The squadron was first activated as a fighter unit, the 381st Fighter Squadron, in 1943. After deploying to the European Theater of Operations and engaging in combat for six months, the squadron was converted, along with the other squadrons of the 363d Fighter Group, to a reconnaissance unit as the 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. It continued in combat until V-E Day, earning a Belgian Fourragère after being twice cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army. The squadron returned to the United States in the fall of 1945 and was inactivated.
The squadron was activated again in 1946 and performed both reconnaissance and training, primarily from Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina until 1959. It was redesignated the 18th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in 1950 because its number, 161, fell in a block reserved for Air National Guard units. It moved to Europe, where it performed reconnaissance for United States Air Forces Europe until 1970, when it returned to Shaw. The squadron was inactivated there in 1979.
History
World War II
161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron P-51D Mustang at Le Culot Airfield[c]
Activated as part of IV Fighter Command in early 1943 with Bell P-39 Airacobras, the squadron was an air defense unit for the San Francisco area as well as a Replacement Training Unit until the end of 1943. It then retrained on North American P-51 Mustangs and deployed to the European Theater of Operations, where it was assigned to IX Fighter Command in the United Kingdom. It operated both as a tactical fighter squadron, providing air support to Allied ground forces in France as well as an air defense squadron, attacking enemy aircraft over Europe.
In August 1944, the squadron was redesignated as 161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron carrying out photographic reconnaissance missions. The unit was inactivated in November 1945.
161st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron RF-80A Shooting Star at Shaw AFB[d]
The unit was reassigned to the 363d when the group was activated at Shaw on 2 April 1951. It became a training squadron with a mission to provide photographic intelligence training to support both air and ground operations by American or Allied ground forces. Upgraded to the Republic RF-84F Thunderflash in 1954, it continued training operations until 1957 when it re-equipped with the McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo.
The squadron was reassigned to the 66th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing and deployed to NATO in 1959. It operated from France until 1966, moving to RAF Upper Heyford, England. It remained in the UK until 1970, when it returned to Shaw AFB and was assigned to the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. It was re-equipped with the McDonnell RF-4C Phantom II at Shaw and performed training for new photo-reconnaissance pilots until 1979 when it was inactivated.
^Approved 18 April 1955. Description: On a disc Air Force blue, bordered black, over a cloud formation white, an Indian scout proper, wearing a head band with feather red, around his neck a scarf, checky blue and white, wearing a breech cloth red, carrying in his left hand a tomahawk gray and white, and sighting through a telescope gray held in his right hand, the scout flying through the air astride a lightning flash Air Force yellow and red, in base a small cloud of the third [color mentioned]. All available images of patches depicting the squadron emblem show the Indian standing on the lightning bolt, rather than astride the lightning bolt.
^Aircraft is North American F-6D-10-NA Mustang serial 44-14852, taken at Le Culot Airfield (A-89), Belgium, November 1944.
^Aircraft is Lockheed RF-80A-10-LO (built as FP-80-5-LO) Shooting Star serial 45-8310, taken in 1950.
^Aircraft is McDonnell RF-4C Phantom serial 66-0427 at Shaw AFB, 1977. This plane was sent to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center on 5 September 1991 It was converted to a QRF-4C target drone and expended on 8 May 2014. Baugher, Joe (29 April 2023). "1966 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
