History of the 5th Reconnaissance Squadron - 9th RW History Office

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HISTORY OF

THE

5TH RECONNAISSANCE SQUADRON

5 May 1917 to 31 December 1998

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9th Reconnaissance Wing History Office

Beale AFB, California

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Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS .. ii

SQUADRON EMBLEM .......................... iii

THE EARLY YEARS ...................................... 1

WORLD WAR II ... 2

REBIRTH .. 5

HIGH ALTITUDE RECONNAISSANCE .... 6

APPENDIX A LINEAGE .... 8

APPENDIX B DECORATIONS ..... 10

APPENDIX C ASSIGNMENTS ..... 11

APPENDIX D COMMANDERS . 12

APPENDIX E STATIONS .. 14

APPENDIX F AIRCRAFT FLOWN/WEAPON SYSTEMS ASSIGNED ... 15

APPENDIX G AIRCRAFT FACT SHEET ..... 16

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Squadron Emblem

On a blue disc piped with yellow, a yellow increscent moon and five stars. On the lower horn of the

crescent a black and white owl holding in his right claw a silver telescope. (Approved 27 May

1924.)

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The Early Years

The 5th Aero Squadron organized on 5 May 1917 at Kelly Field, Texas. The squadron

trained new pilots to fly JN-4 Jennys. A year later, on 15 July 1918, the Army redesignated

the unit as Squadron A at Souther Field, Georgia. When the armistice ended World War I on 11

November 1918, Squadron A demobilized.

A second 5th Aero Squadron organized at Hazelhurst Field, New York, on 24 October

1919. The squadron moved to Mitchel Field, New York the following month. In 1921, the unit

became the 5th Squadron (Observation) and two years later the 5 th Observation Squadron. In

1924, the original 5th reconstituted and consolidated with the 5th Observation Squadron.

Three years earlier, in May 1921, the 5th attached to General Billy Mitchells 1st

Provisional Air Brigade at Langley Field, Virginia. From May to October 1921, the squadron

and other units of the Air Brigade bombed battleships off the eastern seaboard. Mitchell was

determined to prove airplanes could sink warships. In July, in the well known Ostfriesland

incident, brigade airplanes sunk a modern, German-made battleship. General Mitchell

proclaimed the era of battleships had ended and the age of airpower had begun.

On 1 August 1922, the 5 th Observation Squadron joined the 1st Observation Squadron to

form the 9th Observation Group, todays 9th Operations Group and the 9th Reconnaissance Wings

predecessor. In 1928, the Army attached the 99th Observation Squadron to the 9th Observation

Group and assigned the squadron to the group the following year. Throughout the 1920s and

early 1930s the 5th flew normal observation and training missions and participated in air shows.

Squadron pilots flew a variety of bamboo and bailing-wire, World War I-vintage aircraft,

including the DH-4, O-1, O-2, A-3, B-6, and several others.

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In the mid-1930s, as tensions increased in Europe, the United States began to build its air

arm. On 1 March 1935, the Army redesignated the 5 th Observation Squadron as the 5th

Bombardment Squadron. Soon after the redesignation, the squadron received new Martin B-10

bombers. The B-10, a small bomber best suited for costal defense, could out-fly the best Army

pursuit plane of its day. In 1938, the 5th switched to the larger Douglas B-18.

World War II

By November 1940 German U-boats actively patrolled waters off Central America near

the Panama Canal. The Army dispatched the 9th Bomb Group to guard the canal. First, from Rio

Hato, Panama, then from Beane Field, on the Caribbean Island of St. Lucia, the 5th Bombardment

Squadron patrolled the Atlantic near the canals entrance. The squadron received a campaign

streamer for its antisubmarine duty.

The 5th and its sister squadrons changed missions in October 1942. The 9th Bomb Group

moved to the Army Air Forces School of Advanced Tactics at Orlando, Florida. The group left

its B-18s behind. B-24 Liberators awaited the 5th Bomb Squadron at Orlando. Within a few

months, the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-25 Mitchell Bomber, and B-26 Invader joined the

squadrons inventory. For the next sixteen months, squadron pilots developed new tactics, tested

equipment, perfected glide bombing techniques, and trained crews in high-altitude precision

bombing.

In February 1944, the Army mysteriously relieved the 9th Bomb Group and its component

squadrons from the Tactics School and transferred them first to Dalhart Army Air Field (AAF),

Texas, then to McCook AAF, Nebraska. The group left its aircraft behind in Florida. At

McCook Field, the 5th and its sister squadrons received new Boeing B-29 Super Fortresses.

Squadron crews spent the next six months training in their new airplane.

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Then, in November 1944, the 5th Bomb Squadron and the rest of the group moved to

North Field, Tinian, a Pacific island in the Marianas. By 20 January 1945, the squadron was

ready for combat operations. A week later the 5th flew its first combat mission: a bombing raid

against Japanese installations on the northern Marianas. The squadron attacked its first defended

target on 9 February in a bombing run over a Japanese seaplane base on Moen, an island in the

Truks. Three days later, 5th bombers struck heavy gun emplacements on Iwo Jima, in preparation

for the upcoming amphibious landing there.

On 14 February, squadron B-29s, each carrying an experienced naval officer as observer,

searched for Japanese picket ships as the Navy prepared a carrier attack against Japans main

islands. Five days later, the 5ths bombers inflicted heavy damage on a well-defended aircraft

factory in Tokyo. Joining bombers from other units, the 5th Bomb Squadron returned to Tokyo

in 25 February. Using incendiary bombs against the wooden structures that housed Japans war

industry, American bombers kept up a relentless attack on Japanese aircraft factories, chemical

plants, naval bases, and airdromes throughout the final months of the war. Despite stiff

opposition heavy and light antiaircraft fire, search lights, flak boats, and fighter planes

squadron aircraft inflicted heavy damage on Nagoya, Osaka, Kobye, Tokyo, and other cities.

Conditions were so difficult on two of the missions the squadron earned Distinguished

Unit Citations. First, on 15 16 April, 1945, the 5th and other 9th Bomb Group units attacked the

industrial area of Kawasaki, Japan. Kawasaki provided vital components for Tokyo and

Yokohamas industry. Strategically located, Kawasakis industrial area was heavily defended,

both on the flanks and surrounding the target area. This made the approach, bomb run, and

breakaway extremely hazardous. Adding to the danger, squadron pilots flew the 1,500 miles

from Tinian to Japan low-level, over water, at night. Severe turbulence along the way affected

the mechanical navigation equipment, but the bombers held their course.

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Attacking according to the bombing plan, the 5th Bomb Squadron was in the last run over

the target. By then the Japanese defenders were fully alerted and knew the approximate bombing

altitude and direction of the attack. Exceptionally close coordination between the enemy

searchlights and antiaircraft guns subjected the bombers to powerful concentrations of

antiaircraft fire on their way to the target, over the target, and after their breakaway. Intense,

accurate fire from flak boats on the flight to and from the target caused more damage.

Approximately 56 Japanese fighters attacked the 5th and its two sister squadrons. The American

strike destroyed Kawasakis industry, but the squadrons of the 9 th Bomb Group paid a heavy

price. Four of the groups 33 B-29s crashed during the mission. Six other sustained heavy

damage.

The squadron won a second Distinguished Unit Citation the following month.

Effectively mining the Shimonoseki Straits and the waters around the harbors of northwest

Honshu and Kyushu would block sea traffic on the Inland Seas and isolate important northern

ports. By laying mines in the seas around Japan, the Allies hoped to isolate Japans main islands

and deprived them of resources from conquered territories in China, Manchuria, and Korea. The

mines would also prevent reinforcement of Japanese-held islands.

Between 13 and 28 May, the 5th Bomb Squadron flew eight missions laying mines in

these strategic areas. Flying at 5,500 feet, on alternating nights, the crews faced adverse,

unpredictable weather and determined antiaircraft batteries and fighters. Such conditions forced

squadron navigators to devise new techniques to accurately lay the mines. Despite inclement

weather, heavy flak, and Kamikaze fighter attacks, the bomber crews systematically covered the

vital sealanes.

On 18 and 19 May, squadron B-29s succ