20th Intelligence Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 20th Intelligence Squadron is a United States Air Force
unit, assigned to the National Air Intelligence Center, stationed at Offut AFB, Nebraska.
* Target Materials
* Combat Applications
* Operations
. Operated a wide variety of photo-reconnaissance aircraft in the South Pacific, engaging in combat reconnaissance. Moved to Japan
in 1945, carrying out postwar reconnaissance and mapping of the Japanese Home Islands and Korean Peninsula
as part of the War Department's Post Hostilities Mapping Project. Inactivated June 1946
Active in the Reserves 1947-1951 as an aireal reconnaissance squadron, activated to Active Duty during the Korean War
, 1951. Personnel sent as replacements to Far East Air Forces, inactivated as administrative unit, May 1951.
Reactivated in 1954 under 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group as an RF-80A Shooting Star reconnaissance training squadron at Shaw AFB, SC. Upgraded to RF-84 Thunderstreaks in 1955. Transferred to operational missions in 1959 with reassignment to 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in 1959, re-equipped with RF-101 Voodoos. Was deployed to Florida in 1962 during Cuban Missile Crisis
, flew tactical reconnaissance flights over Cuba during the Crisis. Returned to Shaw in late 1962. Deployed to Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, 1963-1965 flying tactical reconnaissance for US advisory mission. Inactivated in 1965.
it was reactivated and designated the 20th Air Intelligence Squadron under the newly formed Air Combat Command in 1992, operating out of Offutt Air Force Base
, Nebraska. A year later, it was redesignated as the 20th Intelligence Squadron under the Air Intelligence Agency
.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
unit, assigned to the National Air Intelligence Center, stationed at Offut AFB, Nebraska.
Overview
The mission of the 20th is to provide prompt, precise intelligence enabling warfighters to safely engage and achieve global objectives. The 20th processes and analyzes raw electronic intelligence data, and prepares both operational and technical ELINT reports and studies. The 20th is organized into three flights:* Target Materials
- The Target Material Flight produces precise coordinated measurements and mission-support materials for Air Force bomber, fighter and other airborne platforms engaged in exercise, training or actual combat operations.
* Combat Applications
- The Combat Applications Flight activities entail providing direct application support for specified combat customers. This includes an AIA node for operational dissemination of near-real time imagery to Air Force and Department of Defense users worldwide and is Air Combat Command’s point of contact for premission survivability and threat assessments, target analysis, weaponeering support and post-mission combat assessments for the Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missile program
* Operations
- The Operations Flight provides the day-to-day operating support to the other flights within the 20th. These activities are dispersed though branches who perform the activities of planning, requirements management, systems maintenance, logistics support and resource management.
History
Formed as the 20th Photographic Mapping Squadron in Mid 1942. In these early years, the unit worked under many different names and was stationed in the Pacific Theater under Fifth Air ForceFifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....
. Operated a wide variety of photo-reconnaissance aircraft in the South Pacific, engaging in combat reconnaissance. Moved to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1945, carrying out postwar reconnaissance and mapping of the Japanese Home Islands and Korean Peninsula
Korean Peninsula
The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. It extends southwards for about 684 miles from continental Asia into the Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by the Sea of Japan to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west, the Korea Strait connecting the first two bodies of water.Until the end of...
as part of the War Department's Post Hostilities Mapping Project. Inactivated June 1946
Active in the Reserves 1947-1951 as an aireal reconnaissance squadron, activated to Active Duty during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, 1951. Personnel sent as replacements to Far East Air Forces, inactivated as administrative unit, May 1951.
Reactivated in 1954 under 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group as an RF-80A Shooting Star reconnaissance training squadron at Shaw AFB, SC. Upgraded to RF-84 Thunderstreaks in 1955. Transferred to operational missions in 1959 with reassignment to 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in 1959, re-equipped with RF-101 Voodoos. Was deployed to Florida in 1962 during Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
, flew tactical reconnaissance flights over Cuba during the Crisis. Returned to Shaw in late 1962. Deployed to Tan Son Nhut AB, South Vietnam, 1963-1965 flying tactical reconnaissance for US advisory mission. Inactivated in 1965.
it was reactivated and designated the 20th Air Intelligence Squadron under the newly formed Air Combat Command in 1992, operating out of Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base
Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation near Omaha, and lies adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S...
, Nebraska. A year later, it was redesignated as the 20th Intelligence Squadron under the Air Intelligence Agency
Air Intelligence Agency
-External links:* * * *...
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Lineage
- Constituted 20th Photographic Mapping Squadron on 14 Jul 1942
- Activated on 23 Jul 1942
- Re-designated 20th Photographic Squadron (Heavy) on 6 Feb 1943
- Re-designated 20th Combat Mapping Squadron on 11 Aug 1943;
- Re-designated 20th Reconnaissance Squadron ( Long Range, Photographic-RCM ) on 10 May 1945
- Inactivated on 20 Jun 1946.
- Re-designated 20th Reconnaissance Squadron (Night Photographic) on 11 Mar 1947.
- Activated in the reserve on 25 Jul 1947.
- Re-designated 20th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (Photographic Mapping) on 27 Jun 1949
- Ordered to active service on 1 May 1951
- Inactivated on 16 May 1951
- Re-designated 20th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron (Photographic) on 14 Jan 1954
- Activated on 18 Mar 1954
- Inactivated 12 November 1965
- Re-designated 20th Air Intelligence Squadron and activated 1 October 1992
- Re-designated 20th Intelligence Squadron, 1 October 1993
Assignments
- 4th Photographic (later Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping; Photographic) Group, 23 Jul 1942
- Attached to 6th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping [later Photographic Reconnaissance; Photographic Group, from 17 Jun 1943
- 6th Photographic (later Reconnaissance) Group, 5 Dec 1943
- 91st Reconnaissance Wing, 10 Nov 1945
- V Bomber CommandV Bomber CommandThe V Bomber Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Fifth Air Force, based at Irumagawa AB, Japan. It was inactivated on 31 May 1946....
, 1 Dec 1945 - 314th Composite Wing, 31 May-20 Jun 1946
- 66th Reconnaissance Group, 25 Jul 1947
- Tenth Air ForceTenth Air ForceThe Tenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve Command . It is headquartered at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas....
, 27 Jun 1949 - 311th Air Division311th Air DivisionThe 311th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, being stationed at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas...
, 21 Jul 1949 - Second Air ForceSecond Air ForceThe Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
, 1 Nov 1949-16 May 1951 - 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 18 Mar 1954
- 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 8 Feb 1958
- Attached to 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 8 Apr-17 May 1959
- 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 18 May 1959-12 November 1965
- National Air Intelligence Center, 1 Oct 1992-Present
Stations
- Colorado Springs Army Air Base, Colorado, 23 Jul 1942-7 Sep 1943
- SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia, 10 Oct 1943
- Air echelon at: Colorado Springs Army Air Base, Colo, to c. 12 Oct 1943
- Air echelon at: Will Rogers Field, Okla, 14 Oct 1943-26 Jan 194
- Archerfield AirportArcherfield AirportArcherfield Airport is a small airport located 7 1/2 miles at Archerfield in the south west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For some time it was the primary airport in Brisbane. During World War II it was used as a Royal Australian Air Force station. Airport traffic peaked in the 1980s...
, Brisbane, Australia, 23 Nov-1 Dec 1943 - Port Moresby Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 10 Dec 1943
- Nadzab Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 14 Feb 1944
- Archerfield Airport
- Operated primarily fiom Mokmer Airfield, Biak after 7 Aug 1944
- Mokmer Airfield, Biak, 3 Sep 1944
- Dulag AirfieldDulag AirfieldDulag Airfield is a World War II airfield located near Dulag in the province of Leyte, Philippines. It was closed after the war.-History:The airfield was built by the Japanese during the Occupation of the Philippines in 1943...
, Leyte, 15 Nov 1944
- Operated from: Mokmer Airfield, Biak to 22 Jan 1945,
- Operated from: Tacloban Airfield, Leyte, 25 Jan-23 Feb 1945
- Operated from: McGuire FieldMcGuire FieldFor the airport in the United States, see San José International AirportSan Jose Airport , formerly known as McGuire Field, is an airport serving the general area of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro in the Philippines. It is one of three airports in Occidental Mindoro, the others being Mamburao...
, San Jose, Mindoro, 24 Feb-16 May 1945
- Clark Field, Luzon, 17 May 1945
- Okinawa, 4 Aug 1946
- Yokota Airfield, Japan, 27 Oct 1945-20 Jun 1946
- Operated from: Tachikawa AirfieldTachikawa Airfieldis an airfield in the city of Tachikawa, the western part of Tokyo, Japan. Currently under the administration of the Ministry of Defense, it has also served as the civil aviation with Japan's first scheduled air service.-Operations:...
, Japan, Dec 1945-Apr 1946 - Operated from: Johnson AB, Japan, Apr-20 Jun 1946
- Newark Army Airfield, NJ, 25 Jul 1947
- Forbes AFB, Kan, 21 JuI 1949;
- Barksdale AFB, La, 10 Oct 1949-16 May 1951
- Shaw AFB, SC, 18 Mar 1959-12 Nov 1965
- Operated from: MacDill AFB, Fla, 21 Oct-30 Nov 1962
- Offut AFB, Nebraska, 1 Oct 1992-Present
Aircraft
- B-25 MitchellB-25 MitchellThe North American B-25 Mitchell was an American twin-engined medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was used by many Allied air forces, in every theater of World War II, as well as many other air forces after the war ended, and saw service across four decades.The B-25 was named...
, 1942 - B-17 Flying Fortress, 1942-1943
- B-24/F-7 LiberatorB-24 LiberatorThe Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...
, 1943-1946. - RF-80 Shooting Star, 1954-1955
- RF-84 Thunderstreak, 1955-1958
- RF-101 Voodoo, 1957-1965