The 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron was a component of the

4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing The 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force (USAF) wing last assigned to the 12th Strategic Aerospace Division of Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Davis–Monthan AFB, Arizona. It was SAC's high altitude rec ...

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both 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 ...

, that operated Lockheed U-2 spy planes out of Laughlin AFB, Texas, and Davis–Monthan AFB, Arizona, in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The unit is also sometimes referred to as the 4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Weather Squadron. It was from this unit that the pilots involved in overflights of Cuba during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

were drawn. Detachments of the 4028th were deployed to

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam ( vi, Việt Nam Cộng hòa), was a state in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975, the period when the southern portion of Vietnam was a member of the Western Bloc during part of th ...

History

The 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was activated at

Turner AFB Naval Air Station Albany (formerly Turner Air Force Base and Turner Field) is a former United States Air Force and United States Navy military airfield located in Albany, Georgia. History Turner Field (1941-1946) In mid-1940 the U.S. Army Air Cor ...

, Georgia, on 1 April 1956. The first mission was to operate

RB-57D The Martin RB-57D Canberra was a specialized high-altitude strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Martin B-57 Canberra tactical bomber, a licence-built version of the English Electric Canberra. It was used by the United States Air ...

s of

Project BLACK KNIGHT A project is any undertaking, carried out individually or collaboratively and possibly involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a particular goal. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of even ...

, for which purpose the

4025th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smalles ...

was assigned to the wing in May 1956. The second mission was to operate the U-2s ordered by

SAC SAC or Sac may refer to: Organizations Education * Santa Ana College, California, US * San Antonio College, Texas, US * St. Andrew's College, Aurora, Canada * Students' Administrative Council, University of Toronto, Canada * SISD Student Activiti ...

under Project Dragon Lady, and the 4028th was created for this purpose. Prior to receiving the U-2s, the 4080th wing moved to Laughlin AFB, TX during February–April 1957. "A second U-2 squadron, the 4029th SRS, was assigned in expectation that the CIA Project Aquatone would end, and the aircraft be turned over to SAC. This never happened, and the 4029th SRS was never equipped. The wing moved to Davis–Monthan AFB in 1963.Pocock, Chris, "50 Years of the U-2: The Complete Illustrated History of the 'Dragon Lady' ", Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., Atglen, Pennsylvania, Library of Congress card number 2005927577, , page 404. "The 100th SRW was created at Davis–Monthan AFB, Arizona in June 1966 by a renumbering of the 4080th SRW. The U-2 squadron was renumbered from 4028th SRS to the 349th SRS. The 100th Wing also controlled the 350th SRS which operated the Ryan RPVs and the associated DC-130 launch and

CH-3 The Sikorsky S-61R is a twin-engine helicopter used in transport or search and rescue roles. A developed version of the SH-3 Sea King, S-61/SH-3 Sea King, the S-61R was also built under license by Agusta as the AS-61R. The S-61R served in the U ...

recovery aircraft."Pocock, Chris, "50 Years of the U-2: The Complete Illustrated History of the 'Dragon Lady' ", Schiffer Publishing, Ltd., Atglen, Pennsylvania, Library of Congress card number 2005927577, , page 405.

References

{{reflist Military units and formations established in 1956 Units and formations of Strategic Air Command 1956 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Reconnaissance squadrons of the United States Air Force MAJCOM squadrons of the United States Air Force