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 r ...

, Strategic Air Command, that operated

Lockheed U-2 The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...

spy planes out of

Laughlin AFB Laughlin Air Force Base is a facility of the United States Air Force located east of Del Rio, Texas. Overview Laughlin AFB, the largest pilot training base in the US Air Force, is home to the 47th Flying Training Wing of the Air Education and ...

, 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 Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

during the Cuban Missile Crisis were drawn. Detachments of the 4028th were deployed to Japan and South Vietnam.

History

The 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was activated at Turner AFB, Georgia, on 1 April 1956. The first mission was to operate RB-57Ds of Project BLACK KNIGHT, 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 smallest c ...

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

Project Dragon Lady 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 ...

, and the 4028th was created for this purpose. Prior to receiving the U-2s, the 4080th wing moved to

, TX during February–April 1957. "A second U-2 squadron, the 4029th SRS, was assigned in expectation that the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

Project Aquatone 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 ...

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 The Lockheed DC-130 was a variant of the C-130 Hercules, designed for drone control. It could carry four Ryan Firebee drones underneath its wings. Development Origin of the design Since World War I many nations' air forces have investigated ...

launch and CH-3 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