The 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, located at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., is an associate unit that provides theater commanders with near-real-time intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target acquisition data. The squadron operates and maintains deployable, long-endurance RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft and ground control elements to fulfill training and operational requirements generated by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in support of unified commanders and the Secretary of Defense.
Supported Commands: The 13th RS supports Air Combat Command when performing peacetime and training missions, Central Command, Southern Command, Pacific Command, European Command and Africa Command when performing wartime taskings and Northern Command during disaster response.
Major Operational Participation: Operations ENDURING FREEDOM 2001-present, IRAQI FREEDOM 2003-2010, NEW DAWN 2010-2011, RESTORE HOPE 2010, TOMODACHI 2011, ODYSSEY DAWN 2011, UNIFIED PROTECTOR 2011, and DAMAYAN 2013
Humanitarian Operations: California Wildfires 2007, Haiti Earthquake 2010, Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami 2011, Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines 2013
Flight Safety: Approximately 16,995 total force enterprise flying hours of the remotely piloted RQ-4 as of April 2014.
Unit History:
9 June 1942: Constituted 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron.
20 Jun 1942: Activated and assigned to 3rd Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group (attached to 1st Bombardment Wing,2 Dec 1942-16 Feb 1943 and to 8th Air Force 16 Feb-7 Jul 1942).
6 Feb 1943: Redesignated 13th Photographic Squadron (Light), assigned to 7th Photographic Reconnaissance and Mapping Group 7 Jul 1943-21 Nov 1945.
13 Nov 1943: Redesignated 13th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron and inactivated 1 Dec 1945.
11 March 1947: Redesignated 13th Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic.
6 July 1947: Activated in the Reserve, assigned to 65th Reconnaissance Group 6 Jul 1947-27 Jun 1949 and unit was inactivated 27 Jun 1949.
26 May 1952: Redesignated 13th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium.
14 June 1952: Activated in the Reserve, assigned to 65th Troop Carrier Group 14 Jun 1952-1 Apr 1953 and unit was inactivated 1 Apr 1953.
14 July 1987: Redesignated 13th Military Airlift Squadron and activated 1 Oct 1987, assigned to 374th Tactical Airlift Wing 1 Oct 1987.
1 April 1992: Redesignated 13th Airlift Squadron, assigned to 316th Airlift Support Group 1 Apr 1992, 18th Operations Group 1 Jun 1992, 438th Operations Group 1 Oct 1993, 305th Operations Group 1 Oct 1994-31 Mar 2000 and unit was inactivated 31 Mar 2000 at McGuire AFB, NJ.
10 Feb 2005: Redesignated 13th Reconnaissance Squadron.
12 March 2005: 13th RS reactivated at Beale AFB, Calif., assigned to the 610th Regional Support Group, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas.
1 July 2009: Realigned under the 940th Operations Group, 940th Wing, Beale AFB, Calif.
10 Feb 2016: Realigned under the 726th Operations Group, Creech Air Force Base, Nev.
(Current as of February 2016)