4th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron ( Photographic ) The 4th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Its last assignment was with 5600th Composite Wing , based at Howard Field , Canal Zone . It was inactivated on 14 March 1949 . History . Initially planned to serve as the main observation unit for the 13th Composite Wing , the unit in fact led something of a nomadic existence , being successively attached or assigned to the Puerto Rican Department , the 72d Observation Group ; to the Antilles Air Task Force from 23 March 1943 until 1 June 1943 and , finally , to the Antilles Air Command itself from 1 June 1943 until the end of the war . In fact , this Squadron was the only Squadron to both start and finish the war in the Antilles throughout . The Squadron was initially stationed at Ponce Field , Puerto Rico when activated . The unit itself had been formed from cadre drawn from Air Corps units already in Puerto Rico . By 5 June 1943 , the Squadron strength had increased to 12 aircraft . By the end of the month , one of the O - 52 ' s had been sent on detached service to Haiti , for reasons unreported , but apparently in Connection with the attempt that poor nation was making in establishing a primitive coastal patrol of its territorial waters at the time . In early July 1943 , the Squadron received the first three of a number of Bell P - 39Q Airacobra fighters that it was to operate until the end of the war . On 27 October 1943 , the Squadron moved enmasse to Borinquen Field , as Losey Field was turned over to the Army Ground Forces due to its rather poorly situated runways . At this time , and since the Squadron ' s assignment to Antilles Air Command on 1 June , the unit became one of the primary tactical operating units in the area . Fortunately , AAC recognized the new importance of the unit , and lobbied for equipment more capable than previously assigned . The following month , reflecting the changing war situation , the Squadron also received a North American B - 25D Mitchell and four new B - 25G ' s , and in February 1943 added three more P - 39Q ' s ( for a total of nine ) , three new P - 39N ' s and e B - 18B Bolo . The Squadron was occasionally tasked to perform flights throughout the Caribbean and , on one occasion , when the new airport was dedicated at Ciudad Trujillo in the Dominican Republic , every available P - 39 was sent over ( with belly tanks ) where they put on a very lengthy aerial display for the locals . By 10 March 1944 , unit strength had been , considerably depleted , and the on - hand aircraft census consisted of three B¬25D ' s and B - 25G ' s , a B - 18 and a B - 18C , three P - 39N ' s and three P - 39Q ' s . In October 1944 , the Squadron received additional B - 25D ' s . Aside from frequent detachments of aircraft throughout the entire Caribbean basin during most of the war on an " as needed " basis , the unit itself did not move as a whole again until 21 May 1945 when it was reassigned from Borinquen to Coolidge Field on Antigua where the unit also welcomed with six new Lockheed F - 5G Lightning s in June . It remained active after the war , being assigned to several other bases in Puerto Rico and Panama until inactivated in 1949 due to budget reductions .