16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron assigned to Air Combat Command's 461st Air Control Wing, 461st Operations Group, stationed at
Robins Air Force Base, Georgia Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast o ...
. The squadron previously flew the Northrop Grumman E-8C JSTARS, providing airborne battle management, command and control, surveillance, and target acquisition with the last E-8C flight on September 8, 2022.


Mission

The 16th
Squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...
operated the Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint STARS (
Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System The Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) is a United States Air Force airborne ground surveillance, battle management and command and control aircraft. It tracks ground vehicles and some aircraft, col ...
), an advanced ground surveillance and battle management system. J-STARS detected, located, classified, tracks and targets ground movements on the battlefield, communicating real-time information through secure
data link A data link is the means of connecting one location to another for the purpose of transmitting and receiving digital information (data communication). It can also refer to a set of electronics assemblies, consisting of a transmitter and a recei ...
s with combat command posts.


History


World War II

The squadron was first activated as the 380th Fighter Squadron, part of
IV Fighter Command The IV Fighter Command is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. It was activated under Fourth Air Force at March Field, California in June 1941, when it replaced a provisional organization. It was responsible for training fighter units and ...
in early 1943. It engaged in the air defense of the
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
area as well as acting as a Replacement Training Unit until the end of 1943. It trained as a
North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...
operational squadron before deploying to the European Theater of Operations. In Europe it became part of
IX Fighter Command The IX Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Erlangen, Germany, wheret was inactivated on 16 November 1945. IX Fighter Command was the primary tactical fighter ...
in England. Operated both as a tactical fighter squadron, providing air support to Allied ground forces in France as well as an air defense squadron, attacking enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat over Europe. The squadron was converted to a
tactical reconnaissance Aerial reconnaissance is reconnaissance for a military or strategic purpose that is conducted using reconnaissance aircraft. The role of reconnaissance can fulfil a variety of requirements including artillery spotting, the collection of ima ...
squadron in August 1944, when it was redesignated the 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. It engaged in hazardous reconnaissance flights over enemy-controlled territory unarmed, gathering intelligence for Allied commanders until the end of combat in Europe, May 1945. The unit advanced eastward across France using advanced landing grounds, then into the Low Countries and Occupied Germany. The squadron remained in Germany as part of the
occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...
forces, returning to
Langley Field Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfo ...
, Virginia in June 1947. The unit remained assigned to Tactical Air Command as a reconnaissance squadron. The squadron was inactivated in 1949.


Cold War

In 1950 the squadron was activated once again at Langley, now designated the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.The renumbering was required because the numbers 101–300 were reserved for Air National Guard units (now 101–299). AF Instruction 38-101, para. 5.3.4. When the squadron was allotted to the Air National Guard in 2002, it retained its number outside this block of numbers. It moved to
Shaw Air Force Base Shaw Air Force Base (Shaw AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located approximately west-northwest of downtown Sumter, South Carolina. It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, and is under the jurisdict ...
, South Carolina in 1958 where it re-equipped with
McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a '' ...
reconnaissance aircraft. The squadron deployed to south Florida in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, flying hazardous overflights over Cuba gathering intelligence photos. The unit upgraded to the
McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...
in 1965. It also operated a flight of
Martin EB-57E Canberra The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twin-engined tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1953. The B-57 is a license-built version of the British English Electric C ...
electronic warfare aircraft. It added
Douglas EB-66 Destroyer The Douglas B-66 Destroyer is a light bomber that was designed and produced by the American aviation manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company. The B-66 was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) and is heavily based upon the United St ...
jamming aircraft beginning in 1971 as part of the phaseout of the Destroyer at Shaw. It was the last USAF active duty B-57 squadron, retiring the aircraft in 1976 when
F-4G Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and B ...
s took over its mission. The 16th remained the single RF-4C squadron at Shaw after the 1982 realignment of its parent 363d from a tactical reconnaissance to tactical fighter wing. It continued reconnaissance training in the United States until 1989 when the RF-4Cs were transferred to
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 See also * 67th Regiment (disambiguation) * 67th ...
at
Bergstrom Air Force Base Bergstrom Air Force Base (1942–1993) was located seven miles southeast of Austin, Texas. In its later years it was a major base for the U.S. Air Force's RF-4C reconnaissance fighter fleet. History Bergstrom was originally activated on ...
, Texas, and the squadron was inactivated.


Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System

The squadron was reactivated as the 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron in 1996 at
Robins Air Force Base Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast o ...
, Georgia as an E-8 J-STARS squadron. In 2002, the J-Stars mission was transferred to the
Georgia Air National Guard The Georgia Air National Guard (GA ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Georgia, United States of America. It is, along with the Georgia Army National Guard, an element of the Georgia National Guard. As state militia units, the units in ...
and the
116th Air Control Wing The 116th Air Control Wing is a Wing of the Georgia Air National Guard/United States Air Force, stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. If activated for federal service, the wing is gained by Air Combat Command. The 116th ACW is the only Air ...
and the squadron became a Guard unit. Ten years later the mission returned to the regular Air Force, with Georgia Air National Guard associate units joining the mission.


Lineage

* Constituted as the 380th Fighter Squadron (Single Engine) on 11 February 1943 : Activated on March 1943 : Redesignated 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 25 August 1944 : Redesignated 160th Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic on 29 Ju1y 1946 : Redesignated 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic on 14 June 1948 : Inactivated on 26 April 1949 * Redesignated 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photographic on 8 August 1950 : Activated on 1 September 1950 : Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photographic on 10 October 1950 : Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photographic-Jet on 8 November 1955 : Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic-Jet on 1 March 1965 : Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 8 October 1966 : Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Training Squadron on 1 October 1979 : Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 July 1982 : Inactivated on 15 December 1989 * Redesignated 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron on 15 January 1996 : Activated on 1 October 1996 * Allotted to the Air National Guard on 1 October 2002 * Withdrawn from the Air National Guard on 1 October 2012 (remained active)


Assignments

*
363d Fighter Group 363rd or 363d may refer to: * 363d Expeditionary Operations Group, inactive United States Air Force unit * 363d Bombardment Squadron or 19th Antisubmarine Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 363d Fighter Squadron or 164th Airlift Squa ...
(later 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group), 1 March 1943 : Air echelon attached to 10th Photographic Group, 24 December 1944 – 6 February 1945 *
10th Reconnaissance Group 010 may refer to: * 10 (number) * 8 (number) in octal numeral notation * Motorola 68010, a microprocessor released by Motorola in 1982 * 010, the telephone area code of Beijing * 010, the Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the R ...
, 15 November 1945 * Tactical Air Command, 25 June 1947 * 363d Reconnaissance Group (later 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group), 24 July 1947 – 26 April 1949 * 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 1 September 1950 * 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing (later 363d Tactical Fighter) Wing), 8 February 1958 – 13 December 1989 *
93d Operations Group The 93d Operations Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 93d Air Control Wing, stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The unit was inactivated on 1 October 2002. During World War II, the grou ...
, 1 October 1996 * 116th Operations Group, 1 October 2002 * 461st Operations Group, 1 October 2012 – present


Stations

* Hamilton Field, California, March 1943 *
Santa Rosa Army Air Field Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnight ...
, California, 23 August 1943 *
Oakland Municipal Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States, 10 miles (16 km) south of downtown located in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned by the Port of Oakland and has domestic passenger flig ...
, California, 8 October-2 December 1943 *
RAF Keevil Royal Air Force Station Keevil or more simply RAF Keevil is a former Royal Air Force station located between the villages of Keevil and Steeple Ashton, about east of the town of Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, England. The airfield was built on ...
(AAF-471),Station number in Anderson. England, 23 December 1943 * RAF Rivenhall (AAF-168), England, c. 3 February 1944 *
RAF Staplehurst Royal Air Force Staplehurst or more simply RAF Staplehurst is a former Royal Air Force Advanced Landing Ground located in Kent, England. The airfield is located approximately northeast of Staplehurst; about southeast of London. Opened in 1 ...
(AAF-413), England, 14 April 1944 * Maupertu Airfield (A-15),Station number in Johnson. France, c. 5 July 1944 *
Azeville Airfield Azeville/Fontenay (Azeville) Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield, which is located near the commune of Azeville in the Normandy region of northern France. Located just outside Azeville, the United States Army Air Force est ...
(A-7), France, c. 22 August 1944 * Montreuil Airfield (A-38), France, 9 September 1944 * Sandweiler Airfield (A-97),
Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
, 11 October 1944 *
Le Culot Airfield Beauvechain Air Base is a Belgian Air Component military airfield in Belgium, located south of Beauvechain in Wallonia (Walloon Brabant Province); east-southeast of Brussels. It is home to the 1st Wing (Belgium), 1st Wing, operating AgustaWest ...
(A-89), Belgium, 29 October 1944 : Operated from
Conflans Airfield Conflans may refer to: Communes Conflans is the name or part of the name of ten communes of France: * Conflans-en-Jarnisy in the Meurthe-et-Moselle ''département'' *Conflans-Sainte-Honorine in the Yvelines ''département'', in the north-western ...
(A-94), France, 24 December 1944 – 6 February 1945 *
Venlo Airfield Royal Air Force Brüggen, more commonly known as RAF Brüggen, in Germany was a major station of the Royal Air Force until 15 June 2001. It was situated next to the village of Elmpt, approximately west of Düsseldorf on the Dutch-German bo ...
(Y-55), Netherlands, 11 March 1945 * Gutersloh Airfield (R-85), Germany, 16 April 1945 * Brunswick/Waggum Airfield (R-37), Germany, 26 April 1945 * AAF Station Wiesbaden, Germany, 20 May 1945 *
AAF Station Eschwege Eschwege Airfield is a former military airfield located in Germany in the northwest part of Eschwege (Hessen); approximately 170 miles southwest of Berlin. Fliegerhorst Eschwege was used during World War II by the German Luftwaffe as a transport ...
, Germany, 12 July 1945 * AAF Station Darmstadt/Griesheim, Germany, 22 September 1945 *
AAF Station Fürth AAF may refer to: Aviation * Aigle Azur (ICAO code), a French airline * Apalachicola Regional Airport (IATA code), in Apalachicola, Florida Corporations * American Air Filter, today a part of HVAC-equipment-maker Daikin Military * Albanian A ...
, Germany, 24 November 1945 *
Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base (German: "Fliegerhorst Fürstenfeldbruck" or "Flugplatz Fürstenfeldbruck") is a former German Air Force airfield near the town of Fürstenfeldbruck in Bavaria, near Munich, Germany. Fürstenfeldbruck became famous firs ...
, Germany, 2 March 1947 *
Bad Kissingen Air Base Bad Kissingen Airfield is an airfield in Germany, located about 1 mile north of Bad Kissingen in Bavaria. It supports general aviation and light aircraft up to by planes of up to 3,000 kg. History Bad Kissingen had two different aerodromes. ...
, Germany, 14 June 1947 * Langley Field (later Langley Air Force Base), Virginia, 25 June 1947 – 26 April 1949 * Langley Ai Force Base, Virginia, 1 September 1950 * Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, 8 February 1958 – 31 December 1989 : Operated from
MacDill Air Force Base MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
, Florida, 22 October-30 November 1962 *
Robins Air Force Base Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast o ...
, Georgia, 1 October 1996 – presentStation information in Dollman, except as noted.


Aircraft

*
Bell 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 t ...
, 1943 * North American P-51 Mustang, 1944–1945, 1946–1947 * North American F-6 Mustang, 1944–1945, 1946–1947 * Lockheed FP-80 Shooting Star (later
Lockheed RF-80 Shooting Star The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first Jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) during World War II. Designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed in 1943 and del ...
), 1947–1949 *
Douglas RB-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during several major ...
, 1950–1955 * Martin RB-57 Canberra, 1954–1956 * Douglas RB-66 Destroyer, 1956–1965 *
McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo is a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force (USAF) and the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). Initially designed by McDonnell Aircraft Corporation as a long-range bomber escort (known as a '' ...
, 1958–1965 * McDonnell RF-4C Phantom II, 1965–1989 * Martin EB-57E Canberra, 1971–1976 * Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint STARS (1996–September 2022)


See also


References


Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations


Bibliography

* * * * * * * World Airpower Journal. (1992).'' US Air Force Air Power Directory''. Aerospace Publishing: London, UK. * {{Navboxes , list = {{USAF Air Combat Command {{Tactical Air Command {{USAAF 9th Air Force UK Military units and formations in Georgia (U.S. state)
016 HV-016 is a former military unit of Norway, that was a part of the Home Guard. It was established after 1985 to "stop terror- or sabotage actions that could weaken or paralyze Norway's ability to mobilize its military and its ability to resist". ...
Squadrons of the United States Air National Guard Command and control squadrons of the United States Air Force