373d 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.[1]

373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group
373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group emblem
Active1943–1945; 2000 – present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
TypeIntelligence
Part ofTwenty-Fifth Air Force/
Garrison/HQJoint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Japan
DecorationsAir Force Outstanding Unit Award

Mission

The 373 ISRG is the Department of Defense host service organization and primary force provider for the Misawa Security Operations Center (MSOC), providing warfighters and strategic/national level policy makers with actionable, time-critical intelligence.[2]

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[3]
Redesignated 373d Intelligence Group
Activated on 16 September 2000
Redesignated 373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group on 1 January 2009[4]

Assignments

Components

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[12]

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[13]
  • French Croix de Guerre with Palm
  • 1944
  • European Theater of World War II
  • Campaigns
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References

Notes
  1. "About Us: Fact Sheet 70th ISR Wing". 70th Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  2. AF ISR Agency Freedom of Information Act request 2010-00131F, 16 October 2009
  3. Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 648q, 31 July 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Organizations
  4. Rogers,
  5. Maurer, Combat Squadrons pp. 73-74
  6. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 79-80
  7. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 117-119
  8. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 139-140
  9. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 143-144
  10. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 146-147
  11. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 150-151
  12. White, SSG Dillon (19 June 2015). "Intelligence Support Squadron furls flag". 70th Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
  13. AF FOIA Request 2009-01965, 13 July 2009

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  • 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.
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