The

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 ...

's 548th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is an intelligence unit located at

Beale AFB Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base in Yuba County, California. It is outside Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, and about north of Sacramento. The host unit at Beale is the 9th Rec ...

, California. The group was first activated as the 6th Photographic Technical Squadron in November 1943. After training in the United States, it deployed to the

Southwest Pacific Theater The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia, its mandate Territory of New Guin ...

, serving in the Pacific until

VJ 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 ...

. After the end of

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 ...

the squadron remained in the Far East, serving in the occupation forces in Japan. It was still in Japan as the 548th Reconnaissance Technical Squadron, when 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 ...

began in June 1950. It supported reconnaissance units in Japan until inactivated in 1960. The squadron was activated to support

Pacific Air Forces The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PAC ...

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) United States Air Force installation, installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel (United States), Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged ...

in October 1965. As the

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 ...

increased the need for photographic interpretation, it expanded to become a

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

two years later. The 548th continued to serve in the Pacific until inactivating in 1992. As the 548th Air Intelligence Group the unit was activated in August 1992, supporting

Air Combat Command The Air Combat Command (ACC) is one of nine List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Commands (MAJCOMs) in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HAF) at the Pentagon. It is the prim ...

intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. It can be described as t ...

requirements until October 1994 when it was again inactivated. Its most recent activation at

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 ...

took place in October 2003.

Mission

The mission of the 548 ISRG is to operate and maintain a $1B AN/GSQ-272 "Sentinel" weapon system (also known as Distributed Ground Station or DGS), and provide combatant commanders with processing, exploitation, and dissemination (PED) of actionable intelligence data collected by U-2,

MQ-1 The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the Predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ( ...

, MQ-9 and

RQ-4 The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft introduced in 2001. It was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical (now part of Northrop Grumman), and known as Tier II+ during development. The R ...

aircraft and other platforms as required.

History

The group was first activated in November 1943 as the 6th Photographic Technical Squadron.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 6th Photographic Technical Squadron on 20 November 1943 : Activated on 1 Dec 1943 * Redesignated 548 Reconnaissance Technical Squadron on 7 January 1950 : Discontinued on 8 March 1960 : Organized on 8 October 1965 * Redesignated 548th Reconnaissance Technical Group on 1 October 1967 : Inactivated on 3 July 1991 * Redesignated 548th Air Intelligence Group on 1 August 1992 : Activated on 27 August 1992 : Inactivated on 1 October 1994 * Redesignated 548th Intelligence Group on 23 October 2003 : Activated on 1 December 2003 * Redesignated 548th Intelligence, surveillance and Reconnaissance Group on 1 January 2009

Assignments

III Reconnaissance Command The III Reconnaissance Command is a disbanded United States Army Air Forces unit. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force stationed at Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 8 April 1946. After transferring t ...

, 1 December 1943 *

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, ...

, 13 May 1944 *

91st Reconnaissance Wing 0191 is the UK telephone dialling code used by Newcastle upon Tyne, Durham, Sunderland and other nearby areas in the north east of England. Areas covered Numbering in the 0191 area is officially divided into three distinct areas, each with the ...

, 10 November 1945 * Pacific Air Command, US Army (later

Far East Air Forces The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF is headquartered at the Hickam AFB portion of Join ...

), 27 January 1946 *

Fifth Air Force The Fifth Air Force (5 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is the U.S. Air Force's oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organ ...

, 5 January 1950 * Far East Air Forces, 18 February 1950 * Japanese Air Defense Force, 1 May 1952 * 6007th Composite Reconnaissance Group (later 6007th Reconnaissance Group, 11 August 1954 * Far East Air Forces, 2 April 1955 * 6007th Reconnaissance Group, 1 July 1955 * Fifth Air Force, 1 July 1957 *

67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing 67 may refer to: * 67 (number) * one of the years 67 BC, AD 67, 1967, 2067 * "67", a 1992 song by Love Battery from the album ''Between the Eyes'' * 67 (rap group), a drill music group from London * 67 Asia, a main-belt asteroid See also * 67th Re ...

, 1 October 1957 – 8 March 1960 * Pacific Air Forces, 30 June 1965 – 3 July 1991 *

, 27 August 1992 *

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

, 1 October 1992 *

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to U ...

, 1 July 1993 – 1 October 1994 * 480th Intelligence Wing (later 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Intelligence Wing), 1 December 2003 – present

Components

* 9th Intelligence Squadron (Dec 2003 - Present) *

13th Intelligence Squadron The 13th Intelligence Squadron (13 IS) is part of the 548th Intelligence Group at Beale Air Force Base. It is one of the exploitation units for the Lockheed U-2 (operated out of Beale AFB), MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper (operated out of Nellis, ...

(Dec 2003 - Present) * 48th Intelligence Support Squadron (Dec 2003 - Present) * 553d Intelligence Squadron (Jun 2022 - Present)

Stations

Will Rogers Field Will may refer to: Common meanings * Will and testament, instructions for the disposition of one's property after death * Will (philosophy), or willpower * Will (sociology) * Will, volition (psychology) * Will, a modal verb - see Shall and will ...

, Oklahoma, 1 December 1943 – 11 April 1944 *

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- ...

, Solomon Islands, 13 May - 28 November 1944 * Morotai, Philippines, 12 December 1944 * Camp Dulag, Leyte, Philippines, 30 September 1945 *

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 ...

, Luzon, Philippines, 22 November 1945 *

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, Japan, 17 May 1946 * Yokota Army Air Base (later

Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 pers ...

), Japan, September 1946 * Showa Air Station, Japan, 30 June 1958 * Yokota Air Base, Japan, 6–8 March 1960 *

, Hawaii, 8 October 1965 – 3 December 1991 *

Langley Air Force Base Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1 ...

, Virginia, 27 August 1992 – 1 October 1994 *

, California, 1 December 2003 – present

Awards and campaigns

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

External links

{{AFISRA Intelligence groups of the United States Air Force Military units and formations in California