12th Reconnaissance Squadron The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron ( 12 RS ) is a United States Air Force squadron , assigned to the 69th Reconnaissance Group at Grand Forks Air Force Base , North Dakota , and operates from Beale Air Force Base , California . The squadron traces its lineage to the Air Service , United States Army 12th Aero Squadron , activated on 2 June 1917 at Kelly Field , Texas . It earned seven Campaign Streamers in World War I flying the French Salmson 2A2 aircraft as a Corps Observation squadron . The squadron again flew tactical reconnaissance missions in France and Northern Europe during World War II as part of Ninth Air Force . As a United States Air Force squadron , it flew reconnaissance missions in the Korean War , Vietnam War , Operation Desert Storm and the Global War on Terrorism . Aircrews of the 12th have flown over 40 different aircraft since its beginnings in 1917 , fought in more than 25 major campaigns , operated from over 60 stations , and received more than 20 unit citations . Today , it continues its history of reconnaissance , now equipped with the RQ - 4 Global Hawk Unmanned Reconnaissance Vehicle ( UAV ) . Overview . The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron plans and executes worldwide high - altitude combat surveillance and reconnaissance missions including peacetime intelligence gathering , contingency operations and conventional warfare . Operating the RQ - 4B Global Hawk Remotely Piloted Aircraft ( RPA ) , the 12 RS provides signals intelligence and near real - time imagery intelligence to fulfill operational requirements generated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in support of the Secretary of Defense and unified commanders . History . World War I . The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron is one of the oldest United States Air Force squadrons , having been involved in every armed conflict the United States has deployed forces into combat since World War I . The 12th Aero Squadron was established in June 1917 , shortly after the United States ' entry into World War I . Formed at what would become Kelly Field , Texas , the squadron trained at Wilbur Wright Field , Ohio during the summer of 1917 before deploying to France in December 1917 . After a period of training in France , the 12th became an early photo - reconnaissance unit , flying over the trenches of the Western Front . Was attached to the French IV Army Corps and American I Army Corps ; squadron moved frequently from one area of the front to another , usually staying at one location nor more than a week or two , taking air photos and gathering intelligence . After the Armistice with Germany in November 1918 , the squadron remained in France and later Germany as part of the IV Army Corps with the Rhineland Occupation forces . Returned to the United States in June 1919 . Inter - War era . Arriving at Mitchell Field , New York in June 1919 , most squadron members were separated from the Air Service and returned to civilian life . A small cadre of members remained on duty , and on the 8 October , Lt Alexander Pearson in a 12th Squadron De Havilland DH - 4 took off from Roosevelt Field on Long Island in the first transcontinental air race , a round trip to Crissy Field , San Francisco , California , which he won with a flying time of 48 hours , 37 minutes , and 16 seconds , or an average speed of 111 . 3 mph . After a brief attachment to Scott Field , Illinois , the 12th was transferred back to Kelly Field , where it immediately began preparations for service along the Mexican Border . By February 1920 , the squadron ( less A Flight , which was detached to Douglas Field , Arizona ) was settling in at Biggs Field , near El Paso , equipped with De Havilland DH - 4s . Later that month , a terse telegram described one incident of this service : Lts G . L . Usher and L . M . Wolfe , " lost direction on patrol . Made forced landing near Nacozari Sonora Mexico . Plane reported broken . Commanding General Southern Department making arrangements for officers release from Mexico . " Wolfe and Usher , on a flight from Columbus Airfield New Mexico to Nogales , Arizona on 2 February 1920 , lost their way due to a bad compass and poor visibility , mistakenly following a railway some into Mexico . In landing near the village of La Noira , south of Nacozari , a wing was damaged . They were detained by Mexican authorities , although they were given the freedom of Nacozari and spent most of their time at the club of an American copper company . They were finally released on 24 February . Between the 4 – 11 April , the 12th moved to Nogales , where it operated for nearly a year until it joined the detached flight at Douglas Field , Arizona . On 28 September the squadron , reduced in numbers , returned to Biggs Field . In February 1921 , the same Lt Pearson and the 12th were again involved in a record - setting attempt , this time a planned transcontinental flight with only two stops to be completed in less than 24 hours . The flight was to be from Pablo Beach , Florida ( near Jacksonville ) , to Rockwell Field , San Diego , with en - route servicing at Fort Worth and Biggs Field . Lt Pearson left Douglas for Florida on 7 February , but he was forced down in the desert with a broken crankshaft . Repairs were made the next day on the scene , and he flew on Biggs Field on the 9th , departing the next day for Kelly Field , San Antonio , but he didn ’ t make it . For the next six days , aircraft from five Texas bases searched for him in vain . Then , on the 16th , he arrived at Sanderson Border Patrol station on horseback , having made his way across country from his crash site in Mexico . In June , the Border Patrol operation ended , with all airfields except Biggs Field being closed and most units returning to their permanent stations . The 12th Squadron , less A Flight again , which returned to Kelly Field , which remained in El Paso as part of the 1st Cavalry Division . On 30 September 1922 , the unit was re - designated as the 12th Observation Squadron and in September 1923 , it participated in maneuvers with the division at Marfa , Texas . It was during this period , from 1922 to 1923 , that Captain Claire Chennault , of later " Flying Tiger " fame , served with the 12th as aviation engineer officer . In June 1926 , the squadron went to Charlotte , Texas , for maneuvers , and in August it moved to Bayside Beach , Texas , for gunnery and bomb practice . The 12th returned to Bayside Beach in May 1932 and April 1933 for practice in aerial gunnery . In 1934 , the 12th took part when the Army was given responsibility for flying the mail after President Franklin Roosevelt cancelled all civilian contracts because of alleged rate - fixing by the airlines . 12th pilots were assigned to the difficult and dangerous CAA Route 18 , from Salt Lake City , Utah to Oakland , California , via Elko , Nevada , and Sacramento , California . The aircraft they flew were primarily Douglas Y1B - 7 bombers . On 1 June 1937 , the 12th Observation Squadron left Texas to operate with the 7th Cavalry Brigade , the mechanized forerunner of the First Armored Division , at Fort Knox , Kentucky . While stationed at Fort Knox , the squadron participated in field maneuvers with the mechanized cavalry near Fort Oglethorpe , Georgia , and at Fort Riley , Kansas , in 1938 ; in the First Army maneuvers at Plattsburg , New York in 1939 ; and in the Third Army maneuvers in Louisiana in 1940 . In the summer of 1940 , the squadron was the first to be attached to an armored division – the First – and on 2 December , a base detachment was formed at For . Knox to manage Goodman Field , a new and modern airfield still under construction . Captain Robert M . Lee , commanding officer of the 12th , was also detachment commander . Along with the First Armored Division , the 12th Squadron played an active role in the Carolina and Louisiana Maneuvers from July to December 1941 . After those maneuvers , the 12th returned to the recently completed Godman Field , where the unit supplied a cadre to organize the Headquarters Squadron of the 73d Observation Group . World War II . After the Pearl Harbor Attack , the squadron left Godman Field on 17 March 1942 to join the 67th Observation Group at Esler Field , Louisiana . There it received extensive training in combat aircraft under Third Air Force . In late July the squadron was ordered overseas and split into a ground echelon and an air echelon . The ground echelon left Elser Field on 12 August 1942 , and sailed for England on 28 August from Fort Dix , New Jersey aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth . It arrived at Gourock , Scotland , on 6 September 1942 and proceeded to its new station at RAF Membury , Berkshire , England . Meanwhile , the air echelon had remained at Elser Field , until 21 September . On that day it left by train for Fort Dix , where it sailed aboard the Dutch Troop Ship Marnix van St . Aldegonde on 26 September , arriving at Gurock on 7 October to join the rest of the squadron at Membury . Operations from England . In England , the squadron went through an intensive training program with the Royal Air Force . On 17 October 1942 , it was assigned Spitfire PR Mk XI s , and late in January 1943 , it received its first A - 20 Havoc . During those months the squadron participated in several maneuvers and became a very efficient organization . On 8 July , the unit was re - designated the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron ( Fighter ) . A little later , on 13 July , a reorganization took place and the A - 20s , gunners , liaison pilots , and most of the observers of the squadron were transferred to the 153rd Liaison Squadron . The 12th was then equipped with P - 51C Mustang s and F - 6 Reconnaissance Mustangs . Late in October , the 12th Squadron was transferred from the VIII Air Support Command to the IX Fighter Command . The unit became highly mobile and proficient at changing airfields on short notice . It would fly form eight English bases before moving to the Continent . On 13 November , the squadron was re - designated again , to the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron . Although the pilots of the 12th engaged in operations against the enemy while on detached service with the Royal Air Force , it was not until 2 January 1944 that the squadron began operations as a unit when Capt James L . Rose flew its first operational mission , a weather reconnaissance over France . On 4 January , the squadron , as part of the 67th Group , was assigned to the IX Air Support Command ( re - designated IX Tactical Air Command in April 1944 ) . After its first operational mission , the 12th helped to photograph of French coast and two inshore strips , each long using the Merton Oblique camera . On 20 March , after 19 days of extremely hazardous operation , the task was completed . Eighty - three missions were flown ; 18 were aborted , 14 due to weather . The maps and photographs were an important contribution to the success of Operation Overlord , the invasion of the continent of Europe . The 12th shared a Presidential Unit Citation with the 67th group for the " most extensive low altitude oblique photographic assignment ever undertaken over enemy territory . " Now the 12th TRS turned to photographing targets over Belgium and France – targets from Le Havre to Luxembourg , and from Leige to Lorient . One day it was marshalling yards in Belgium , another day bridges along the Seine River , then gun emplacements on the " Rocket Coast " plus targets in the Pas - de - Calais area . In May 1944 , 66 out of 75 missions were successful . Northern France Campaign . On 6 June 1944 , D - Day , and for days afterwards , the 12th performed area and route reconnaissance missions as well as artillery adjustment missions over and immediately behind the front lines . The squadron flew 250 missions during the month and operated around the clock . Reconnaissance was a major factor in allied strategy , and the 12th kept higher echelons informed of enemy convoy and troop movements , and the location of troop concentrations . Effective 13 June , the 12th was officially transferred to the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Group . However , about 5 July 1944 , the squadron moved with the 67th to Airfield A - 9 Le Molay - Littry – the first of five airfields from which it would operate in France – and began supporting the United States First Army , which was massing for a breakthrough near Saint - Lô . After the breakthrough , the 12th followed General George S . Patton ’ s Third Army in its drive across France and supported him for the rest of the war . On 1 August 1944 , the squadron was assigned to the XIX Tactical Air Command . Since no French airfield was ready for the 10th Group , the 12th had to handle the reconnaissance load for the first several days , flying 26 missions in five days with a 100 percent success rate . Although bad weather hampered its operations during the rest of the year , several outstanding missions were flown . On the 11th , the squadron was the first from the 10th TRG to move onto the newly captured Rennes Airfield ( A - 27 ) . During September , in addition to its regular missions , the 12th flew 170 missions in nineteen days reconnoitering the area along and beyond the Siegfried Line where German armies were building up reserves . The pilots also spotted and photographed areas the Germans were strengthening and reconnoitered marshalling yards to see if reinforcements were being sent in from other parts of Germany . During November and December , missions were flown over the Ruhr and Rhine valleys and over such cities as Frankfurt , Mannheim , Wiesbaden , Koblenz , and Ludwigshafen , many of which were heavily defended . During the German retreat after the Battle of the Bulge , the 12th kept its planes in the air , spotting enemy vehicles , troops , and supplies . Medium bombers had knocked out so many roads and bridges that thousands of German vehicles were trying to escape , but had no way to move . On 26 January , 12th TRS pilots spotted 4 , 000 vehicles and called in P - 47 Thunderbolt fighter - bombers in to finish the job . The 12th Squadron was commended by Generals Carl Spaatz and Weyland for its work during the German withdrawal . Invasion of Germany . The 12th moved to Vogelsang Airfield ( Y - 61 ) Euren , Germany on 2 March 1945 . During March , 320 missions were flown in support of the Third Army ’ s break through of the Siegfried Line . At this point , the squadron received an order stressing the fact that the 12th was a reconnaissance squadron and that engagements with the enemy should not be encouraged . Reconnaissance areas changed rapidly in keeping pace with Patton . During the first part of April , targets included Frankfurt , Darmstadt , Wurzburg , and Kassel . Later they were farther east – Gotha , Erfurt , Leipzig , and Chemnitz . Then the 12th moved south to Munich , Regensburg , and Nurnberg , and it finished the month by making long flights ( with wing tanks ) into Austria and Czechoslovakia , reconnoitering Prague , Pilsen , Linz , and Vienna . Although hostilities in general ceased in Europe on 7 May 1945 , the 12th Squadron continued to fly photographic missions in support of Allied forces in Czechoslovakia , where the fighting did not stop until 10 May . The 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron made a very impressive record during World War II . The unit ’ s historian reported that 2 , 732 missions were flown , 26 enemy planes destroyed , three probably destroyed , and ten damaged . The 12th Squadron lost nine planes . After the war , the 12th became part of the occupation air force in Europe . It remained at Furth Airfield , Germany , assigned to the 10th Reconnaissance Group of the XII Tactical Air Command . The squadron demobilized during late 1945 and early 1946 , being reduced to an administrative unit . On 12 Funerary 1946 it was reassigned administratively to Bolling Field , Washington DC where it was inactivated on 31 March 1946 . United States Air Force . Postwar Era . The squadron was re - activated at March Field , California on 31 August 1946 as the 12th Reconnaissance Squadron , Photo ( Jet Propelled ) . It was assigned to the 363d Reconnaissance Group , Ninth Air Force . However , because the rest of the group was stationed at Brooks Field , Texas , and later at Langley Field , Virginia , it was attached to Twelfth Air Force . The squadron , receiving FP - 80 Shooting Star aircraft , claimed to be the first unit in the Air Force to use jet - photo equipment . Extensive aerial photography was performed by the 12th , including maps and layouts for the United States Department of Agriculture , the Army Corps of Engineers , and many other agencies . On 24 July 1947 , the 12th was reassigned once again to the 67th Reconnaissance Group , and in the months that followed , the 12th participated in many exercises and maneuvers . The squadron filled many requests for aerial photographs . Many layouts of dams and waterways were made for the Army Corps of Engineers , Army Mapping Service , and the Department of Agriculture ’ s Soil Conservation Service Korean War . On 5 February 1951 , the unit was re - designated the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron , Night Photo . On 25 February , eight months after the Korean War started , it was activated at Komaki Air Base , Japan , and assigned to the 67th TRG once more . The 67th TRG was part of the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing , which had been formed in a reorganization of reconnaissance assets in Fifth Air Force . Personnel and equipment ( RB - 26s ) came from the inactivated Ohio Air National Guard 162d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron which returned to the United States . On 15 March 1951 , the unit moved to Taegu Air Base ( K - 2 ) , South Korea , where the operations section had been located since the first part of the month . The primary mission of the squadron during the Korean conflict was to provide the night reconnaissance capability for the wing , both photographic and visual . During hours of darkness , the 12th Squadron was tasked to collect information on enemy activities , to make visual searches and perform route reconnaissance , to perform targeting , and bomb damage assessments , to determine the accuracy of SHORAN coordinates . In emergencies , the 12th was expected to assist the two day visual and photo recon squadrons . In March 1951 , the squadron ’ s first month in South Korea , the 12th flew a total of 256 effective sorties . One of its early tasks was to provide photographs of all enemy airfields in North Korea . It also flew sorties in conjunction with the preparation and execution of a parachute drop on 23 March . On 21 August , the squadron moved to Kimpo Air Base ( K - 14 ) at Seoul and remained there for the remainder of the war . The equipment compliment of the 12th Squadron necessarily influenced its performance of mission . The squadron was authorized 27 RB - 26 Invaders for night reconnaissance missions , but it seldom possessed so many planes and several of the authorized aircraft were EB - 26s modified for electronic reconnaissance . In the summer of 1953 , the RB - 26s covered the three main supply routes of the enemy each night : one route on each coast and one in the center of the peninsula . Special night photo missions were also flown against pre - briefed targets at which some particular enemy activity , was suspected on occasions the night photo planes photographed targets that for some reason could not be covered during daylight . During the period 1 January to 30 June 1953 , the unit ’ s pilots flew 1 , 117 missions and sighted 88 , 795 enemy vehicles . In July , the last months of the Korean conflict , the 12th flew 334 missions , including several daylight runs . Aerial reconnaissance seems to have been of even greater importance in the Korean fighting than in any previous war . According to a survey made shortly after hostilities ceased , air reconnaissance accounted for a considerable part of all intelligence used by ground units and for a high percentage used by the United Nations air forces . Service in Japan . Following the end of the Korean War , the 12th TRS continued to operate from Kimpo until 8 November 1954 , when it moved to Itami Air Base , Japan . The 12th maintained at least one RB - 26 and crew on temporary duty at Kimpo until 28 July 1956 to provide the U . S . Army and the Republic of Korea Army with photo reconnaissance of South Korea and the demilitarized zone . On 14 August 1956 , the squadron moved from Itami to Yokota Air Base , which could accommodate the twin jet RB - 66 Destroyer s with which the 12th was soon to be equipped . On 22 December the first of the 12th ' s new planes arrived . In April 1958 , two of the 12th ' s aircraft deployed to Bangkok , Thailand , to fly reconnaissance missions for a Southeast Asia Treaty Organization ( SEATO ) exercise , and in the following June its RB - 66s took part in a joint Navy - Air Force exercise , providing navigational aid and escort for F - 100Ds attacking the naval task force . During January 1960 , crews of the 12th ferried their planes to the United States , refueling from tankers over Wake Island and Hawaii . Not long after , on 8 March , the squadron was inactivated at Yokota . Vietnam War . On 3 November 1965 , the outfit was re - designated the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron ( Photographic ) and assigned to Tactical Air Command . It was reactivated at Mountain Home AFB , Idaho , on 1 July 1966 , and organized there about 8 July , assigned again ( temporarily ) to the 67th TRW . At this time the unit was equipped with McDonnell RF - 4C Phantom II reconnaissance aircraft . On 2 September of that year , the unit deployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base , Republic of Vietnam , where it became a part of the 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing on 9 September . In the first four full months of operation in Southeast Asia , crews of the 12th TRS flew 2 , 014 combat sorties against pinpoint , strip , and area cover targets in North Vietnam , South Vietnam , and Laos . Approximately two - thirds of these were flown at night . Continuous information on enemy supply movements , troop concentrations , and fortifications was obtained from aerial photography taken by the 12th . In addition , photography taken by the unit was used in bomb damage assessment , base defense planning , and enemy air defense site detection . The 12th flew more than 26 , 000 combat sorties and 53 , 000 hours over a 5 - year period . This was more than in both World Wars and Korea combined . Post - Vietnam . The 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron moved to Bergstrom AFB , Texas , on 20 August 1971 , where it became – once again – a component of the 67th TRW . The unit made annual Salty Bee exercise deployments to USAFE bases in Europe , participated in exercises throughout North America , and was actively involved in the Peacetime Aerial Reconnaissance Program ( PARPRO ) . Modifications to the RF - 4C added the capability to designated targets for laser guided munitions . Crews and aircraft from the 12th deployed to the Middle East to take part in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 . On 28 August 1992 with the retirement of the RF - 4C Phantom , the 12th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was inactivated at Bergstrom AFB , Texas . Twenty - first century . Reactivated at Beale AFB , California in 2001 operating unmanned RQ - 4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial reconnaissance aircraft as part of the Global War on Terror . In March 2013 , the squadron was reassigned to the reactivated 69th Reconnaissance Group as part of the consolidation of the USAF Global Hawk mission . The 12th Reconnaissance Squadron still operates from Beale Air Force Base in California .