• Source: 373rd Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group

The United States Air Force's 373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is a Twenty-Fifth Air Force unit located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.




Mission


The 373 ISRG is the Department of Defense host service organization and primary force provider for the National Security Agency's Alaska Mission Operations Center, providing warfighters and strategic/national level policy makers with actionable, time-critical intelligence.




History


The group was first organized in 1943. It transferred, without personnel and equipment, to England on 7 July 1943 and assigned to Eighth AF. The group used Supermarine Spitfires and Stinson L-5s to obtain information about bombardment targets and damage inflicted by bombardment operations; provide mapping service for air and ground units; observe and report on enemy transportation, installations, and positions; and obtain data on weather conditions.
Prior to June 1944, the group photographed airfields, cities, industrial establishments, and ports in France, the Low Countries, and Germany. Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations during the period 31 May – 30 June 1944, when its coverage of bridges, marshalling yards, canals, highways, rivers, and other targets contributed much to the success of the Normandy campaign.
The unit covered missile sites in France during July, and in August carried out photographic mapping missions for ground forces advancing across France. It provided reconnaissance support for the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September and for the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944– January 1945. Used North American P-51 Mustangs to escort its own reconnaissance planes during the last months of the war as the group supported the Allied drive across the Rhine and into Germany. Took part in the final bomb damage assessment following V–E Day




Lineage


Constituted as 7th Photographic Group on 5 February 1943
Activated on 1 May 1943
Redesignated 7th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group in May 1943
Redesignated 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance) in November 1943
Redesignated 7th Reconnaissance Group in June 1945
Inactivated in England on 21 November 1945
Disbanded on 6 March 1947
Reconstituted 31 July 1985 and redesignated 373d Electronic Warfare Group
Redesignated 373d Intelligence Group
Activated on 16 September 2000
Redesignated 373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group on 1 January 2009




= Assignments

=
Second Air Force, 1 May 1943
VIII Air Force Service Command, 7 July 1943
325th Photographic Wing (later 325th Reconnaissance Wing), 9 August 1944
United States Strategic Air Forces (later United States Air Forces in Europe), 16 July 1945 – 21 November 1945
70th Intelligence Wing (later 70th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing), 16 September 2000 – present




= Components

=
13th Photographic Squadron (later 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron): 7 July 1943 – 21 November 1945
14th Photographic Squadron (later 14th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron): 7 July 1943 – 21 November 1945
22nd Photographic Squadron (later 22nd Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron): 7 July 1943 – 21 November 1945
22d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron: 29 January 1945 – 29 July 1945
27th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron: 9 December 1943 – 21 November 1945
28th Photographic Squadron: 1 May 1943 - 21 June 1943
29th Photographic Squadron: 1 May 1943 - 21 June 1943
30th Photographic Squadron: 1 May 1943 - 21 June 1943
301st Intelligence Squadron: 16 September 2000–present
373d Support Squadron (later 373d Intelligence Support Squadron): 16 September 2000 – c. 1 June 2015
381st Intelligence Squadron: 1 June 2008 – present




= Stations

=
Peterson Field, Colorado, 1 May 1943
RAF Mount Farm, England, 7 July 1943
RAF Chalgrove, England, March 1945
Hitcham Air Depot, England, October 1945 - 21 November 1945
Misawa AB, Japan, 7 Sep 2000
Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson c. 1 July 2015 – present




= Aircraft

=
Piper L-4 Grasshopper
Stinson L-5 Sentinel
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Supermarine Spitfire PR XI
North American P-51 Mustang




= Decorations

=

Distinguished Unit Citation
France 31 May 1944 - 30 June 1944

Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

French Croix de Guerre with Palm
1944

European Theater of World War II
Campaigns




See also


Signals intelligence
Electronic intelligence




References






= Notes

=




= Bibliography

=
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

Freeman, Roger A.; Keen. Patricia (1996). Eyes of the Eighth: a story of the 7th Photographic Reconnaissance Group, 1942–1945. Sun City, Ariz: CAVU Publishers. ISBN 0-9649119-0-6.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6.
Rogers, Brian. (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.




External links



Twenty-Fifth Air Force
Misawa Air Base, Japan
Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska

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