26th Space Aggressor Squadron The 26th Space Aggressor Squadron ( 26 SAS ) is a unit of the United States Air Force located at Schriever Air Force Base , Colorado . It is part of the 926th Group and is the Reserve Associate of the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron . The mission of the 26th Space Aggressor Squadron is to replicate enemy threats to space - based and space - enabled systems during tests and training exercises . By using Global Positioning System and satellite communications jamming techniques , it provides Air Force , joint and coalition military personnel with an understanding of how to recognize , mitigate , counter and defeat these threats . The 26 SAS serves to know , teach and replicate a wide array of terrestrial and space threats to the U . S . military ' s space enablers . The squadron trains the modern warfighter to operate in an environment where critical systems like GPS and SATCOM are interfered with or denied — preparing them for the current and future fights , and guaranteeing U . S . battlefield dominance well into the 21st century . History . The 26 SAS is the oldest squadron in the Air Force Reserve and one of the oldest in the United States Air Force . The squadron was organized as the 1st Reserve Aero Squadron on 26 May 1917 , the first squadron of what would become the United States Air Force Reserve in 1948 . Elements of the squadron date to November 1915 when it was organized as part of the New York National Guard as the Aviation Detachment , First Battalion Signal Corps , New York National Guard , and shortly thereafter as the 1st Aero Company . The 1st Aero Company was provisionally recognized by the federal government on 22 June 1916 and brought to U . S . service on 13 July 1916 , with the objective of sending personnel and equipment to the 1st Aero Squadron in Mexico with the Punitive expedition under General John J . Pershing . After being federalized , the company began training 22 July at the new Mineola Signal Corps Aviation School under two Regular Army instructors assigned by the Signal Corps . The Army eventually trained 25 pilots but the 1st Aero Company was mustered out on 2 November 1916 without ever leaving Long Island , and was disbanded 23 May 1917 . In the meantime the National Defense Act of 1916 , passed 3 June , authorized an aviation section in the Signal Reserve Corps of 296 officers and 2 , 000 enlisted men as part of the Army ' s Aviation Section . At Fort Jay , New York , attorney Phillip A . Carroll established the Governors Island Training Corps , a privately funded program to train civilians to pass the Reserve Military Aviator flying test and receive commissions in the Signal Officers Reserve Corps . The instructional program was under the guidance of the Army ' s Eastern Department , commanded by Major Gen . Leonard Wood , and trained seven civilians who were commissioned as Reserve aviators . After the United States entry into World War I , the unit - less New York guardsmen and the new Reserve aviators were organized into a new unit at Mineola by Major Raynal Bolling and now - Captain Carroll . Federalized in June 1917 , the 1st Reserve Aero Squadron trained during the summer of 1917 and sailed for Europe aboard the RMS " Baltic " on 23 August with eight other aero squadrons . It arrived at its duty station of Issoudun , France , on 21 September , and after receiving further training in French schools , assembled , serviced , and repaired aircraft . The 1st R . A . S . was redesignated as the 26th Aero Squadron on 1 October 1917 as part of a reorganization of the Air Service of the AEF . The 26th Aero Squadron remained in France until May 1919 when the unit returned to the United States and was demobilized . The squadron was reformed and reactivated as the 26 Squadron ( Attack ) on 30 August 1921 ; being assigned to the 3rd Attack Group at Kelly Field , Texas . Assigned various World War I era biplanes and experimental American aircraft of the 1920s , the squadron patrolled the Mexican Border , delivered airmail and performed other missions as assigned throughout the 1920s . Deployed to the Hawaii Territory in 1930 , the squadron was equipped with A - 3 Curtiss Falcons , which were used as fighter - bombers in the 1930s as part of the defense of the islands . Newer Douglas B - 18 Bolo s were assigned in late 1939 , and the unit was redesignated as the 26th Bombardment Squadron . The B - 18s were relegated to second - line patrol duty over the approaches to Oahu in 1941 when B - 17E Flying Fortress es arrived in Hawaii . During the Pearl Harbor Attack , many of the squadrons aircraft were damaged at Hickam Field , and the survivors were reformed at Wheeler Field , where they were retained as part of the defense force of the territory under the new Seventh Air Force . The squadron deployed B - 17s to Midway Island in late May 1942 to strengthen the island ' s defenses , however they were withdrawn prior to the Japanese attack on the airfield . They returned to Midway and attempted to raid the attacking Japanese naval forces with little success , and returned to Wheeler Field after the battle ended on 8 June . The squadron deployed to the South Pacific and came under the new Thirteenth Air Force . Operating from the New Hebrides , the B - 17s attacked enemy targets in the Solomon Islands during late 1942 as well as targets in New Guinea and other enemy controlled areas in the South Pacific AOR . The B - 17s were flown to Australia from New Guinea in early 1943 and squadron personnel returned to Hawaii for re - equipping and replacement personnel . Was re - equipped with very long range B - 24 Liberator s optimized for long - range missions in the Pacific . Operated in the Central Pacific AOR , flying very long - range heavy bombing missions over the Gilbert and Marshall Islands ; moving west to Guam in the Northern Mariana Islands in October 1944 . Carried out very long range bombing attacks on Okinawa in early 1945 , eventually being stationed on Okinawa after the Japanese Capitulation in August 1945 . Ferried former prisoners of war to Manila , Sep 1945 . Squadron was demobilized on Okinawa after the war , the aircraft being sent to the Philippines for reclamation . Was carried on the books as an administrative , paper B - 29 Very Heavy Bomb squadron by Far East Air Force until inactivation in late 1948 , never being equipped or manned . Reactivated under Strategic Air Command in December 1948 at Carswell AFB , Texas ; received the new B - 36B Peacemaker intercontinental strategic bomber . Upgraded to the jet - assisted B - 36D in 1950 , then the B - 36J - III Featherweight in 1954 ; Trained in heavy bombardment operations and participated in many SAC exercises and deployments . In 1958 was reassigned to Altus AFB , Oklahoma and re - equipped with new B - 52E Stratofortress es and continued operations as well as standing nuclear alert . Remained at Altus on alert status until B - 52Es were phased out of SAC service and consigned to storage in 1968 . Afterward the squadron was inactivated . Reactivated under Pacific Air Forces at Clark AB , Philippines in 1973 with a training mission to provide dissimilar air combat training ( DACT ) to PACAF fighter squadrons using Soviet - style fighter tactics . Was carried in non - operational status until the end of August 1975 , by which time the 405th Fighter Wing had been replaced by the 3rd TFW at Clark . Even then , it did not start training activities until January 1976 , using a number of T - 38 Talon DACT aircraft made surplus by the arrival of the F - 5E Tiger II s at Nellis AFB , Nevada . Eventually , the squadron also received the F - 5E , with some of the planes coming from stocks destined for the South Vietnamese Air Force but never delivered and an embargoed Ethiopian Air Force order . By that time it had been redesignated Tactical Fighter Training Squadron , and secondly as a Tactical Fighter Training and Aggressor Squadron . Eventually , it became the 26th Aggressor Squadron . The aggressor F - 5Es were painted in a variety of colorful camouflage schemes designed to mimic those in use by Warsaw Pact aircraft . Two - digit Soviet - style nose codes were applied to most aggressor aircraft , and these coincided with the last two digits of the serial number . When there was duplication , three digits were used . Squadron was among the first to apply the star and bar in toned - down or stencil form . By the late 1980s , the aircraft were becoming worn out after years of high - performance fighter training , with some aircraft being grounded for structural failures . In addition , the F - 5E no longer could provide the training as a new generation of Soviet aircraft were becoming operational . The 26th AS at Clark was scheduled to dispose of its F - 5Es in favor of F - 16C / D Falcons and transfer to Kadena AB , Okinawa , in October 1988 . The unite was minimally manned at Kadena while the squadron awaited new aircraft , flying a few borrowed aircraft from the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing . However , in 1990 , the decision was made to terminate the entire USAF aggressor program . The 26th AS was disbanded on 21 February 1990 before it could receive its new F - 16s . Reactivated under Air Force Space Command in 2003 as a Space Aggressor Squadron as part of the 310th Space Group at Schriever AFB , Colorado . In 2007 the unit was reassigned to the 926th Group at Nellis and was transferred to the Air Combat Command . However , the 26th remained at Schriever AFB , despite the reorganization as a geographically separated unit . Service Streamers . World War I Theater of Operations . Campaign Streamers . World War II : Central Pacific ; Air Offensive , Japan ; Papua ; Guadalcanal ; Northern Solomons ; Eastern Mandates ; Western Pacific ; Ryukyus ; China Offensive ; Air Combat , Asiatic - Pacific Theater . Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamers . None .