7499th Support Group The 7499th Support Group is an inactive United States Air Force organization . Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe , being stationed at Weisbaden Air Base , West Germany . It was inactivated on 30 June 1974 . Its mission was resumed by the 7575th Operations Group , which operated from Rhein - Main Air Base , West Germany from 1 July 1977 until its inactivation on 31 March 1991 . History . The 7499th participated in overt and covert reconnaissance throughout the European theater during the Cold War and reported directly to Headquarters USAFE . The unit was initially formed as a squadron in 1948 , first at Furstenfeldbruck AB , Germany . By 1955 , with the pending inactivation of the Air Resupply And Communications Service 582d Air Resupply Group at RAF Molesworth , England , the unit was expanded to a group level and moved to Wiesbaden AB . Origins . The unit ' s origins begin on 9 August 1946 , when an Army Air Forces C - 47 Skytrain departed Tulln Air Base near Vienna , Austria , on a scheduled courier run that would take it to Venice , Italy , then south to Rome . These flights were routine , and this aircraft had three passengers besides the crew and cargo . As the C - 47 flew toward Venice , it encountered heavy weather , including an undercast , and , unknown to its crew , blundered into Yugoslav airspace for several minutes . Before long Yugoslav Yak - 3 fighters came on the scene and shot the C - 47 down . The pilot skillfully crash - landed and all the people aboard survived but were interned . This caused an immediate uproar from the US government , and stern statements were issued to Yugoslav prime minister Josip Broz ( Tito ) about immediate release and access to the crash site . Talks were underway when , on 19 August , incredibly , almost the same exact event occurred again . Another C - 47 courier aircraft was shot down by Yugoslav fighters in the same area . This time the crew was not so fortunate and all aboard perished . Under threat of US cutoff of aid to Yugoslavia , Tito yielded , the interned Americans were released , and some compensation paid to the next - of - kin of the dead personnel . Relative calm ensued between the US and Yugoslavia , but a question lingered in the minds of officials in USAFE Headquarters at Wiesbaden AB , Germany . How did those Yugoslav fighters , twice , find those C - 47s in bad weather and shoot them down ? USAFE acquired an RB - 17 Flying Fortress from a photo - mapping unit , Detachment A of the 10th Reconnaissance Group at Fürth Airfield , Germany . These aircraft were in Europe as part of Project Casey Jones , an attempt to photomap as much of the world as possible to create maps and charts for use in future contingencies , and installed Electronic Countermeasures equipment in it . The B - 17 was flown carefully along the border near where the C - 47s had been shot down , making sure it did not infringe Yugoslav airspace . By luck , on the very first mission , the Yugoslavs cooperated and turned on their radar and began tracking it . The equipment picked up the familiar signals from a German Würzburg radar on about 560 MHz and took bearings , dozens of them , all of which cut at the same point . Where the bearings crossed there had been a German radar school during the war . Obviously the Yugoslavs had put into service one or more of the old German radars . This mission was so successful that USAFE directed that further electronic " ferret " missions be flown along the border with the Soviet zones of Germany and Austria , as well as over the Baltic Sea , looking for Soviet radar stations . Over the next several years these aircraft detected a gradual Soviet radar buildup in their zones . During the Berlin Airlift 1948 – 49 , the B - 17s would fly occasional missions in the Berlin Air Corridor , using call signs making them appear as airlift C - 54 s ( “ Big Willie ” ) . They flew only at night and did not land at Tempelhof airfield , declaring emergencies with " landing gear problems " and thus exiting to the west without Soviet observers seeing them . Thus began the ELINT mission . Detachment A would go on to join a flight of the 45th Reconnaissance Squadron ( specializing in photo recon ) on 26 March 1947 and move to Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base , Germany . Then came the Berlin Airlift , in June 1948 . As part of the collection operation some C - 47s and RB - 26 Invaders were acquired and modified with cameras . They occasionally flew as part of the airlift stream , diligently collecting photography . A few B - 17 ELINT flights were also made in the Berlin Air Corridor s , but only at night . Most likely because of the Airlift and its accompanying sharp increase in tensions , USAFE decided to form the reconnaissance and ELINT units into a single squadron . The 7499th Air Force Squadron was activated at Fürstenfeldbruck on 1 November 1948 . 7499th Support Squadron . From Fürstenfeldbruck , the 7499th continued to fly frequent missions in the West Berlin Air Corridor s . As the Soviets modernised their units and increased their presence , it was vital to gain as much information on them as possible . For better management of this covert outfit as well as to bring it closer to the major USAFE photo and ELINT interpretation centres , the 7499th moved in August 1950 to Wiesbaden AB , within a few miles of USAFE Headquarters . Beginning in 1950 , the unit upgraded to C - 54 Skymaster s to do both photo reconnaissance and ELINT work , replacing the B - 17s . The C - 54 boasted better collection capability , and had the additional advantage of actually being a transport , thus attracting much less attention at Tempelhof . C - 47s also replaced the RB - 26s , the C - 47s also being less visible to the Soviets than the Invader bomber overflying East Germany . 7499th Support Group . In 1955 , in response to increasing collection requirements and the pending inactivation of the MATS intelligence units , USAFE upgraded its reconnaissance effort , creating the 7499th Support Group at Wiesbaden with three squadrons . 7405th Support Squadron . The former 7499th Squadron became the 7405th Support Squadron , remaining at Wiesbaden as the only unit to conduct corridor collection . The 7405th had been openly tasked with the courier mission to West Berlin , meaning it was to conduct daily flights to and from Tempelhof Air Base carrying passengers and priority cargo . It was known as the " Berlin for Lunch Bunch " . Under this cover the newer aircraft were to continue their collection using better sensors , including the first infrared imagery sensors . Its C - 47s and RB - 26s soldiered on into the late 1950s , and some C - 54s until 1963 . In 1959 the C - 47s were supplanted by four Convair T - 29 s , navigator trainers converted for courier work and vertical photography , but another generation was about to arrive . A new aircraft , a specially modified Boeing EC - 97G Stratofreighter , made its appearance in 1953 . This aircraft ( serial 49 - 2952 ) , covertly carrying a 240 - inch focal length camera , was codenamed PIE FACE and was mostly used along the periphery of the satellite nations . This camera , with a 20 - foot focal length , was developed by Boston University and was installed initially in an RB - 36 . However , it was later decided that because an overflight though the corridor to Tempelhof by an RB - 36 would probably be too provocative , it would be better if a transport aircraft was equipped with this huge camera . The work to remove the camera from the RB - 36 and install it in the C - 97 was conducted in a secure hangar at Convair at Air Force Plant No . 4 , Carswell AFB . The camera took 18 x 36 - inch negatives exposed at 0 . 0025 seconds and could be positioned to take vertical or left or right oblique photographs through a large window which was hidden by covert doors . When flown on an occasional West Berlin Air Corridor mission , even at the required altitudes of less than 10 , 000 ft , the camera would produce spectacular , high - resolution photography , very useful for technical analysis of equipment . This aircraft would provide valuable imagery right up until 1972 , when it was finally retired to AMARC after some productive missions around Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis . Additional Boeing EC - 97Gs that arrived in 1963 were ostensibly cargo carriers , but fitted with ELINT gear and , in one case , with oblique cameras . Aircraft 52 - 2686 and 52 - 2639 were equipped with multiple ELINT work stations in the upper , cargo section of the fuselage . Aircraft 52 - 2688 was equipped with cameras only . Aircraft 52 - 2687 was equipped with smaller , single work stations , one for ELINT and one for cameras on the lower deck of the double fuselage , leaving the upper deck normal in appearance and capable of carrying cargo . These aircraft were designed to gather high - quality technical data on the then - new Soviet SA - 2 Guideline Surface - to - air missile system , which by the mid - 1960s had spread throughout the Warsaw Pact countries , especially in East Germany , and was downing US aircraft over North Vietnam . This platform was especially valuable for providing data enabling the US to design appropriate electronic countermeasures against the SA - 2 . The north and south West Berlin Air Corridor s were unique places for this collection , since several Soviet SA - 2 sites were located directly within corridor limits . When the SA - 2 was superseded by more advanced missile systems , the aircraft was reconfigured to collect on them . 7406th Support Squadron . The 7406th Support Squadron was activated at Rhein - Main Air Base , West Germany on 10 May 1955 and received its first aircraft ( RB - 50E Superfortress ) in March 1956 . The mission of the 7406th SS was airborne reconnaissance . The 7406th SS owned and maintained the aircraft and provided the flight crews . A separate USAF Security Service squadron provided the recon crew that manned the intelligence collection positions on the aircraft . The RB - 50s were replaced with specially configured C - 130A - II Hercules recon aircraft in 1958 . The first C - 130A Hercules 56 - 0484 was assigned in March 1958 . Other C - 130A - II aircraft assigned to the 7406th SS included in order of assignment from July to October 1958 : 56 – 0525 , 56 – 0528 , 56 – 0530 , 56 – 0534 , 56 – 0538 , 56 – 0541 , 56 – 0535 and 56 - 0540 . Under the ‘ Big Safari ’ programme of intelligence collection , E - Systems ( now Raytheon ) in 1957 to convert ten C - 130A aircraft for SIGINT duties under the ‘ Sun Valley ’ project . These C - 130s replaced the RB - 50Es which in turn were modified as RB - 50Gs and transferred to the Pacific . One of these C - 130 ' s ( 60 – 528 ) was shot down with the loss of a crew of seventeen ( six 7406th flight crew members and eleven USAFSS recon flyers ) over Soviet Armenia on 2 Sep 1958 , becoming the first C - 130 lost to hostile fire . Four Soviet MiG - 17 pilots took turns firing on the unarmed C - 130 when the American aircraft inadvertently penetrated Soviet airspace while on a recon mission along the Turkish - Armenian border . C - 130 60 - 528 had less than 200 flying hours when it was shot down . The 7499th operated temporarily out of Macdill AFB , Florida in the 1960s . At first ( Feb 1964 ) it was under the 15th Tactical Fighter Wing ( TAC ) , then in Feb 1966 the 4409th Support Squadron was set up . The mission area was the north coast of Cuba with a coordinated U - 2 mission . At first 7406th flight crews , on TDY , trained TAC & 4409th flight crews . As more 7406th personnel transferred to the 4409th the TDY training stopped . C - 130B - II Hercules aircraft that had previously been assigned at Yokota Air Base , Japan from 1961 – 1971 were sent to the 7406th at Rhein - Main AB in 1971 , replacing the C - 130A - II models that were converted to original ' cargo ' configuration and assigned to Air National Guard units in CONUS . The 7406th SS continued flying reconnaissance missions from Rhein - Main in the C - 130B models until 30 June 1973 when the squadron ' s sister Security Service flying squadron moved to Hellenikon Air Base , Athens , Greece . as Det No . 1 , 7499th Support Group . The 7406th had two hotels in Glifada with two to a room . This was just south of Athens and Hellenikon and across the road from a beautiful beach . Uniforms were not permitted off base . The 7406th SS operations remained at Rhein - Main but flew its operational missions out of Hellenikon from 1 July 1973 until its last C - 130B - II mission was flown on 13 June 1974 . The unit was flying only Mediterranean missions by this time . The 7406th SS was inactivated on 30 June 1974 . After inactivation of the 7406th Squadron the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing ( SAC ) at Offutt AFB , Nebraska took over the missions with Boeing RC - 135 aircraft . On 2 Sep 1997 , the National Security Agency ( NSA ) dedicated at National Vigilance Park , Fort Meade , Maryland an Aerial Reconnaissance Memorial consisting of a refurbished C - 130A tail number 57 - 0453 that has been restored to look identical to C - 130A 60 - 528 when it was shot down . The Aerial Reconnaissance Memorial honors all SILENT WARRIORS ( all military airborne recon crews ) who paid the ultimate price while defending their country . 7407th Support Squadron . The 7407th Support Squadron performed airborne photo surveillance . They used RB - 57A , then RB - 57D , and finally RB - 57F Canberra aircraft at Rhein - Main AB . In late 1955 the squadron received ten highly modified RB - 57A - 1 Canberra reconnaissance aircraft with higher - thrust engines and capable of carrying P - 2s , K - 17s , K - 37s , K - 38s , or T - 17s cameras in the bomb bay which could be interchanged according to the aircraft ' s mission . The intended mission of " Project Heart Throb " included day and night , high and low , and visual and photographic reconnaissance . The RB - 57A was totally unarmed . It was painted with a high gloss black paint which was intended to minimize detection by searchlights . The crew was two — one pilot and one photo - navigator . The 7407th flew between 16 and 20 sorties before it was closed down . These sorties were flown over Czechoslovakia , Hungary and Yugoslavia between Sep 1955 and Aug 1956 and were usually fairly shallow penetrations . Many sorties were tracked by MiG 15 s or MiG - 17 s , but these aircraft lacked sufficient performance to pose a significant threat to the high - flying RB - 57As . It is possible that one of these planes was shot down by a surface to air missile during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 , after which Hearthrob operations ended . Four RB - 57s were deployed to the 6021st Reconnaissance Squadron at Yokota Air Base , Japan in early November 1956 . Two other B - 57s , designated RB - 57A - 2 were modified with a bulbous nose containing AN / APS - 60 mapping radar and a SIGINT direction finder system in 1957 under project SARTAC . It is known that they carried a high - capacity data tape recorder in the bombbay to store intelligence data obtained during sorties , and they were also equipped with doppler navigation radar . The aircraft and their missions were very secret and little information about them was ever released . The service of the RB - 57As was brief , as in 1957 , midair - refuelling capable RB - 57D Canberra s were deployed in 1957 to the 7407th CSS to support USAFE operations . All RB - 57D operations were under heavy security and very little information ever leaked out about their early operations . They presumably carried out reconnaissance missions along the East German border and over the Baltic Sea . Since the missions were carried out under an atmosphere of high secrecy , RB - 57s returning from missions over the Baltic were often intercepted by RAF Hawker Hunters just to make sure that they were not Soviet aircraft . This squadron had a Detachment 1 organized at Bitburg Air Base , West Germany using three RF - 100A Super Sabre reconnaissance aircraft ( 53 - 1551 , 53 – 1554 , 53 – 1554 ) known as " Slick Chicks " . In May 1955 , after successful competition of flight tests , the aircraft were sent to the 7407th Support Squadron . The over - flight operations these aircraft conducted are still classified , however , one details of one particular flight in 1956 have leaked out . On this sortie the pilot of 53 – 1551 took off from a base in Turkey to photograph a rocket base deep inside the Soviet Union . The RF - 100A was quickly picked up by Soviet radar and , as the target was at the extreme range of the aircraft , the pilot had no option but to fly a virtually straight track . As a consequence the Soviets soon determined the intended target . Throughout the mission , the pilot was faced with the unnerving spectacle of a never - ending stream of Soviet interceptor fighters attempting to bring down the RF - 100A by firing a variety of machine - guns , cannons and missiles at the aircraft . To compound the pilots problems , his heavy fuel load and four drop tanks allowed only very limited evasive manoeuvring . Thanks to poor Soviet gunnery , inadequate planning by the Soviet Fighter Controllers and a fair slice of luck , the pilot reached the target and took the required photographs . However , his problems were far from over , as the target was at the extreme limits of the aircraft ’ s range and no other airfields were available , he had no choice but to reverse course and retrace his route . The pilot made it back to Turkey , but with virtually empty tanks having kept the aircraft in continuous afterburner for over half an hour as he shot past some extremely agitated Russians – as the RF - 100A was officially limited to just a few minutes of afterburner , this effectively destroyed the entire aft fuselage . As far as it can be established , none of the " Slick Chicks " were lost over unfriendly territory . In June 1958 the Detachment was inactivated and the two remaining RF - 100A ’ s were transferred to the 3131st Maintenance Group at Châteauroux - Déols AB , France and eventually were sent to Taiwan . Intelligence gathering sorties by the RB - 57D ' s continued until 1964 when wing fatigue problems caused type to be withdrawn from service . In late 1963 , the first two Martin RB - 57F Canberra s went for operational trials with the 7407th CSS They carried out a series of high - altitude reconnaissance flights along the East German border and over the Baltic Sea . In February 1964 , following these trials , they were transferred to the 58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron at Kirtland AFB , New Mexico . Eventually two RB - 57Fs were assigned to the 7407th CSS in 1964 . On 14 December 1965 , one of the RB - 57Fs ( 63 - 13287 ) operating out of Rhein - Main AB was lost during a mission over the Black Sea . What actually happened is still uncertain . There were reports that the aircraft had been shot down by a Soviet S - 75 Dvina Surface - to - air missile , but at the time , the official statement by the USAF was that the aircraft crew had probably perished from an oxygen system failure , since it took over an hour for the aircraft to spiral down from altitude and fall into the Black Sea . Although seven or eight days were spent searching for the wreckage , only small bits and pieces of it were ever found . However , there were also reports that the two crewmembers were captured alive by the Soviets , with their ultimate fate being uncertain . Stress cracks began appearing in the wing spars and ribs of the RB - 57Fs in the early 1970s and the activities of the RB - 57Fs were restricted . The last of the RB - 57Fs were retired in early 1974 and 7407th squadron was inactivated 30 June 1974 . Downsizing . All along , the 7405th and its sister squadrons were also flying peripheral reconnaissance missions throughout Europe and , increasingly , the Middle East , but beginning in the late 1960s Strategic Air Command Boeing RC - 135 s assumed a greater share of the peripheral strategic reconnaissance mission and on 30 June 1974 the 7499th Group and 7406th and 7407th squadrons were inactivated . The 7405th Support Squadron was re designated as the 7405th Operations Squadron and continued its mission . 7575th Operations Group . However , the West Berlin Air Corridor missions were unique and no RC - 135s would be flying to West Berlin . So the 7405th Support Squadron and its " Berlin for Lunch Bunch " C - 130s continued this unique task , the squadron being directly assigned to HQ USAFE . In late December 1975 , the 7405th flew its last EC - 97G mission from Wiesbaden Air Base when the USAF turned the base over to the United States Army and moved its operations to Rhein - Main AB . There , re - designated as the 7405th Operations Squadron , it acquired three heavily - modified C - 130E Hercules , airlifters in name only . By this time , technology improvements were such that each aircraft could carry a variety of sensors with advanced capabilities . Thus , if one sensor type detected a new and unusual activity , the aircrew could almost instantly bring other sensors to bear on it . This ability provided lucrative intelligence time and time again . On 1 July 1977 , the squadron was assigned to the newly organized 7575th Operations Group at Rhein - Main AB . Along with the 7575th OG , the 7580th Operations Squadron was activated on 1 July 1977 at Rhein - Main AB . The 7580th OS was a non - flying squadron staffed with C - 130 Electronic Warfare Officers ( EWOs ) and aircraft maintenance personnel . In 1977 , when the 7575th Operations Group was formed at Rhein - Main AB , HQ USAFE realigned the 7th Special Operations Squadron under its control , until March 1983 , when the 7th SOS transferred from USAFE to Military Airlift Command ( MAC ) . The 7th SOS operated four MC - 130E Combat Talon I s ( 64 - 0523 , 64 – 0555 , 64 – 0561 and 64 - 0566 ) . Although even today very little is known about this special unit , the mere fact that the USAF information service always answers ' no comment ' to any questions about its role is sufficient to allow the tentative conclusion that clandestine operations are involved , with the squadron performing undisclosed missions under the direction of the DCS Operations of HQ USAFE . The 7th SOS ' s MC - 130Es were been spotted in every corner of Europe . These sightings were perhaps connected with NATO marine unit exercises with which the 7th SOS is also involved . One of the most bizarre sightings dates from January 1976 when a traveller from West Berlin saw a low - flying C - 130 over the Transitstrasse , the transit route , near Magdeburg in the German Democratic Republic . Flying at an estimated fifty meters over the motorway , the Hercules disappeared northwards at great speed . It was certainly an MC - 130E from the 7th SOS but what it was doing in the DDR is not so certain . Granted it was flying perfectly legally in the air corridor at the time of the sighting , the fact that it was a black MC - 130E from the 7th SOS does make one a trifle suspicious . The 7405th ' s corridor / Control Zone collection missions , with their pivot at Tempelhof Central Airport , continued through the 1980s . Then came the 1989 collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the fall of the Berlin Wall ; the 1990 German reunification , and the phase - out of Soviet armed forces from Eastern Europe . The 7405th helped monitor this until shortly before Germany was reunified . On 27 September 1990 , the last C - 130 collection mission was flown ; then , on 3 October , the Berlin Air Corridors and Control Zone officially disappeared . From 1946 to 1990 the " Berlin for Lunch Bunch " had flown over 10 , 000 missions to West Berlin . Now it had flown its last , Germany and the city of Berlin were again unified , and the 7405th Operations Squadron faded into military aviation and intelligence history . Its mission was completed . The 7405th Operations Squadron was inactivated on 1 January 1991 ; the 7575th Operations Group and 7580th Operations Squadron were inactivated on 31 March 1991 .