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The 11th Attack Squadron was the U.S. Air Force's first MQ-1B Predator formal training unit that conducts 5 basic and advanced training courses: Initial Qualification, Instructor Upgrade Training, Foreign Officer Course, Senior Officer Course, and Launch & Recovery Course.
MQ-9 Reaper
remotely piloted aircraft.
History
World War II
The squadron was first activated as the 11th Observation Squadron at
The unit was reassigned to Fourth Air Force in Southern California during early 1942, flying reconnaissance, mapping, artillery adjustment, bombing, dive-bombing, and strafing missions to support Army ground units in training at the Desert Training Center or on maneuvers. It trained personnel in aerial reconnaissance, medium bombardment, and fighter techniques.
With the closure of the Desert Training Center in late 1943, the unit returned to Third Air Force becoming a reconnaissance training unit for Army forces at
Shaw Field, South Carolina, and was never fully equipped or manned. The unit inactivated March 1946.[2]
Cold War
The 11th was reactivated at
March Air Force Base
, California. Budget constraints, though, resulted in the unit's inactivation in March 1949.
It was reactivated during the Korean War and equipped with
Douglas RB-26 Invaders
and deployed to Kimpo AFB (K-14), South Korea. Their RB-26C Invader aircraft were painted all black and flew a number of standardized intelligence-gathering missions. There were four standard missions—one that ran along the border with North Korea, another that flew up the North Korean coast on the east side, and another on the west side, and the final missions, called E (in phonetic parlance of the day, "Easy") was a long duration mission that headed down the coast of China to the Shantung Peninsula, gathering signals and electronics data from what was then called "Red China". In the mid-1950s, the unit's RB-26C Invader aircraft were transferred to the French, who used them both in France and later in Indo-China.
The squadron operated as part of
Japanese Home Islands
and the adjacent waters along the Korean peninsula and Chinese/Soviet Pacific coasts until 1960.
In 1957 the 11th Squadron received twelve
Douglas RB-66C Destroyer electronic intelligence gathering planes.[7]
Vietnam war
It was activated as a
McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II reconnaissance squadron in 1966 under Tactical Air Command. The squadron deployed to Thailand shortly after formation, flying tactical reconnaissance missions primarily over North Vietnam and selected locations in Laos and Cambodia. The squadron provided much of the aerial photographic intelligence obtained during the Vietnam War, especially that from North Vietnam. In the fall of 1970 the squadron's parent wing was phased down as part of the overall American withdrawal from the Vietnam War, returned to Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina where the unit was inactivated in early 1971.[2]
The unit was reactivated at
Sikorsky CH-3 recovery helicopters. The group conducted follow-on testing and evaluation of the AQM-34V model drone and the initial operational testing and evaluation and developmental testing and evaluation of the DC-130H "mother ship." The unit was inactivated in 1979.[2]
Modern era
The squadron Provided real-time intelligence support to the
(UAV) squadron in the USAF. It provided deployable, long-endurance, aerial reconnaissance and surveillance while flying the Predator UAV, 1996–2002. It began to conduct flying training in the Predator in 2003.
Hubbard, Gerardl (1943). "Aircraft Insignia, Spirit of Youth". The National Geographic Magazine. LXXXIII (6). National Geographic Society: 718–722. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2017. (subscription required for web access)
Knaack, Marcelle Size (1988). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems. Vol. 2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
