42d Electronic Combat Squadron The 42d Electronic Combat Squadron a United States Air Force unit . Its current assignment is with the 55th Electronic Combat Group , based at Davis - Monthan AFB , Arizona . Mission . Provides the 55th Electronic Combat Group with combat ready EC - 130H COMPASS CALL trained aircrews . Directs all EC - 130H aircrew initial academic and flying qualification , difference and requalification training for 20 different aircrew specialties with more than 200 aircrew students trained annually . Provides registrar support to students . Maintains quality control for all aspects of contracted aircrew training and manages courseware development for 17 Air Combat Command - verified syllabi . Provides the group with simulator support for both continuation and initial qualification training . History . Established under VIII Bomber Command , Continental Air Forces as a very long - range strategic reconnaissance squadron . Equipped with B - 29 Superfortress bombers converted into F - 13 reconnaissance / mapping configuration . Was designated to operate from Alaska , however squadron suffered from lack of personnel due to demobilization after the end of World War II , never became fully operational and was inactivated in August 1946 . Cold War . Reactivated as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe in March , 1954 at Spangdahlem AB , West Germany . Equipped with RB - 26B Invader reconnaissance aircraft , painted in black to perform night reconnaissance which were transferred from the 1st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron when the 1st TRS received RB - 57A Canberra s . In 1956 the B - 26s were sent to reclamation and the squadron was upgraded to the Douglas RB - 66C Destroyer . The RB - 66C was a specialized electronic reconnaissance and electronic countermeasures aircraft designed for jamming Soviet RADAR . Its mission was to fly with tactical fighter and fighter bomber aircraft and provide an aerial defense . An extensive suite of specialized equipment was fitted to locate and identify enemy radar emissions . Additional ECM equipment was carried in wingtip pods . Chaff dispensing pods could be carried underneath the wing outboard of the engine nacelles . In addition , it was fitted with a removable in flight refueling probe attached to the right side of the forward fuselage . In 1959 the squadron moved to the United Kingdom as part of a USAFE realignment . The parent 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing was assigned to RAF Alconbury . A shortage of facilities at Alconbury led to the 42d being stationed at RAF Chelveston , about 20 miles west of Alconbury , where it remained as a detachment of the 10th TRW . In 1962 the runway at Chevelston was closed , and the squadron operated out of Toul - Rosieres AB , France , where it operated for a few years as Det # 1 , 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing . On 10 March 1964 , a 42d TRS RB - 66C deployed to Toul was shot down over East Germany after it crossed over the border due to an instrument malfunction . The crew ejected and were taken prisoner briefly before being released . These rotational deployments to France continued until October 1965 with the activation of the 25th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Chambley - Bussieres Air Base and the 42d TRS being permanently assigned to the 25th TRW . With France ' s withdrawal from NATO ' s integrated military organization in 1966 , Chambley AB was closed and the 25th TRW was inactivated . The specially - equipped EB - 66C ' s of the 42d ECS and their aircrews were sent directly to Southeast Asia for use over the skies of North Vietnam and the squadron was inactivated . Reactivated in 1968 at Takhli Royal Thai Air Base under the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing . The squadron carried out electronic warfare operations over North Vietnam , locating and identifying North Vietnamese radar sites that directed missiles and AAA fire , so that strike aircraft could avoid them . The RB - 66C had no offensive capability , so it could not attack the radar sites directly . Squadron were transferred to Korat RTAFB in August 1970 . Continued operations until the end of hostilities in January 1973 , remained in Thailand until being inactivated in March 1974 . Reactivated in 1983 with EF - 111A Ravens at RAF Upper Heyford , England , the replacement for the Douglas EB - 66 electronic warfare aircraft . Performed ECM operations for NATO aircraft . Provided electronic countermeasures to US Navy aircraft for combat in Libya , 15 April 1986 as part of Operation El Dorado Canyon . During that mission , the 42d ECS provided three EF - 111As plus two spare aircraft to jam the Libyan radar network . Deployed flights to Turkey and Saudi Arabia in 1991 as part of Operation Desert Shield ; engaged in combat operations in 1991 as part of Operation Desert Storm . Eighteen EF - 111A Ravens flew over 900 sorties . None were lost in combat , but one was lost in a non - combat related accident and both crew members were killed . The 42d ECS was even credited with a " kill " during Desert Storm . On the night of January 17 , 1991 , an Iraqi Mirage F . 1 flew into the ground while chasing EF - 111A serial number 66 - 0016 . Even though the Raven was unarmed and had no air - to - air capability , the Raven crew was given credit for the kill . Inactivated in 1992 as part of the post Cold War drawdown of the USAF , its aircraft reassigned to the 429th ECS at Cannon AFB , New Mexico . Modern era . In 1994 , the squadron was re - activated and received the Personnel and Aircraft from the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron which specifically provided procedural air control via the Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center ( ABCCC ) . The 7th ACCS ' flag ' was moved to Offutt AFB , NE and assumed a new mission , the Airborne Command Post ( ABNCP ) " Looking Glass " mission in support of nuclear command and control for United States Strategic Command , as part of this mission , the 7th ACCS began flying EC - 135 aircraft . The EC - 130E ABCCC consisted of seven aircraft that were used as an Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center . The EC - 130E is a modified C - 130 " Hercules " ; aircraft designed to carry the USC - 48 Airborne Battlefield Command and Control Center Capsules ( ABCCC III ) . While functioning as a direct extension of ground - based command and control authorities , the primary mission was to provide flexibility in the overall control of tactical air resources . In addition , to maintain positive control of air operations , ABCCC provided communications to higher headquarters , including national command authorities , in both peace and wartime environments . The ABCCC provided unified and theater commanders the capability for combat operations during war , contingencies , exercises , and other missions . A highly trained force of mission ready crew members and specially equipped EC - 130E aircraft to support worldwide combat operations . Mission roles include airborne extensions of the Air Operations Center ( AOC ) and Airborne Air Support Operations Center ( ASOC ) for command and control of Offensive Air Support ( OAS ) operations ; and airborne on - scene command for special operations such as airdrops or evacuations . In 2002 , following 6 + years of deployed operations ( 1994 - 2000 ) in the Balkan Area of Operations , the squadron was inactivated . It was reactivated in 2006 as part of the Global War on Terror in order to provide ' schoolhouse training ' for EC - 130E Compass Call squadrons at Davis - Monthan AFB . Notes . Lt . Col . Iceal Hambleton , a navigator aboard an EB - 66 who was shot down during the Easter Offensive and spent 11½ days behind enemy lines , was a member of the 42nd Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron ( 42 TEWS ) . His rescue was the " largest , longest , and most complex search - and - rescue " operation during the entire Vietnam War . The rescue was dramatized in the movie Bat * 21 .