365th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group

The 365th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group is a United States Air Force unit based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. It provides analysis of intelligence from multiple sources to support airpower employment, focusing on threat tactics, characteristics, and capabilities. The group performs threat support and high-end training to enable future Air Force employment, supports Red Flag exercises at Nellis, and supports the Adversary Tactics Group and the United States Air Force Weapons School. The unit's lineage traces back to World War II. It was first organized as the 1st Sea-Search Attack Group (Medium) at Langley Field, Virginia, on 17 June 1942, six months after the United States entered World War II. Its original mission was to test equipment and develop techniques and tactics for aerial use against submarines and surface vessels, and it also flew antisubmarine patrols. The group helped develop or test the radar altimeter, the magnetic anomaly detector, the sonobuoy, improved airborne depth charges, long-range navigation systems, and airborne microwave radar. During the summer and fall of 1942, most of the unit's aircrews deployed to the Caribbean, where they conducted missions against German U-boats. After the Navy assumed responsibility for land-based aerial antisubmarine operations in 1943, the unit continued to conduct radar training for bomber crews until it was disbanded on 20 April 1944. The group was reconstituted in 1985 as the 365th Electronic Warfare Group, but was not active under that designation. It was later redesignated the 365th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group and activated at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. Today it provides intelligence support for the Adversary Tactics Group and the United States Air Force Weapons School.

The 365th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group traces its lineage to the 1st Search Attack Group, a United States Army Air Forces unit that served during World War II. Its last assignment was with First Air Force. It was based at Langley Field, Virginia throughout its existence, and equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Douglas B-18 Bolo, and Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft. It was disbanded on 20 April 1944. The original mission of the group was the development of equipment and tactics best suited for aerial anti-submarine warfare. Among the devices that the group helped develop or test were the radar altimeter, the magnetic anomaly detector, the sonobuoy, improved airborne depth charges, long-range navigation systems, and airborne microwave radar. The group also conducted training on equipment and antisubmarine tactics for Army Air Forces units and personnel. During the summer and fall of 1942, most of the unit's aircrews deployed to the Caribbean, where they conducted missions against German U-boats. After the Navy assumed responsibility for land based aerial antisubmarine operations in 1943, the unit continued to conduct radar training for bomber crews until it was disbanded. The unit was first organized as the 1st Sea-Search Attack Group (Medium) at Langley Field, Virginia six months after the United States entered World War II on 17 June 1942 and assigned directly to Headquarters, Army Air Forces. Its mission was to test equipment and develop techniques and tactics for aerial use against submarines and surface vessels. In addition to its test mission, the group also flew antisubmarine patrols. The group was initially assigned a single squadron, the 2d Sea-Search Attack Squadron (Medium). The group and squadron were formed from a cadre of crews who had received training on Air to Surface Vessel (ASV) radars from scientists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Radiation Laboratory, which had installed radars in their Douglas B-18 Bolo aircraft. Although the original intention was to return the planes and crews to their original units, Lt Col W. C. Dolan, the senior officer among the trainees and commander of the 20th Bombardment Squadron, urged that they be combined into a single specialized unit. Col Dolan's suggestion was accepted, and following testing of the ASV radars with the Navy near New London, Connecticut, the crews moved to Langley, where they were initially attached to the 20th Squadron. Once the group and its squadron were formed the crews and planes were transferred to it and Col Dolan assumed command. The first ASV-10 radar sets were placed on B-18s, and 90 Bolos were modified with the radars by the end of June 1942. However, B-24 Liberator had a much longer range than the B-18. Equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks, radar and a powerful searchlight, the B-24 was ideal for extended antisubmarine patrols. The USAAF outfitted its first two microwave radar equipped B-24s in September 1942. In December 1942, the 1st Group added a second squadron, the 3d Sea-Search Attack Squadron (Heavy). Although initially equipped with B-18s, the squadron was organized as the unit to which the group's heavy B-24 Liberators would be assigned. World War II era radar sets, particularly the newly operational ones the group tested in its bombers, were difficult to maintain, and scientists assigned to the group for testing found that instead, much of their time was consumed by maintenance of the unit's radar equipment. Deployments during the late summer and early fall of 1942 also demonstrated that large amounts of a variety of components and trained radar maintenance men, in addition to the radar operator on the plane crew, were needed to keep the radars in service. As a result, the Army Air Forces expanded the 1st to establish a school within the group to train ground personnel in maintenance of radar equipment. 1943 saw several changes to the group's name. Recognizing that the B-18s that had formed the unit's original equipment were being replaced by longer range four-engine airplanes, the (Medium) in the group's name was replaced by (Heavy) in June. The group's final expansion occurred in October 1943, when the 18th Antisubmarine Squadron, which had been part of the 25th Antisubmarine Wing and equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, was assigned to the group as the 4th Sea-Search Attack Squadron (Heavy). The 18th had been acting as the 25th Wing's replacement training unit and was a good fit for the group's expanding training mission. In November, recognizing that the Navy had absorbed the portion of the antisubmarine mission that the Army Air Forces had been performing and the concentration of the unit mission on radar training, rather than antisubmarine work, the "Sea" was dropped from the name and it became the 1st Search Attack Group. However, the Army Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were proving less well adapted to training and other support missions. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each of its bases was organized into a separate numbered unit, while the groups and squadrons on the base were disbanded or inactivated. This resulted in the disbandment of the 1st Search Attack Group on 20 April 1944. The group was reconstituted in 1985 as the 365th Electronic Warfare Group, but was not active under that designation. It was redesignated the 365th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group and activated at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, where it provides intelligence support for the Adversary Tactics Group and the United States Air Force Weapons School. The group provides analysis of intelligence from multiple sources to support airpower employment, focusing on threat tactics, characteristics, and capabilities. It performs threat support and high-end training to enable future Air Force employment, supports Red Flag exercises at Nellis and supports the Adversary Tactics Group and the United States Air Force Weapons School.

• Organized as the 1st Sea-Search Attack Group (Medium) at Langley Field, Virginia.

• First ASV-10 radar sets placed on B-18s; 90 Bolos modified with radars by end of June.

• USAAF outfitted its first two microwave radar equipped B-24s.

• Added second squadron, the 3d Sea-Search Attack Squadron (Heavy).

• Group name changed from (Medium) to (Heavy).

• 18th Antisubmarine Squadron assigned as 4th Sea-Search Attack Squadron (Heavy).

• Renamed 1st Search Attack Group, dropping "Sea" from name.

• Disbanded.

• Reconstituted as the 365th Electronic Warfare Group, but not active under that designation.

• Redesignated 365th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group and activated at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

Provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance analysis and threat support for advanced airpower training.

1. 1365th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group - Wikidatawikidata.org
2. 2365th Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Group - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org