The 74th Reconnaissance Group is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

91st Air Division The 91st Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Continental Air Forces, assigned to First Air Force, being stationed at Newark Municipal Airport, New Jersey. It was inactivated on 24 June ...

Stewart AFB Stewart may refer to: People *Stewart (name), Scottish surname and given name *Clan Stewart, a Scottish clan *Clan Stewart of Appin, a Scottish clan Places Canada *Stewart, British Columbia *Stewart Township, Nipissing District, Ontario (histor ...

, New York.

History

The unit was first activated at

Lawson Field Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansa ...

, Georgia in February 1942 as the 74th Observation Group, shortly after the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

entered into

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. However, the

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 ide ...

's first operational squadrons, the

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first atteste ...

, the newly activated

13th In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...

, and the 22d Observation Squadrons were not assigned until the following month.AFHRA Factsheet, 11th Reconnaissance Squadron
(retrieved 3 Dec 2012)AFHRA Factsheet, 29th Attack Squadron
(retrieved 3 Dec 2012)Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 117-119 The unit flew

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

, mapping, artillery adjustment, bombing,

dive bombing A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughou ...

, and

strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

missions to support ground units in training or on maneuvers. It trained personnel in aerial reconnaissance, medium bombardment, and fighter techniques throughout the war until it was inactivated in November 1945. The group was reactivated in the reserves in 1946 at Stewart Field (later Stewart Air Force Base), New York. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949

Lineage

* Constituted as 74th Observation Group on 5 February 1942 : Activated on 27 February 1942 : Redesignated as 74th Reconnaissance Group on 2 April 1943 : Redesignated as 74th Tactical Reconnaissance Group on 11 August 1943 : Inactivated on 7 November 1945. * Redesignated 74th Reconnaissance Group, allotted to the reserve, and activated, on 27 December 1946 : Inactivated on 27 June 1949.

Components

* 5th Observation Squadron (later

5th Liaison Squadron The 5th Liaison Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was first activated during World War II as the 5th Observation Squadron. It served as a training unit for cooperation with field artillery until 1942, when that mission w ...

): 8 Aug 1942 – 25 Jan 1943; 2 Apr 1943 – 11 August 1943 (attached 11 August 1943 – 15 Sep 1943) *

8th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

: 15 July 1945 – 7 November 1945 * 11th Observation Squadron (later 11th Reconnaissance Squadron, 11th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron): 21 March 1942 – 7 November 1945 * 13th Observation Squadron (later 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, 13th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron): 2 March 1942 – 7 November 1945 *

21st Reconnaissance Squadron 021 is: * in Brazil, the telephone area code for the city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding cities (Greater Rio de Janeiro) * in China, the telephone area code for the city of Shanghai. * in Indonesia, the area code for the city of Jakarta and ...

: 1 October 1947 – 27 June 1949 * 22d Observation Squadron (later 22d Reconnaissance Squadron, 22d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron): 12 March 1942– 29 January 1945 * 22d Reconnaissance Squadron: 23 October 1947 – 27 June 1949 * 31st Reconnaissance Squadron (later 33d Reconnaissance Squadron): 13 November 1947– 27 June 1949 * 28th Reconnaissance Squadron (later 36th Photographic Mapping Squadron): 21 October 1943 – 29 March 1944 * 101st Bombardment Photographic Squadron: 29 January 1945 – 7 November 1945

Assignments

5th Air Support Command Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

, 27 February 1942 * 3d Air Support Command (later III Ground Air Support Command, III Air Support Command), ''ca''. April 1942 *

IV Air Support Command The I Tactical Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Second Air Force, based at Biggs Field, Texas. It was inactivated on 22 December 1945. History General Headquarters Air Force (GHQ AF) reorganize ...

, 28 December 1942 * III Reconnaissance Command (later III Tactical Air Command), ''ca''. September 1943 *

XIX Tactical Air Command The XIX Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The unit's last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force based at Biggs Field, Texas, where it was inactivated on 31 March 1946. During World War II, the mission of th ...

, 25 October 1945 – 7 November 1945 * 91st Reconnaissance Wing (later 91st Air Division), 27 December 1946 – 27 June 1949

Stations

* Lawson Field, Georgia, 27 February 1942 *

DeRidder Army Air Base Beauregard Regional Airport is a public use airport in Beauregard Parish, Louisiana, United States. It is owned by Beauregard Parish and is located three nautical miles (6 km) southwest of the central business district of DeRidder, Louisiana ...

, Louisiana, C. 14 April 1942 *

Esler Field Esler Field, also known as Esler Regional Airport , is a military and public use airfield in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States, near the City of Pineville. It is located 10 nautical miles (12 statute miles, 19 kilometres) northeas ...

, Louisiana, c. 13 December 1942 *

Desert Center Army Air Field Desert Center Airport is a private-use airport located five nautical miles (6 mi, 9 km) northeast of the central business district of Desert Center, in Riverside County, California, United States. The airport located at the en ...

, California, c. 28 December 1942 *

Morris Field Charlotte Douglas International Airport (IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles west ...

, North Carolina, September 1943 * Camp Campbell AAF, Kentucky, November 1943 * DeRidder Army Air Field, Louisiana, April 1944 *

Stuttgart Army Air Field : ''for the airport's World War II history, see Stuttgart Army Airfield (Arkansas), Stuttgart Army Airfield'' Stuttgart Municipal Airport is in Prairie County, Arkansas, Prairie County, Arkansas. It is eight miles north of Stuttgart, Arkansas, St ...

, Arkansas, February-7 November 1945 * Stewart Field, New York, 27 December 1946 – 27 June 1949.

Aircraft

* A-26, 1945 * B-18, 1942-1943 * F-6 (P-51), 1945 * F-10 (B-25), 1944-1945 * L-1, 1942-1943 * L-3, 1942-1943 * L-4, 1942-1943 * L-5, 1944-1945 * L-6, 1942-1943 * O-52, 1942-1943 * P-39, 1943 * P-40, 1943-1944 * P-43, 1942-1943 SourcesAircraft flown are based on the sources cited for individual squadrons. Not all squadrons flew the same aircraft while assigned to the group Equipped at various times with A-20s,

Awards

* *

American Theater of World War II The American Theater was a theater of operations during World War II including all continental American territory, and extending into the ocean. Owing to North and South America's geographical separation from the central theaters of ...

References

Notes

Bibliography

* *

External links

{{USAAF 4th Air Force World War II 074 Military units and formations established in 1942 0074