58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron
Encyclopedia
Kirtland Air Force Base
Kirtland Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in the southeast quadrant of the Albuquerque, New Mexico urban area, adjacent to the Albuquerque International Sunport. The base was named for the early Army aviator Col. Roy C. Kirtland...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
. It was inactivated in 1974
History
Activated in early 1943 under Fourth Air ForceFourth Air Force
The Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve . It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California....
; spent World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in the United States as an Operational Training Unit (OTU), initially equipped with P-39 Aircobras for advanced fighter training. Reassigned to Third Air Force
Third Air Force
The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
in 1944, becoming a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) for A-36 Apache fighter-dive bomber ground attack aircraft.
Reassigned to Stuttgart AAB, Arkansas in 1945 and realigned into a long-range strategic weather reconnaissance squadron, training with B-25 Mitchell
B-25 Mitchell
The 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...
s and long-ranger P-61C Black Widow Night Fighters modified for weather reconnaissance missions. Reassigned to Rapid City AAB, South Dakota in late 1945, using P-61Cs as part of a NACA
NACA
- Organizations :* National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, the forerunner of the U.S. federal agency NASA* National Association for Campus Activities, an organization for programmers of university and college activities...
/Air Weather Service Thunderstorm Project to learn more about thunderstorms and to use this knowledge to better protect civil and military airplanes that operated in their vicinity. The P-61's radar and particular flight characteristics enabled it to find and penetrate the most turbulent regions of a storm, and return crew and instruments intact for detailed study. Inactivated in 1946 as part of the general demobilization of the AAF.
Reactivated as part of Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
in 1951 in Alaska, Equipped with very long range WB-29 Superfortresses 1951, upgrading to extended long-range WB-50D Superfortresses in 1956. Conducted long-range weather flights over the Arctic and along the northern periphery of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
; the aircraft being equipped with sensors for detecting radioactive debris to gather evidence when the Soviets tested nuclear devices. Inactivated in 1958 as part of the phaseout of the WB-50s from SAC and development of faster jet aircraft for the long-range intelligence mission.
Reactivated in 1964 at Kirtland AFB, New Mexico with RB-57F Canberra reconnaissance aircraft. Most of the RB-57Fs were converted from B-57B airframes, modified for high altitude, long range intelligence gathering, assigned to the meteorological role. Part of their duties involved high-altitude atmospheric sampling and radiation detection work in support of nuclear test monitoring. Over the next decade the RB-57Fs were flown on a worldwide basis at very high altitudes at high speeds. Stress cracks began appearing in the wing spars and ribs of the RB-57Fs after a few years of service. Some were sent to General Dynamics for repairs. Due to the excessive cost of repairing all the aircraft, nine were placed in storage at Davis-Monthan AFB in 1972.
The 58th WRS was the last squadron in the Air Force to use the WB-57F Canberra, was deactivated on July 1, 1974 after placing its planes in storage at Davis-Monthan.
Lineage
- Constituted 400th Fighter Squadron on May 26, 1943
- Activated on August 1, 1943
- Redesignated: 400th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on April 5, 1944
- Redesignated: 400th Fighter Squadron on June 5, 1944
- Redesignated: 58th Reconnaissance Squadron (Weather) on July 7, 1945
- Inactivated on May 31, 1946
- Redesignated: 58th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, Medium, Weather, and activated February 20, 1951
- Redesignated: 58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, February 15, 1954
- Inactivated August 8, 1958
- Reactivated on 1 Feb 1964
- Inactivated on 1 Jul 1974
Assignments
- 369th Fighter Group, August 1, 1943
- Continental Air Forces
- Third Air ForceThird Air ForceThe Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe . It is headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany....
, July 7, 1945- III Reconnaissance Command, July 21, 1945
- Strategic Air CommandStrategic Air CommandThe Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...
- Strategic Air Command
- III Reconnaissance Command, July 21, 1945
- Fifteenth Air ForceFifteenth Air ForceThe Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....
, March 31 – May 31, 1946- Military Air Transport ServiceMilitary Air Transport ServiceThe Military Air Transport Service is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service and the United States Air Force Air Transport Command into a single, joint, unified command...
- Military Air Transport Service
- Air Weather Service
- 2107th Air Weather Group, February 21, 1951
- 7th Weather Group, April 20, 1952
- 9th Weather Group, April 18 – August 8, 1958
- 9th Weather Reconnaissance Group, Military Air Transport Service, 1964 (date TBD)
- 9th Weather Reconnaissance Wing9th Weather Reconnaissance WingThe 9th Weather Reconnaissance Wing is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Weather Service, being stationed at McClellan Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 31 August 1975.- History :...
, 1 Jul 1965 - Date TBD- 4900th Test Group, 1 Feb 1964 - 1 Jul 1974.
Stations
- Hamilton AAF, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, August 1, 1943 - Oroville AAFOroville Municipal AirportOroville Municipal Airport is a public airport located 3 miles southwest of the city of Oroville in Butte County, California, USA.- Facilities :Oroville Municipal Airport covers and has two runways:...
, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, November 2, 1943 - Hamilton AAF, CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, March 16, 1944 - DeRidder Army Airbase LouisianaLouisianaLouisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, March 28, 1944 - Stuttgart AAFStuttgart Municipal AirportStuttgart Municipal Airport is a public-use airport located in Prairie County, Arkansas, United States. It is seven nautical miles north of the central business district of Stuttgart, which owns the airport and is the county seat of Arkansas County...
, ArkansasArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, February 8, 1945 - Will Rogers FieldWill Rogers World AirportWill Rogers World Airport , also known as Will Rogers Airport or simply Will Rogers, is located in southwestern Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 6 miles from downtown and is the principal commercial airport of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area...
, OklahomaOklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, July 21, 1945 - Rapid City AAF, South DakotaSouth DakotaSouth Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
, July 28, 1945 – May 31, 1946 - Eielson AFB, AlaskaAlaskaAlaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, February 21, 1951 – August 8, 1958 - Kirtland AFB, New MexicoNew MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
, 1 Feb 1964-1 Jul 1974
Aircraft Assigned
- P-39 Airacobra, 1943–1944
- A-36 Apache, 1944
- Curtiss P-40Curtiss P-40The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational...
, 1944–1945 - 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...
, 1945–1946 - P-61 Black WidowP-61 Black WidowThe Northrop P-61 Black Widow was the first operational U.S. military aircraft designed specifically for night interception of aircraft, and was the first aircraft specifically designed to use radar. It was an all-metal, twin-engine, twin-boom design developed during World War II...
, 1945–1946 - WB-29 Superfortress, 1951–1956
- WB-50 Superfortress, 1956–1958
- WB-57F Canberra, 1964-1974
Crash and notable events
- 25 September 1953 – A 58 WRS WB-29 (44-87744) crashed just after takeoff two miles north of Eielson AFB. Captain Charles F. Baker, a weather observer assigned to the unit, was the only fatality.
- 31 August 1956 – A 58th Reconnaissance Squadron WB-50D (49-315), recently dubbed the "Golden Heart" in honor of the city of FairbanksFairbanks, AlaskaFairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...
, crashed into the Susitna RiverSusitna RiverThe Susitna River is a long river in the Southcentral Alaska. It is the 15th largest river in the United States of America, ranked by average discharge volume at its mouth. The river stretches from the Susitna Glacier to Cook Inlet....
near WillowWillow, AlaskaWillow is a census-designated place in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the 2000 census the population was 1,658.-History:...
. All eleven aboard died. - 17 January 1957 – A WB-50D (48-093) assigned to the 58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron crashed shortly after takeoff approximately three miles north of Eielson AFB. All 12 crewmembers were killed.