5th Reconnaissance Squadron The 5th Reconnaissance Squadron ( 5 RS ) is part of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base , California but is geographically separated . Mission . The 5th Reconnaissance Squadron conducts operations from Osan Air Base , South Korea . It operates U - 2 Dragon Lady aircraft conducting reconnaissance and surveillance missions . History . The 5th was a flying training unit in 1917 and 1918 . The squadron participated in Billy Mitchell ' s , June – September 1921 . World War II . Sixth Air Force . A unit of the 9th Bombardment Group , this unit deployed to Rio Hato Army Air Base , Panama with that Group on 13 November 1940 , at which time it was designated as the 5th Bombardment Squadron ( Medium ) , this being changed to ( Heavy ) five days later . Two B - 18A Bolo s of the unit made a " training flights " through Central America commencing 12 January 1941 , out of Albrook Field , Canal Zone . Flying from there to San Jose , Costa Rica , San Salvador , El Salvador , Guatemala City , Managua , Nicaragua and thence back to David Field , Panama and home to Rio Hato . Major General Sanderford Jarman , Commander of the Panama Coast Artillery Command , was a VIP passenger on this flight which gave the crews excellent familiarity with airfields , flight conditions and navigational problems unique to the Caribbean . The Squadron received a single Boeing B - 17B Flying Fortress to augment its four B - 18As by 25 August 1941 and , on 28 September 1941 , deployed to Beane Field , St . Lucia , in the Antilles , from Rio Hato . By January 1942 , unit strength at Beane Field consisted of but four B - 18A ' s and a single B - 18 , where the unit was attached as an clement of the Trinidad Base Command . In May 1942 , the Squadron was formally assigned to the Antilles Air Task Force / Antilles Air Command , still at Beane Field , and , in October 1942 , was ordered back to the United States at Orlando Army Airbase , Florida where the unit converted to B - 24 Liberator s and was assigned to the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics , training aircrews in advanced combat tactics . B - 29 Superfortress operations against Japan . It was re - designated in March 1944 as a B - 29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment squadron . When training was completed , moved to North Field Tinian in the Mariana Islands of the Central Pacific Area in January 1945 and assigned to XXI Bomber Command , Twentieth Air Force . Its mission was the strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands and the destruction of its war - making capability . It flew " shakedown " missions against Japanese targets on Moen Island , Truk , and other points in the Carolines and Marianas . The squadron began combat missions over Japan on 25 February 1945 with a firebombing mission over Northeast Tokyo . The squadron continued to participate in wide area firebombing attack , but the first ten day blitz resulting in the Army Air Forces running out of incendiary bombs . Until then the squadron flew conventional strategic bombing missions using high explosive bombs . The squadron continued attacking urban areas with incendiary raids until the end of the war in August 1945 , attacking major Japanese cities , causing massive destruction of urbanized areas . It also conducted raids against strategic objectives , bombing aircraft factories , chemical plants , oil refineries , and other targets in Japan . The squadron flew its last combat missions on 14 August , when hostilities ended . Afterwards , its B - 29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps in Japan and Manchuria The squadron was largely demobilized on Tinian during the fall of 1945 . Remained in Western Pacific , assigned to Twentieth Air Force . Moved to Clark Field in the Philippines on 15 April 1946 . It relocated to Harmon Field on Guam on 9 June 1947 , by which time it was largely a paper organization with few personnel or aircraft . The squadron was inactivated on Guam on 20 October 1948 . Strategic Air Command . It maintained alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 and conducted reconnaissance pilot training from , 1986 – 1990 . On 1 October 1994 , the 5 RS was reactivated as a subordinate unit to the 9th Operations Group , 9th Reconnaissance Wing , at Beale Air Force Base , California . It is tasked with a real - world reconnaissance mission reportable to the U . S . Forces Korea , United States Pacific Command , Air Combat Command , along with other national authorities through the Joint Chiefs of Staff . There are approximately 200 personnel assigned to the 5 RS . Since 1976 , the unit has flown more than 7 , 000 operational sorties , utilizing an integrated suite of all - weather multi - spectral sensors . The unit has maintained a 98 percent mission effectiveness rating , despite challenging weather and a long logistics trail . Significant past events include the 1976 DMZ " tree cutting " incident in which two U . S . officers lost their lives . The unit provided continuous coverage of the area during the tense period that followed . Since 1976 , surge operations have been conducted many times due to heightened tensions on the Korean peninsula . In 1987 , President Chun Doo - hwan visited the detachment to honor the unit for its outstanding contribution to the security of the country . In addition to its real world mission , the unit has flown humanitarian sorties to assess ROK environmental concerns , such as flood damage , and assist the Philippines in surveying the devastation caused by the Mount Pinatubo eruption . Modern era . In 1995 the 5th RS was the first unit to have the new U - 2S model aircraft fully operational and on 20 October 1995 , Lieutenant Colonel Charles P . Wilson II flew the first ever U - 2S operational mission . Additionally , in 1995 the U - 2 flew the 2000th Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System mission . The squadron was the recipient of the 1995 Lockheed Advanced Development Corporation Hughes Trophy , distinguishing the unit as Best Reconnaissance Squadron in the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and was also nominated for the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation .