The 25th Attack Wing is an active United States Air Force unit, stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It was activated in February 2018 as the 25th Attack Group to operate unmanned aerial vehicles and was assigned to the 432d Wing, located at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. In 2025, it was upgraded to a flying wing, adding operations and maintenance units and expanding its mission to become the lead General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper organization for the Air Force.
The wing was previously active as the 25th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Chambley Air Base, France as an element of United States Air Forces Europe. The wing replaced the 25th Tactical Reconnaissance Group at Chambley. The group was formed in 1965 by the consolidation of the 25th Bombardment Group (Medium) and the 25th Bombardment Group, Reconnaissance.
The first 25th Bombardment Group performed anti-submarine warfare missions in the Caribbean Sea following the entry of the United States into World War II. This group was disbanded in 1944 after the threat of German U-boats lessened and an attack on the Panama Canal became unlikely. Later in 1944 the second 25th Bombardment Group was organized to perform weather and special reconnaissance missions from England during World War II for United States Strategic Air Forces over Europe and the Atlantic approaches to the British Isles. In 1985 the wing and group were consolidated.
Composition Although the 25th Attack Group is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, the group comprises squadrons in various locations:
Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri 20th Attack Squadron Creech Air Force Base, Nevada 11th Attack Squadron 42nd Attack Squadron Three maintenance squadrons Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota 89th Attack Squadron Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina 25th Operations Support Squadron 50th Attack Squadron 482d Attack Squadron
History World War II Antisubmarine Warfare in the Caribbean Sea
The first predecessor of the wing was the 25th Bombardment Group, which was activated at Langley Field, Virginia during the buildup of the Air Corps prior to the entry of the United States into World War II, with the 10th, 12th, and 35th Bombardment Squadrons as its original components.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, –9 54–55Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 64–65Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 167 Most of the cadre for the group was drawn from the 2d Bombardment Group at Langley. Although initially designated as a heavy bomber unit, the group trained with Northrop A-17 light bombers and Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bombers (although the 10th Squadron briefly had a few Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses on hand).
In late October 1940, the 25th sailed on the for Borinquen Field, Puerto Rico, along with the newly-organized 13th Composite Wing.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 382–83 Upon their arrival in Puerto Rico on 1 November, the group was assigned to the 13th Wing and had the 27th Reconnaissance Squadron, which had been at Borinquen since 1939, attached to it from the Puerto Rican Department.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 510–11 In April 1941, the group provided the initial cadre for the 40th Bombardment Group, which was activated at Borinquen, losing almost half of its personnel to form the new group.Maurer, Combat Units, pp.96–97
The group participated in the defense of the Antilles, and after the commencement of hostilities, escorted convoys and conducted antisubmarine patrols. Shortly before the entry of the United States into World War II, in November, the group dispersed two of its squadrons to increase its coverage, with the 12th moving to Benedict Field on St Croix and the 35th to Coolidge Field on Antigua. During its remaining time in the Caribbean, the group operated with its squadrons or detachments at various locations in the Antilles. Partly due to the dispersal of its units, the 12th Squadron was under the operational control of the Antilles Air Task Force from November 1942 and the 10th was reassigned to VI Bomber Command in 1943.
In May 1942, the group's designation finally matched its equipment, when it became the 25th Bombardment Group (Medium). That November the group moved to Edinburgh Field, Trinidad. The B-18 was its primary operational aircraft, although in October 1943, the 59th Bombardment Squadron, which had been attached to the group briefly earlier in the year, was assigned to the group. The 59th operated Douglas A-20 Havoc aircraft.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 232–33 Between November 1942 and August 1943, the 26th Antisubmarine Wing deployed squadrons from Jacksonville and Miami Army Air Fields to Edinburgh Field, where they were attached to the 25th group for operations until returning to Florida.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 781–782Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 776Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 775 After the group moved back to Borinquen in the fall of 1943, it began a training program to convert to the North American B-25 Mitchell.
In April 1944, in light of the decreasing threat in the Caribbean and the transfer of the remaining antisubmarine mission to the United States navy, the group moved to Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, where it began training with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, but was disbanded in June 1944 and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 231st AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station, Bombardment, Heavy), which conducted B-17 training at Alamogordo.See Mueller, p. 249
Reconnaissance in the European Theater of Operations
Weather reconnaissance for Eighth Air Force was initially performed on an ad hoc basis by heavy bombers detailed to the 18th Weather Squadron for individual missions. In the spring of 1944, Eighth Air Force created provisional reconnaissance units, primarily for weather reconnaissance. On 22 March, it brought these provisional units together, along with a squadron for special reconnaissance, under the 8th Reconnaissance Group (Special) (Provisional) at RAF Cheddington, England. This unit became the 802d Reconnaissance Group (Special) (Provisional) on 30 March 1944, and moved to RAF Watton on 12 April 1944.Freeman, p. 240 In July, Eighth received permission to organize these provisional units into a regular organization and on 9 August, it activated the 25th Bombardment Group, Reconnaissance from the resources of the provisional 802d Group and assigned to it the 652d, 653d and 654th Bombardment Squadrons.Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 76–77Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 696Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 696–97Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 697–98
The group's weather reconnaissance missions included area reconnaissance over the Atlantic Ocean, ranging as far as the Azores, to obtain information for weather forecasting for Eighth and Ninth Air Forces units operating in the British Isles. These flights were performed by B-17s and Consolidated B-24 Liberators assigned to the 652d Squadron. Squadron bombers on these long range missions, code named Sharon and Allah, took periodic meteorological readings at altitudes varying from 50 to 30,000 feet.Air Force 50, p. 51
Flights over the Continent of Europe to obtain information for use in operational planning and occasional weather scouting missions over targets to provide current weather information for relay to bombers on their way to attack fell to the de Havilland Mosquitos Mk. XVI of the 653d Squadron. These missions were code named Bluestocking.
The 25th's 654th Squadron conducted night photographic reconnaissance missions (code named Joker) to detect German operations being conducted under the cover of darkness as well as daytime and mapping missions over Occupied Europe using a variety of aircraft. Some missions were conducted to provide target imagery for H2X radars to be used on later strikes. The group also performed post-strike visual reconnaissance and prestrike electronic warfare, distributing chaff ahead of attacking formations. Experiments had shown that Mosquitoes equipped with an electric dispensing system in their bomb bays provided the optimum coverage of chaff and thirty of the group's aircraft were specially equipped for this mission.Freeman, p. 176 The squadron also had three Martin B-26 Marauders for Joker missions and two Douglas A-26 Invaders assigned for special operations with the Office of Strategic Services.
By the end of the war, the group had flown 3501 sorties, each of which (with the exception of chaff missions) was flown by a single aircraft. Following VE Day in July 1945, the group and the 654th Bombardment Squadron left the European Theater of Operations for the United States. It was inactivated in September 1945 at Drew Field, Florida.
Cold War
In 1965, United States Air Forces Europe reorganized its reconnaissance units in France, several of which were physically separated from their headquarters, the 10th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at RAF Alconbury, England. On 1 July 1965, the 42d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron moved from Toul-Rosières Air Base to Chambley Air Base, France. The two World War II 25th Bombardment Groups consolidated as the 25th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and activated along with support elements at Chambley as the parent for the 42d Squadron. The group absorbed the personnel and equipment of the 7367th Combat Support Group, which was simultaneously discontinued at Chambley. On 1 October, the 19th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron joined the 42d at Chambley and the 25th Group was inactivated and replaced by the 25th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing.
The 25th flew variants of the Douglas B-66 Destroyer on photographic reconnaissance and electronic warfare missions. Its 42d Squadron flew RB-66Cs with a seven-man crew for electronic reconnaissance, (commonly called Ferret) operations. The squadron's electronic countermeasures operators were known as Ravens. The 19th Squadron flew RB-66Bs with a three-man crew to perform day and night photography missions.McAuliffe, p. 181
Although the 19th and 42d had been flying the Destroyer before joining the 25th, major construction projects were needed to accommodate their modified bombers, since Chambley had previously hosted fighter units.McAuliffe, pp. 165–80 Larger hangars, maintenance facilities and a more capable electrical system were constructed. The base operations facility was expanded to accommodate the specialized RB-66 aircrew simulator. This simulator could be used to train pilots, navigator/camera operators and gunners, but did not provide for training the 42d Squadron's Ravens. Pilot training also posed a problem because there were no dual control B-66s for pilot checkout. Another obstacle to photographic reconnaissance training was a 1965 edict that prohibited aerial photography over France. This forced training missions to be conducted over West Germany and Great Britain. The closing of American bases in Morocco deprived the wing of suitable ranges where flash bombs could be used for night photographic reconnaissance training.
In October 1965 six of the wing's RB-66Cs deployed to Thailand to establish an electronic countermeasures capability in Southeast Asia. These were organized as Detachment 1 of the wing on 10 October. The detachment was awarded an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for its performance.AF Pamphlet 900-3, p. 146 The movement of B-66s to the combat theater resulted in the inactivation of the 42d Squadron in August 1966 and the transfer of the majority of its aircraft and a large proportion of its aircrews to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, where they were assigned to the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. A few of the aircraft were flown to Douglas Aircraft's Tulsa, Oklahoma plant for modifications before going to Southeast Asia.McAuliffe, p. 182