41st Electronic Combat Squadron

The 41st Electronic Combat Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. Its current assignment is with the 55th Electronic Combat Group, being stationed as a tenant unit at its host wing Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona as a geographically separated unit from its parent wing, Offutt AFB, Nebraska.

The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force, its origins dating to 14 June 1917, being organized at Kelly Field, Texas. It served overseas in France as part of the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The squadron saw combat during World War II, and became part of the Tactical Air Command (TAC) during the Cold War.

History
Observation unit with French XVII and XXXII, and American III and IV Army Corps, August 16 – November 11, 1918. Air defense for Panama Canal, January 1942 – May 1944, with occasional antisubmarine patrols over the Caribbean and Pacific, especially during May and June 1942; deployed to Western Pacific in June 1945, but never entered combat. Combat in Southeast Asia, c. November 1965 – October 31, 1969. Command, control, and communications countermeasures, 1982–. Electronic countermeasures in Southwest Asia, August 27, 1990 – April 17, 1991.

Lineage

 * Organized as Company A, 4th Balloon Squadron on November 13, 1917
 * Redesignated: 9th Balloon Company on July 25, 1918
 * Redesignated: 9th Airship Company on August 30, 1921
 * Redesignated: 9th Airship Squadron on October 26, 1933
 * Redesignated: 1st Observation Squadron on June 1, 1937
 * Redesignated: 1st Observation Squadron (Medium) on January 13, 1942
 * Redesignated: 1st Observation Squadron on July 4, 1942
 * Redesignated: 1st Reconnaissance Squadron (Special) on June 25, 1943
 * Redesignated: 41st Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron on November 25, 1944
 * Redesignated: 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on January 24, 1946
 * Inactivated on June 17, 1946


 * Redesignated 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night-Photographic, on January 14, 1954
 * Activated on March 18, 1954
 * Inactivated on May 18, 1959


 * Redesignated 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photo-Jet, and activated, on June 30, 1965
 * Organized on October 1, 1965
 * Redesignated: 41st Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on October 8, 1966
 * Redesignated: 41st Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron on March 15, 1967
 * Inactivated on October 31, 1969


 * Redesignated 41st Electronic Combat Squadron on June 17, 1980
 * Activated on July 1, 1980

Assignments

 * Unkn, November 13, 1917 – August 5, 1918
 * Balloon Wing, IV Army Corps, August 5, 1918
 * Balloon Wing, III Army Corps, September 21, 1918
 * Balloon Group, III Army Corps, October 8, 1918
 * 2d Balloon Group, First Army (United States), c. November 20 – December 1918
 * unkn, December 1918 – May 1919
 * Army Balloon School, Fort Omaha, NE, May 1919
 * VI Corps (United States) Area, October 1921
 * 1st (later, 21st) Airship Group, July 19, 1922
 * Sixth Corps Area, June 1, 1937
 * VII Corps (United States) Area (attached to Cavalry School), June 15, 1937
 * Cavalry School, c. 1939
 * Second United States Army, October 3, 1940
 * Two flights attached to Cavalry School to c. April 1941
 * Third flight remained assigned to Cavalry School throughout period


 * II Air Support Command, September 1, 1941
 * Flight attached to Cavalry School to c. December 1941


 * 72d Observation (later, 72d Reconnaissance) Group, September 26, 1941
 * Attached to 6th Bombardment Group, April 10 – c. June 1942


 * Sixth Air Force, November 1, 1943
 * II Tactical Air Division, May 24, 1944
 * III Tactical Air Division, June 24, 1944


 * III Tactical Air Command, October 1, 1944
 * III Tactical Air Division, December 4, 1944
 * 7th Fighter Wing, April 18, 1945
 * AAF, Pacific Ocean Area (attached to XXI Bomber Command), June 13, 1945
 * United States Army Forces, Middle Pacific (attached to Twentieth Air Force), July 16, 1945
 * 315th Bombardment Wing, September 18, 1945
 * VII Fighter Command (later, 46th Fighter Wing), January 4 – June 17, 1946
 * 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group, March 18, 1954
 * 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, February 8, 1958 – May 18, 1959
 * Tactical Air Command, June 30, 1965
 * 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, October 1, 1965
 * Thirteenth Air Force, October 20, 1965
 * 460th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, February 18, 1966
 * 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, September 18, 1966
 * 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, August 15, 1967 – October 31, 1969
 * 552d Airborne Warning and Control Wing (later, 552d Airborne Warning and Control Division), July 1, 1980
 * 28th Air Division, April 1, 1985
 * Attached to Air Division Provisional, 15, December 5, 1990 – April 17, 1991


 * 355th Operations Group, May 1, 1992 – 2006
 * 55th Electronic Combat Group, 2006–Present

Stations

 * Fort Omaha, Nebraska, November 13, 1917
 * Camp Morrison, Virginia, February 9 – June 29, 1918
 * Camp de Meucon, Morbihan, France, July 17, 1918
 * Broussey-Raulecourt, France, August 14, 1918
 * Xivray-et-Marvoisin, France, September 12, 1918
 * St Benoit-en-Woevre, France, September 14, 1918
 * Lamarche-en-Woevre, France, September 16, 1918
 * Thierville, France, September 22, 1918
 * Cumières, France, October 9, 1918
 * Consenvoye, France, November 7, 1918
 * Fromeréville-les-Vallons, France, November 12, 1918
 * Damvillers, France, November 14, 1918
 * Ville-sur-Cousances, France, November 26, 1918
 * Colombey-les-Belles, France, February 4, 1919
 * Bordeaux, France, February 18 – April 20, 1919
 * Camp Stuart, Virginia, May 4, 1919
 * Camp Lee, Virginia, May 8, 1919
 * Fort Omaha, Nebraska, May 18, 1919
 * Scott Field, Illinois, October 28, 1921


 * Fort Omaha, Kansas, June 15, 1937 – December 27, 1941
 * Rio Hato, Panama, January 14, 1942
 * Howard Field, Canal Zone, January 19, 1942
 * David, Panama, April 17, 1942
 * Rio Hato, Panama, May 10, 1942
 * Howard Field, Canal Zone, June 20, 1942 – May 7, 1944
 * Pounds Field, Texas, May 24, 1944
 * Muskogee Army Airfield, Oklahoma, December 7, 1944 – April 4, 1945
 * Kualoa Field, Hawaii (Territory), April 18 – May 31, 1945
 * Agana Airfield, Guam, Mariana Islands June 13, 1945
 * Detachment at: North Field, Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands (Japan), August 9 – c. September 15, 1945


 * East Field, Saipan, Mariana Islands, January 4, 1946
 * Agana Airfield, Guam, Mariana Islands, April 15 – June 17, 1946
 * Shaw AFB, South Carolina, March 18, 1954 – May 18, 1959; October 1, 1965
 * Takhli RTAFB, Thailand, October 20, 1965 – October 31, 1969
 * Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, July 1, 1980 – present
 * Deployed at Bateen AB, Saudi Arabia, August 27, 1990 – April 17, 1991

Aircraft

 * Type R observation balloon, 1918–1919,
 * 1919-1921; probably included RN-1 (Zodiac), type SST (Mullion), type AA (pony blimp), A-4, D-4, OA-1, AC-1, TA-1, TA-5, TC-1, TC-3, TC-5, TC-6, TC-10, TC-11, TC-14, TE-1, type TE-3, and TF-1 nonrigid airships, RS-9 semirigid airship, type R (later, C-3) and C-6 observation balloons, and A-6, A-7, and A-8 spherical balloons during period 1922-1937.
 * O-19, Douglas O-25, and apparently O-46, during period 1937-1939.
 * O-47, 1938–1944, L-4 and B-18, 1942–1944,
 * P-39, 1943–1944, included Kellett YG-1B, c. 1938-1940, YO-51 Dragonfly, 1940–1941, Bellanca YO-50, and apparently O-59 Grasshopper, 1941, O-49, 1941–1943, and CG-4, 1943; A-20, 1944, primarily F-5 Lightning, 1944-1946.
 * RB-26, 1954–1956;
 * RB-66, 1956-1959.
 * RB-66, 1965; EB-66, 1965-1969.
 * EC-130H Compass Call, 1982-.