The squadron was first organized in February 1943 as the 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron. After training in the United States, the squadron moved to the European Theater of Operations, where it engaged in combat until V-E Day. It earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for its work during Operation Overlord, the invasion of France, in the spring of 1944. It remained in Europe until late fall of 1945, when it returned to the United States and was inactivated.
Mission
The 27th Intelligence Squadron is currently assigned to the 497th Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Surveillance Group at Langley AFB, Hampton, Virginia. It's mission is to provide full-spectrum intelligence analysis in support of various Air Force combatant commands' intelligence requirements. It currently employs approximately 200 active duty Air Force personnel, civilians, and contractors.
History
World War II
The squadron was activated as the 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron at Peterson Field, Colorado in February 1943 and equipped with Lockheed P-38 Lightnings and two reconnaissance models of the Lightning, the F-4 and the F-5.[2] It was one of the original squadrons of the 6th Photographic Group. The squadron trained with the 6th Group until September 1943, when the 6th moved overseas to the Southwest Pacific Theater.[3] The 27th moved overseas in November, but to England, where it was attached to the 7th Photographic Group.[2]
F-5 Lightning at Mount Farm
The squadron flew missions supporting Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign by photographing potential targets and flying over recently struck areas to provide bomb damage assessment. It also provided information on enemy forces disposition and movements. In preparation for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, the unit concentrated on providing photographic information on airfields, cities, factories and seaports in France, Belgium and the Netherlands.[4] Pre-invasion coverage was extended to the Low Countries to mask the intended invasion location.[5] Its reconnaissance of marshalling yards, canals, highways and other transportation routes contributed to the success of the Normandy campaign, earning the 27th a Distinguished Unit Citation.[4]
In July 1944, the unit provided coverage of launch sites for V-1 flying bombs and V-2 rockets. From late August, the 27th provided coverage for advancing Allied forces. The squadron provided photo coverage for Operation Market Garden, the airborne attacks in the Netherlands.[4] In November the squadron moved to France for closer cooperation with VIII Fighter Command,[6] and flew missions supporting ground forces engaged in the Battle of the Bulge from Denain/Prouvy Airfield. In 1945, as losses mounted among reconnaissance aircraft operating over the Continent, it began to fly North American P-51 Mustangs to provide fighter cover for the 7th Group's unarmed Lightnings. The squadron also flew a few F-6 reconnaissance models of the Mustang. After V-E Day, the squadron participated in the final bomb damage assessment of Germany.[4][6] Most, if not all, aircraft were disposed of to depots by September, and the squadron returned to the United States in December and was inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey in December.[4][7]
In 2013, the squadron won the Lt. Gen. Harold W. Grant information dominance award as the best small communications and information unit in the Air Force. The award was made for the squadron's "sustained superior performance and professional excellence while managing core cyberspace and information dominance functions and for contributions that most improved Air Force Department of Defense operations and missions."[13] This award was followed by earning the Chief Master Sgt. James C. Swindell award for having the best communications and information systems operation in Twenty-Fifth Air Force from 1 September 2013 through 31 August 2014.[1]
Lineage
Constituted as the 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on 5 February 1943
Redesignated 27th Photographic Squadron (Light) on 5 February 1943
Activated on 9 February 1943
Redesignated 27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on 11 August 1943
7th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group (later 7th Photographic Group, 7th Reconnaissance Group), (attached c. 4 November 1943) 9 December 1943 – 21 November 1945 (attached to VIII Air Force Service Command 9 November 1944, VIII Air Force Fighter Command, 26 January – 22 April 1945)[14]
Unknown 21 November 1945 – 21 December 1945[note 3]
480th Tactical Intelligence Group (later 480th Air Intelligence Group, 480th Intelligence Group), 1 September 1990[8]
480th Intelligence Wing (later 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing), 1 December 2003 – present[15]
^Approved 24 August 1944. When the squadron was reactivated as an intelligence unit, all elements were moved inside the disc to comply with AF Directives.
^For security reasons, the assigned code was not displayed during the war. Afterwards it was applied to the underside of the squadron aircraft' wings, rather than to the fuselage. Watkins, p. 106.
^Neither Lent nor Maurer list an assignment for the squadron after the 7th Group was inactivated in November. Its probable assignments were VIII Fighter Command until leaving England, and Army Service Forces, Port of Embarkation upon arrival in the United States.
Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN978-0-87938-638-2.
Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force In World War II. Vol. I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-1987-7.
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