The 553d Reconnaissance Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force

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. It was last assigned to the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing and stationed at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base

Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base

Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base is a base of the Royal Thai Air Force. It is located in northeast Thailand, located approximately 157 miles northeast of Bangkok and about 5 miles south of Nakhon Ratchasima , the second largest city in Thailand.During the Vietnam War, Korat RTAFB was the...

, Germany.

History

Established in 1967 at Korat RTAFB as an electronic warfare squadron to detect vehicles along the Ho Chi Minh Trail

Ho Chi Minh trail

The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia...

 in Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

. If enemy vehicles could be detected then stopped, then a major quantity of enemy supplies into South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

 would be halted.

The "electronic fence" concept envisioned using Navy sonobouys delivered along the Ho Chi Minh Trail by air, with special receivers in the 553d Reconnaissance Wing EC-121 aircraft to pick up the signals. The EC-121 would, when in range, automatically relay the signals picked up to the Infiltration Center at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB. Several target areas along the Ho Chi Minh Trail were outside of the range of the relay equipment; during out of range
flights the signals were processed manually by the crew on board the EC-121R, then radioed via High Frequency Single Side Band radio directly to Seventh Air Force

Seventh Air Force

The Seventh Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea....

 HQ in Saigon, South Vietnam.

Lineage

• Established as 553d Reconnaissance Squadron, and activated 9 February 1967

Inactivated on 31 December 1971

Assignments

• 553d Reconnaissance Wing, 9 February 1967
• 353d Special Operations Group
  353d Special Operations Group
  The 353d Special Operations Group is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Special Operations Command. It is stationed at Kadena Air Base, Japan.The 353 SOG is the United States Air Force special forces contribution to the U.S...
  
  , 25 February 1967
• 388th Tactical Fighter Wing, 15 December 1970-31 December 1971

Stations

• Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 9 February 1967
• Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base
  Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base
  Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base is a base of the Royal Thai Air Force. It is located in northeast Thailand, located approximately 157 miles northeast of Bangkok and about 5 miles south of Nakhon Ratchasima , the second largest city in Thailand.During the Vietnam War, Korat RTAFB was the...
  
  , Thailand, 25 February 1967-31 December 1971