361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron

The 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit. It was most recently assigned to the 451st Air Expeditionary Group at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, where it was inactivated on 1 September 2014.

The squadron's first predecessor was the 861st Bombardment Squadron, a United States Army Air Forces unit that was assigned to the 493d Bombardment Group during World War II. It was part of the last bombardment group to be assigned to Eighth Air Force. It flew combat missions until V-E Day, then returned to the United States for inactivation.

The squadron's other predecessor, the 361st Reconnaissance Squadron was formed during the Vietnam War, flying Douglas EC-47 aircraft, performing electronic surveillance in Vietnam and Thailand until inactivating in 1974, when the United States withdrew from Southeast Asia. The squadrons were consolidated in 1985, then converted to provisional status as an expeditionary unit.

Initial activation and training in the United States
The 861st Bombardment Squadron was first activated at McCook Army Air Field, Nebraska as one of the original four squadrons of the 493d Bombardment Group. The formation of the squadron was delayed by an administrative error that caused some of the unit's cadre to report to Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona instead of McCook. It was not until January that all personnel were at McCook. By this time, the squadron had transferred on paper to Elveden Hall, England. The ground personnel of the squadron in the United States had been used to form Boeing B-29 Superfortress units being activated by Second Air Force, while the air echelon remained in Nebraska to conduct training on their assigned Consolidated B-24 Liberators. Meanwhile, Eighth Air Force formed a new ground echelon for the squadron in England from other units assigned to the 3d Bombardment Division. This ground echelon moved to the squadron's combat station, RAF Debach, in April 1944. The squadron's air echelon departed for England via the northern ferry route on 1 May, while a small ground component left McCook and sailed from Boston, Massachusetts on the SS Brazil (1928) on 12 May 1944.

Combat in Europe
The squadron flew its first combat mission on D-Day, 6 June 1944. It continued to fly Liberators until 24 August 1944, when it was withdrawn from combat to convert to Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, along with other groups of the 93d Bombardment Wing, as Eighth Air Force concentrated all its Liberators in the 2d Bombardment Division. It resumed combat missions with the B-17 on 8 September 1944. The squadron concentrated its attacks on military and industrial targets in Germany, attacking an ordnance depot in Magdeburg, factories near Frankfurt, and a synthetic oil manufacturing plant at Merseburg. It also attacked lines of communications, including a railroad tunnel at Ahrweiler, bridges at Irlich, and marshalling yards near Cologne.

The squadron was occasionally diverted to attack tactical targets. It supported Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, striking artillery batteries, airfields and bridges. It struck enemy ground forces south of Caen and during Operation Cobra, the breakout at St Lo. It bombed German fortifications to support Operation Market Garden, airborne attacks attempting to secure a bridgehead across the Rhine in the Netherlands and attacked communications during the Battle of the Bulge. Toward the end of the war, it also supported Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine in Germany.

The squadron flew its last combat mission against marshalling yards near Nauen on 20 April 1945, although it flew food-dropping missions in early May. The squadron air echelon departed Debach on 30 June, while the ground echelon sailed for home aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth on 6 August 1945. In late August, the squadron assembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.

Vietnam War
The 361st Reconnaissance Squadron was activated at Nha Trang Air Base, South Vietnam in April 1966. It flew EC-47 aircraft equipped with electronic countermeasures equipment over South Vietnam. The squadron moved to Thailand in 1972 as part of the USAF drawdown in South Vietnam. It continued missions over Indochina until 15 August 1973 when United States military flights over Indochina were halted by congressional mandate. The squadron trained in Thailand until its inactivation on 30 June 1974.

Global War on Terror
The squadron reactivated as the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron as part of the Global War on Terrorism in 2003. Assigned to the first the 407th Air Expeditionary Group, then later the 451st Air Expeditionary Group, the squadron operated a variety of Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance aircraft before the United States pullout from Iraq in 2011 and Afghanistan in 2014.

Lineage

 * 861st Bombardment Squadron
 * Constituted as the 861st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy)''' on 14 September 1943
 * Activated on 1 November 1943
 * Redesignated 861st Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 21 February 1944
 * Inactivated on 28 August 1945


 * Consolidated with the 361st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron as the 361st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron on 19 September 1985


 * 361st Reconnaissance Squadron
 * Constituted as the 361st Reconnaissance Squadron and activated on 4 April 1966 (not organized)
 * Organized on 8 April 1966
 * Redesignated 361st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron on 15 March 1967
 * Inactivated on 1 December 1971


 * Activated on 1 September 1972
 * Inactivated on 30 June 1974


 * Consolidated with the 861st Bombardment Squadron on 19 September 1985
 * Redesignated 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron and converted to provisional status
 * Activated c. December 2007
 * Inactivated unknown
 * Activated 1 May 2010
 * Inactivated on 1 September 2014

Assignments

 * 493d Bombardment Group, 1 November 1943 – 28 August 1945
 * Pacific Air Forces, 4 April 1966 (not organized)
 * 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, 8 April 1966
 * 483d Tactical Airlift Wing, 31 August 1971 – 1 December 1971
 * 56th Special Operations Wing, 1 September 1972 – 30 June 1974
 * Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed
 * 407th Air Expeditionary Group, c. November 2007 – unknown
 * 451st Air Expeditionary Group, 20 May 2010 – 1 September 2014

Stations

 * McCook Army Air Field, Nebraska, 1 November 1943 – 1 Jan 1944
 * Elveden Hall (Station 116), England, 1 January 1944
 * RAF Debach (Station 152), England, 17 April 1944 – 6 August 1945
 * Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, c. 13–28 August 1945
 * Nha Trang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, 8 April 1966
 * Phù Cát Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, 1 September 1969 – 1 December 1971
 * Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 1 September 1972 – 30 June 1974
 * Ali Air Base, Iraq, c. November 2007
 * Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, 20 May 2010 – 1 September 2014

Aircraft

 * Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1944
 * Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. 1944-1945
 * Douglas C-47 Skytrain, 1967-1971, 1972-1974
 * Douglas EC-47H Skytrain, 1967-1971, 1972-1974
 * Beechcraft MC-12W Liberty, 2010-2014