Field, Arizona) was settling in at Biggs Field, near El Paso, equipped with De Havilland DH-4s. Later that month, a terse telegram described one incident of this service: Lts G. L. Usher and L. M. Wolfe, “lost direction on patrol. Made forced landing near Nacozari Sonora Mexico. Plane reported broken. Commanding General Southern Department making arrangements for officers release from Mexico.” Wolfe and Usher, on a flight from Columbus Airfield New Mexico to Nogales, Arizona on 2 February 1920, lost their way due to a bad compass and poor visibility, mistakenly following a railway some 80 miles into Mexico. In landing near the village of La Noira, fifteen miles south of Nacozari, a wing was damaged. They were detained by Mexican authorities, although they were given the freedom of Nacozari and spent most of their time at the club of an American copper company. They were finally released on 24 February. Between the 4-11 April, the 12th moved to Nogales, where it operated for nearly a year until it joined the detached flight at Douglas Field, Arizona. On 28 September the squadron, reduced in numbers, returned to Biggs Field.

In February 1921, the same Lt Pearson and the 12th were again involved in a record-setting attempt, this time a planned transcontinental flight with only two stops to be completed in less than 24 hours. The flight was to be from Pablo Beach, Florida (near Jacksonville), to Rockwell Field, San Diego, with en-route servicing at Fort Worth and Biggs Field. Lt Pearson left Douglas for Florida on 7 February, but he was forced down in the desert with a broken crankshaft. Repairs were made the next day on the scene, and he flew on Biggs Field on the 9th, departing the next day for Kelly Field, San Antonio, but he didn’t make it. For the next six days, aircraft from five Texas bases searched for him in vain. Then, on the 16th, he arrived at Sanderson Border Patrol station on horseback, having made his way across country from his crash site in Mexico.

In June, the Border Patrol operation ended, with all airfields except Biggs Field being closed and most units returning to their permanent stations. The 12th Squadron, less A Flight again, which returned to Kelly Field, which remained in El Paso as part of the 1st Cavalry Division. On 30 September 1922, the unit was re-designated as the 12th Observation Squadron and in September 1923, it participated in maneuvers with the division at Marfa, Texas. It was during this period, from 1922 to 1923, that Captain Claire Chennault, of later “Flying Tiger” fame, served with the 12th as aviation engineer officer. In June 1926, the squadron went to Charlotte, Texas, for maneuvers, and in August it moved to Bayside Beach, Texas, for gunnery and bomb practice. The 12th returned to Bayside Beach in May 1932 and April 1933 for practice in aerial gunnery.

In 1934, the 12th took part when the Army was given responsibility for flying the mail after President Franklin Roosevelt cancelled all civilian contracts because of alleged rate-fixing by the airlines. 12th pilots were assigned to the difficult and dangerous CAA Route 18, from Salt Lake City, Utah to Oakland, California, via Elko, Nevada, and Sacramento, California. The aircraft they flew were primarily Douglas Y1B-7 bombers. On 1 June 1937, the 12th Observation Squadron left Texas to operate with the 7th Cavalry Brigade, the mechanized forerunner of the First Armored Division, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. While stationed at Fort Knox, the squadron participated in field maneuvers with the mechanized cavalry near Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, and at Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1938; in the First Army maneuvers at Plattsburg, New York in 1939; and in the Third Army maneuvers in Louisiana in 1940. In the summer of 1940, the squadron was the first to be attached to an armored division – the First – and on 2 December, a base detachment was formed at For. Knox to manage Goodman Field, a new and modern airfield still under construction. Captain Robert M. Lee, commanding officer of the 12th, was also detachment commander. Along with the First Armored Division, the 12th Squadron played an active role in the Carolina and Louisiana maneuvers from July to December 1941. After those maneuvers, the 12th returned to the recently completed Godman Field, where the unit supplied a cadre to organize the Headquarters Squadron of the 73d Observation Group.

World War II

After the Pearl Harbor Attack, the squadron left Godman Field on 17 March 1942 to join the 67th Observation Group at Esler Field, Louisiana. There it received extensive training in combat aircraft under Third Air Force. In late July the squadron was ordered overseas and split into a ground echelon and an air echelon. The ground echelon left Elser Field on 12 August 1942, and sailed for England on 28 August from Fort Dix, New Jersey aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth. It arrived at Gourock, Scotland, on 6 September 1942 and proceeded to its new station at RAF Membury, Berkshire, England. Meanwhile, the air echelon had remained at Elser Field, until 21 September. On that day it left by train for Fort Dix, where it sailed aboard the Dutch Troop Ship Marnix van St. Aldegonde on 26 September, arriving at Gurock on 7 October to join the rest of the squadron at Membury

Operations from England

In England, the squadron went through an intensive training program with the Royal Air Force. On 17 October 1942, it was assigned Spitfire PR Mk XIs, and late in January 1943, it received its first A-20 Havoc. During those months the squadron participated in several maneuvers and became a very efficient organization. On 8 July, the unit was re-designated the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter). A little later, on 13 July, a reorganization took place and the A-20s, gunners, liaison pilots, and most of the observers of the squadron were transferred to the 153rd Liaison Squadron. The 12th was then equipped with P-51C Mustangs and F-6 Reconnaissance Mustangs. Late in October, the 12th Squadron was transferred from the VIII Air Support Command to the IX Fighter Command. The unit became highly mobile and proficient at changing airfields on short notice. It would fly form eight English bases before moving to the Continent.

On 13 November, the squadron was re-designated again, to the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. Although the pilots of the 12th engaged in operations against the enemy while on detached service with the Royal Air Force, it was not until 2 January 1944 that the squadron began operations as a unit when Capt James L. Rose flew its first operational mission, a weather reconnaissance over France. On 4 January, the squadron, as part of the 67th Group, was assigned to the IX Air Support Command (re-designated IX Tactical Air Command in April 1944). After its first operational mission, the 12th helped to photograph 160 miles of French coast and two inshore strips, each 120 miles long using the Merton Oblique camera. On 20 March, after 19 days of extremely hazardous operation, the task was completed. Eighty-three missions were flown; 18 were aborted, 14 due to weather. The maps and photographs were an important contribution to the success of Operation Overlord, the invasion of the continent of Europe. The 12th shared a Presidential Unit Citation with the 67th group for the “most extensive low altitude oblique photographic assignment ever undertaken over enemy territory.” Now the 12th TRS turned to photographing targets over Belgium and France – targets from Le Havre to Luxembourg, and from Leige to Lorient. One day it was marshalling yards in Belgium, another day bridges along the Seine River, then gun emplacements on the “Rocket Coast” plus targets in the Pas-de-Calais area. In May 1944, 66 out of 75 missions were successful.

Northern France Campaign

On 6 June 1944, D-Day, and for days afterwards, the 12th performed area and route reconnaissance missions as well as artillery adjustment missions over and immediately behind the front lines. The squadron flew 250 missions during the month and operated around the clock. Reconnaissance was a major factor in allied strategy, and the 12th kept higher echelons informed of enemy convoy and troop movements, and the location of troop concentrations. Effective 13 June, the 12th was officially transferred to the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Group. However, about 5 July 1944, the squadron moved with the 67th to Airfield A-9 Le Molay-Littry – the first of five airfields from which it would operate in France – and began supporting the United States First Army, which was massing for a breakthrough near Saint-Lô. After the breakthrough, the 12th followed General Patton’s Third Army in its drive across France and supported him for the rest of the war.

On 1 August 1944, the squadron was assigned to the XIX Tactical Air Command. Since no French airfield was ready for the 10th Group, the 12th had to handle the reconnaissance load for the first several days, flying 26 missions in five days with a 100 percent success rate. Although bad weather hampered its operations during the rest of the year, several outstanding missions were flown. On the 11th, the squadron was the first from the 10th TRG to move onto the newly captured Rennes Airfield (A-27). During September, in addition to its regular missions, the 12th flew 170 missions in nineteen days reconnoitering the area along and beyond the Siegfried Line where German armies were building up reserves. The pilots also spotted and photographed areas the Germans were strengthening and reconnoitered marshalling yards to see if reinforcements were being sent in from other parts of Germany. During November and December, missions were flown over the Ruhr and Rhine valleys and over such cities as Frankfurt, Mannheim, Wiesbaden, Koblenz, and Ludwigshafen, many of which were heavily defended.

During the German retreat after the Battle of the Bulge, the 12th kept its planes in the air, spotting enemy vehicles, troops, and supplies. Medium bombers had knocked out so many roads and bridges that thousands of German vehicles were trying to escape, but had no way to move. On 26 January, 12th TRS pilots spotted 4,000 vehicles and called in P-47 Thunderbolt fighter-bombers in to finish the job. The 12th Squadron was commended by Generals Carl Spaatz and Weyland for its work during the German withdrawal.

Invasion of Germany

The 12th moved to Vogelsang Airfield (Y-61) Euren, Germany on 2 March 1945. During March, 320 missions were flown in support of the Third Army’s break through of the Siegfried Line. At this point, the squadron received an order stressing the fact that the 12th was a reconnaissance squadron and that engagements with the enemy should not be encouraged. Reconnaissance areas changed rapidly in keeping pace with Patton. During the first part of April, targets included Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Wurzburg, and Kassel. Later they were farther east – Gotha, Erfurt, Leipzig, and Chemnitz. Then the 12th moved south to Munich, Regensburg, and Nurnberg, and it finished the month by making long flights (with wing tanks) into Austria and Czechoslovakia, reconnoitering Prague, Pilsen, Linz, and Vienna. Although hostilities in general ceased in Europe on 7 May 1945, the 12th Squadron continued to fly photographic missions in support of Allied forces in Czechoslovakia, where the fighting did not stop until 10 May.

The 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron made a very impressive record during World War II. The unit’s historian reported that 2,732 missions were flown, 26 enemy planes destroyed, three probably destroyed, and ten damaged. The 12th Squadron lost nine planes. After the war, the 12th became part of the occupation air force in Europe. It remained at Furth Airfield, Germany, assigned to the 10th Reconnaissance Group of the XII Tactical Air Command. The squadron demobilized during late 1945 and early 1946, being reduced to an administrative unit. On 12 Funerary 1946 it was reassigned administratively to Bolling Field, Washington DC where it was inactivated on 31 March 1946.

United States Air Force

Postwar Era

The squadron was re-activated at March Field, California on 31 August 1946 as the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, Photo (Jet Propelled). It was assigned to the 363d Reconnaissance Group, Ninth Air Force. However, because the rest of the group was stationed at Brooks Field, Texas, and later at Langley Field, Virginia, it was attached to Twelfth Air Force. The squadron, receiving FP-80 Shooting Star aircraft, claimed to be the first unit in the Air Force to use jet-photo equipment. Extensive aerial photography was performed by the 12th, including maps and layouts for the United States Department of Agriculture, the Army Corps of Engineers, and many other agencies. On 24 July 1947, the 12th was reassigned once again to the 67th Reconnaissance Group, and in the months that followed, the 12th participated in many exercises and maneuvers. The squadron filled many requests for aerial photographs. Many layouts of dams and waterways were made for the Army Corps of Engineers, Army Mapping Service, and the Department of Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Service

Korean War

On 5 February 1951, the unit was re-designated the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photo; and on 25 February, eight months after the Korean War started, it was activated at Komaki Air Base, Japan, assigned to the 67th TRG once more, part of the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, which had been formed in a reorganization of reconnaissance assets in Fifth Air Force. Personnel and equipment (RB-26s) came from the inactivated Ohio Air National Guard 162d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron which returned to the United States. On 15 March 1951, the unit moved to Taegu Air Base (K-2), South Korea, where the operations section had been located since the first part of the month. The primary mission of the squadron during the Korean conflict was to provide the night reconnaissance capability for the wing, both photographic and visual. During hours of darkness, the 12th Squadron was tasked to collect information on enemy activities, to make visual searches and perform route reconnaissance, to perform targeting, and bomb damage assessments, to determine the accuracy of SHORAN coordinates. In emergencies, the 12th was expected to assist the two day visual and photo recon squadrons.

In March 1951, the squadron’s first month in South Korea, the 12th flew a total of 256 effective sorties. One of its early tasks was to provide photographs of all enemy airfields in North Korea. It also flew sorties in conjunction with the preparation and execution of a parachute drop on 23 March. On 21 August, the squadron moved to Kimpo Air Base (K-14) at Seoul and remained there for the remainder of the war. The equipment compliment of the 12th Squadron necessarily influenced its performance of mission. The squadron was authorized 27 RB-26 Invaders for night reconnaissance missions, but it seldom possessed so many planes and several of the authorized aircraft were EB-26s modified for electronic reconnaissance. In the summer of 1953, the RB-26s covered the three main supply routes of the enemy each night: one route on each coast and one in the center of the peninsula. Special night photo missions were also flown against pre-briefed targets at which some particular enemy activity, was suspected on occasions the night photo planes photographed targets that for some reason could not be covered during daylight.

During the period 1 January to 30 June 1953, the unit’s pilots flew 1,117 missions and sighted 88,795 enemy vehicles. In July, the last months of the Korean conflict, the 12th flew 334 missions, including several daylight runs. Aerial reconnaissance seems to have been of even greater importance in the Korean fighting than in any previous war. According to a survey made shortly after hostilities ceased, Air reconnaissance accounted for a considerable part of all intelligence used by ground units and for a high percentage used by the United Nations air forces.

Service in Japan

Following the end of the Korean War, the 12th TRS continued to operate from Kimpo until 8 November 1954, when it moved to Itami Air Base, Japan. The 12th maintained at least one RB-26 and crew on temporary duty at Kimpo until 28 July 1956 to provide the U.S. Army and the Republic of Korea Army with photo reconnaissance of South Korea and the demilitarized zone.

On 14 August 1956, the squadron moved from Itami to Yokota Air Base, which could accommodate the twin jet RB-66 Invaders with which the 12th was soon to be equipped. On 22 December the first of the 12ths new planes arrived. In April 1958, two of the 12ths aircraft deployed to Bangkok, Thailand, to fly reconnaissance missions for a Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) exercise, and in the following June its RB-66s took part in a joint Navy-Air Force exercise, providing navigational aid and escort for F-100Ds attacking the naval task force.

During January 1960, crews of the 12th ferried their planes to the United States, refueling from tankers over Wake Island and Hawaii. Not long after, on 8 March, the squadron was inactivated at Yokota.

Vietnam War

On 3 November 1965, the outfit was re- designated the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (Photographic) and assigned to Tactical Air Command. It was reactivated at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, on 1 July 1966, and organized there about 8 July, assigned again (temporarily) to the 67th TRW. At this time the unit was equipped with McDonnell RF-4C Phantom II reconnaissance aircraft. On 2 September of that year, the unit deployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, where it became a part of the 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing on 9 September.

In the first four full months of operation in Southeast Asia, crews of the 12th TRS flew 2,014 combat sorties against pinpoint, strip, and area cover targets in North Vietnam, South Vietnam, and Laos. Approximately two-thirds of these were flown at night. Continuous information on enemy supply movements, troop concentrations, and fortifications was obtained from aerial photography taken by the 12th. In addition, photography taken by the unit was used in bomb damage assessment, base defense planning, and enemy air defense site detection. The 12th flew more than 26,000 combat sorties and 53,000 hours over a 5 year period. This was more than in both World Wars and Korea combined.

Post-Vietnam

The 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron moved to Barksdale AFB, Texas, on 20 August 1971, where it became – once again – a component of the 67th TRW. The unit made annual Salty Bee deployments to USAFE bases in Europe, participated in exercises throughout North America, and was actively involved in the Peacetime Aerial Reconnaissance Program (PARPRO). Modifications to the RF-4C added the capability to designated targets for laser guided munitions. Crews and aircraft from the Twelfth deployed to the Middle East to take part in the war against Iraq in 1991. On 28 August 1992 with the retirement of the RF-4C Phantom, the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was inactivated at Bergstrom AFB, Texas.

Modern era

Reactivated at Beale AFB, California in 2001 operating unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial reconnaissance aircraft as part of the Global War on Terror. In March 2013, the squadron was re-assigned to the reactivated 69th Reconnaissance Group as part of the consolodation of the USAF Global Hawk mission.

Lineage

• Organized as 12th Aero Squadron on 2 June 1917

Re-designated: 12th Aero Squadron (Corps Observation), 3 May 1918

Re-designated: 12th Aero Squadron, 17 June 1919

Re-designated: 12th Squadron (Observation) on 14 March 1921

Re-designated: 12th Observation Squadron on 25 January 1923

Re-designated: 12th Observation Squadron (Medium) on 13 January 1942

Re-designated: 12th Observation Squadron on 4 July 1942

Re-designated: 12th Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter) on 31 May 1943

Re-designated: 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 13 November 1943

Inactivated on 31 March 1946

• Re-designated 12th Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic (Jet Propelled) on 9 July 1946

Activated on 29 July 1946

Re-designated 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic-Jet on 14 June 1948

Inactivated on 28 March 1949

• Re-designated 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photographic on 5 February 1951

Activated on 25 February 1951

Re-designated 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photographic-Jet on 23 February 1959

Discontinued on 8 March 1960

• Re-designated 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic-Jet, and activated on 3 November 1965

Organized on 1 July 1966

Re-designated: 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 October 1966

Re-designated: 12th Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 November 1991

Inactivated on 30 September 1992

• Activated on 8 November 2001

Assignments

• Post Headquarters, Kelly Field, 2 June 1917
• Post Headquarters, Wilbur Wright Field, 8 July 1917
• Aviation Concentration Center, 5 October 1917

Overseas transport, SS Northland, 5-25 December 1918

• Headquarters, Chief of Air Service, AEF, 1 January 1918
• I Corps Observation Group, 3 May 1918
• United States Third Army, 21 November 1918
• American Expeditionary Forces, 16 April-16 June 1919
• Post Headquarters, Mitchell Field, 17 June 1919
• Post Headquarters, Scott Field, 6 July 1919
• First Army Observation Group, 1 October 1919

Attached to 1st Surveillance Group from 13 October 1919

• 1st Surveillance Group, 24 March 1920
• VIII Corps Area, 27 June 1921

Divisional aviation for 1st Cavalry Division, Sep 1921-Jun 1926, and for 2d Division, Jun 1924-c. Oct 1931

Detachment at Field Artillery School, 1 July 1927 – 1 June 1928

• 12th Observation Group, 1 October 1930
• VIII Corps Area, 1 June 1937
• V Corps Area

Attached to: 7th Cavalry Brigade (later, 1st Armored Division), 20 June 1937

Attached to: Armored Force, 2 October 1940

• 73d Observation Group, 1 September 1941
• V Air Support Command, 21 January 1942
• 67th Observation (later, 67 Reconnaissance; 67 Tactical Reconnaissance) Group, 29 March 1942

• 10 Photographic (later, 10 Reconnaissance) Group, 13 June 1944

Attached to 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group to c. 11 August 1944

• Continental Air Forces (later, Strategic Air Command), 15 February-31 Mar 1946
• 363d Reconnaissance Group (attached to Twelfth Air Force), 29 July 1946
• 67th Reconnaissance (later, 67 Tactical Reconnaissance) Group, 24 July 1947 – 28 March 1949
• 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 25 February 1951

Attached to 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 1 June-24 Nov 1954 and 1 July-30 Sep 1957

• 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 1 October 1957 – 8 March 1960
• Tactical Air Command, 3 November 1965
• 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 1 July 1966
• 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 9 September 1966
• 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 31 August 1971 – 30 September 1992

Under operational control of 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 5 May-4 Jun 1974, 7 July-7 Aug 1981, 15 May-11 Jun 1984, and 27 August-24 Sep 1987

Flight attached to Tactical Fighter Wing, Provisional 35, 14 January-10 May 1991

• 9th Operations Group, 8 November 2001 – 28 February 2013
• 69th Reconnaissance Group, 1 March 2013 - Present

Stations

World War I

• Kelly Field, Texas, 2 June 1917
• Wilbur Wright Field, Ohio, 8 July 1917
• Camp Mills, Garden City, New York, 2 November-3 Dec 1917
• Liverpool, England, 25 December 1917
• St. Maixent Aerodrome, France, 1 January 1918
• Chaumont Aerodrome, France, 16 January 1918
• Amanty Airdrome, France, 2 February 1918
• Ourches Aerodrome, France, 3 May 1918
• Flin Aerodrome, France, 13 June 1918
• Saints Aerodrome, France, 29 June 1918
• Francheville Aerodrome, France, c. 6 July 1918
• Moras Ferme Aerodrome, France, 22 July 1918

• May-en-Multien Aerodrome, France, 3 August 1918
• Coincy Aerodrome, France, 10 August 1918
• Chailly-en-Brie Aerodrome, France, 12 August 1918
• Gengault Aerodrome, France, 22 August 1918
• Remicourt Aerodrome, France, 20 September 1918
• Julvecourt Airdrome, France, 3 November 1918
• Mercy-le-Haut Airdrome, France, 21 November 1918
• Trier Airfield, Germany, 6 December 1918
• Fort Alexander, Koblenz, Germany, 30 December 1918
• Colombey-les-Belles, France, 16 April 1919
• Le Mans, France, 5 May 1919
• Brest, France, 20 May-2 Jun 1919

Inter-War Period

• Mitchel Field, New York, 17 June 1919
• Scott Field, Illinois, 6 July 1919
• Kelly Field, Texas, 13 October 1919
• Fort Bliss, Texas, 9 January 1920

Flight operated from Douglas Field, Arizona, from 10 January 1920

• Nogales Field, Arizona

Flight operated from Douglas Field, Arizona. from 12 April 1920

• Douglas Field, Arizona

Flight operated from Nogales Field, Arizona from c. Feb 1921

• Biggs Field, Texas, 28 September 1921

Detachment at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, after 26 June 1924

• Fort Sam Houston, Texas, 22 June 1926

Detachment at Post Field, Oklahoma, 1 July 1927 – 1 June 1928

Detachment operated from Fort Huachuca, Arizona, 6 April-10 May 1929

• Brooks Field, Texas, 31 October 1931
• Godman Field, Kentucky, 20 June 1937

Flight at Post Field, Oklahoma, 1 June 1937 – 30 November 1940

World War II

• Esler Field, Louisiana, 20 March-12 Aug 1942
• RAF Membury (AAF-466), England, 7 September 1942
• RAF Greenham Common (AAF-486), England, 16 December 1943
• RAF Aldermaston (AAF-467), England, 9 January 1944
• RAF Chilbolton (AAF-404), England, 1 March 1944
• RAF Middle Wallop (AAF-449), England, 14 March 1944
• Le Molay Airfield (A-9), France, c. 5 July 1944

• Rennes Airfield (A-27), France, 11 August 1944
• Châteaudun Airfield (A-39), France, 24 August 1944
• Saint-Dizier Airfield (A-64), France, 12 September 1944
• Conflans Airfield (Y-94), France, 30 November 1944
• Trier Airfield (Y-57), Germany, 29 May 1945
• Ober Olm Airfield (Y-64), Germany, 2 April 1945
• Fürth Airfield (R-28), Germany, 28 April 1945 – 15 February 1946

United States Air Force

• Bolling Field, District of Columbia, 15 February-31 Mar 1946
• March Field (later, AFB), California, 29 July 1946 – 28 March 1949
• Komaki AB, Japan, 25 February 1951
• Taegu AB (K-2), South Korea, 15 March 1951
• Kimpo AB (K-14), South Korea, 21 August 1951
• Itami AB, Japan, 8 November 1954
• Yokota AB, Japan, 14 August 1956 – 8 March 1960
• Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, 1 July-2 Sep 1966
• Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, 9 September 1966 – 31 August 1971

• Bergstrom AFB, Texas, 31 August 1971 – 30 September 1992

Deployed at: Ramstein AB and Zweibrücken AB, West Germany, 5 May-4 Jun 1974

Deployed at: Zweibrücken AB, West Germany, 7 July-7 Aug 1981, 15 May-11 Jun 1984, and 27 August-24 Sep 1987

Flight deployed at: Sheik Isa Air Base, Bahrain, 14 January-10 May 1991

• Beale AFB, California, 8 November 2001–28 February 2013
• Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, 1 March 2013-Present

Aircraft

• Dorand AR-2, 1918
• Salmson 2, 1918–1919
• Airco DH.4, 1919-c. 1926
• Douglas O-2, C. 1926-1930
• JN-6 Jenny JNS-1, Curtis O-11, during period 1919-1930
• Thomas-Morse O-19, 1930–1933, 1935
• Fokker O-27, 1933–1935
• Douglas O-43, 1935–1941
• North American O-47, 1938–1942
• Stinson YO-54, 1940–1942
• O-52 Owl and O-57 Grasshopper, 1941–1942
• O-59 Grasshopper, 1942
• Douglas O-31, O-46; Curtiss O-40 Raven; Ryan YO-51 Dragonfly during period 1935-1941

• Douglas O-38 and 0-49 during period 1941-1942
• A-20 Havoc, 1942
• P-51/F-6C Mustang, 1942
• Spitfire PR Mk XI, 1942–1944
• L-4 Grasshopper, 1942–1943
• DB-7 and A-20 Havoc, 1943
• P-51/F-6D Mustang, 1943–1946
• FP-80A Shooting Star, 1946–1949
• RB-26B Invader, 1951–1956
• RB-66B Destroyer, 1956–1960
• RF-4C Phantom II, 1966–1992
• RQ-4 Global Hawk, 2001 – present

Awards and Decorations

Distinguished Unit Citation LeHavre and Straits of Dover, 23 – 25 February 1944 Korea, 25 February - 21 April 1951 Korea, 9 July - 27 November 1951 Korea 1 May - 27 July 1953 Presidential Unit Citation Southeast Asia: 9 September 1966 – 30 June 1970 1 September 1967 – 10 July 1968 1 July 1968 – 31 August 1969 1 February - 31 March 1971. Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device 1 December 1952 – 30 April 1953 1 August - 2 September 1966

1 September 1971 – 15 May 1973 16 May 1974 – 15 May 1976 16 December 1976 – 1 December 1978 1 June 1982 – 31 May 1983 1 June 1983 – 31 May 1984 1 January 1985 – 1 February 1986. Cited in the Order of the Day, Belgian Army 6 June 1944 Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation 25 February 1951 – 31 March 1953 Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm 6 September 1966 – 18 August 1971.

See also

• List of American Aero Squadrons

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

• Official factsheet
• Short history and patches
• 12th TRS Korean War page
• July 14, 2008 - 90th anniversary Commemoration of 1st aero squadron and 12th aero squadron in France during World War I