55th Space Weather Squadron

Squadron B-24L, "Weather Witch", at Depot Field, Guam[note 1]

The squadron was first organized in August 1944 at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma as the 655th Bombardment Squadron and equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberator aircraft. It trained under Third Air Force until March 1945, when it deployed to Guam, where it was attached to XXI Bomber Command. From Guam, the squadron, now designated the 55th Reconnaissance Squadron, provided weather reconnaissance for Twentieth Air Force Boeing B-29 Superfortress raids on Japan in the Western Pacific theater.[2]

The squadron returned to the United States in March 1946 as an element of Air Weather Service, although it initially had no aircraft assigned and only a few personnel. In mid-July 1946, the squadron moved to Morrison Field, Florida, where the 1st Air Weather Group (Provisional) supervised the conversion of the 54th and 55th Squadrons to operate weather reconnaissance versions of the B-29 Superfortress over the next year.[3] In June 1947, the squadron moved to Fairfield-Suisun Army Air Field, California, where it became responsible for weather reconnaissance operations in the United States. The following month, it began to fly daily missions over the eastern Pacific Ocean. The squadron inactivated in October 1947, transferring its personnel and equipment to the 374th Reconnaissance Squadron, which was simultaneously activated.[2][4]

This action was, in essence, reversed in February 1951 when the squadron was reactivated as the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, replacing the 374th Squadron, which had moved to McClellan Air Force Base, California.[2][4] The squadron flew weather reconnaissance missions over the northern Pacific and parts of the Arctic Ocean, using WB-29s. It also supported nuclear weapons testing by monitoring radioactive clouds and taking atmospheric samples. In 1953, the squadron was assigned to the 9th Weather Group.[2]

WB-50 and personnel of squadron Detachment 1 at Ladd AFB in 1958

The following year, the squadron upgraded to Boeing WB-50 Superfortresses. It tested WB-50 aircraft flying long-duration missions over 24 hours in length and trained crews for other weather squadrons. The same year, it was renamed the 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. The 55th provided weather data for transoceanic fighter deployments, photographic reconnaissance for testing experimental Corona reconnaissance satellite imagery, and surveillance for space flight recoveries. In 1957 it added its first jet aircraft, the Boeing WB-47 Stratojet, to its inventory. The squadron added the northwestern Atlantic Ocean to its area of responsibility in the late 1950s. It tracked Hurricanes Dot and Donna in 1959 and 1960. From July 1958 it operated detachments in Alaska, Hawaii and Washington. These detachments were equipped and manned from resources of the 57th and 58th Weather Reconnaissance Squadrons, which were inactivated to free up funds for the Air Force's intercontinental ballistic missile program.[5] It continued operations from these locations until it was inactivated in July 1961.[1][2]

Squadron WB-47E[note 2]

The squadron's inactivation was brief and it was again organized at McClellan AFB in January 1962, as Air Weather Service centralized its reconnaissance units under the 9th Weather Reconnaissance Group. It added Lockheed WC-130 aircraft to its previous mix of WB-50 and WB-47 aircraft The following year it added Martin RB-57F Canberra aircraft modified for high altitude operation and retired its WB-50s. The squadron's mission involved atmospheric sampling and radiation detection work in support of nuclear test monitoring. The Canberras were transferred in 1964 and the WC-130s in 1965, but the Boeing WC-135 Constant Phoenix flew weather reconnaissance and atmospheric sampling missions over the Pacific and Arctic until 1993. The WB-47s were retired in 1969. In 1986, the squadron monitored atmospheric radiation in Europe after Chernobyl nuclear accident in the Soviet Union. In 1988 and 1989, it tested special photographic equipment for Strategic Defense Initiative research. The squadron inactivated in 1993 with the end of the Cold War.[1][2]

The squadron was redesignated the 55th Space Weather Squadron and activated under Space Command in March 1997, absorbing the resources of the 50th Weather Squadron and acting as the Air Force's space forecast center. The squadron was inactivated in July 2002.

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Fuller, John F. (1990). Thor's Legions: Weather Support to the U. S. Air Force and Army, 1937-1987. Boston MA: American Meteorological Society. ISBN 978-0933876880. Retrieved 22 November 2019. (link to Google Books extract)
• Markus, Rita M.; Halbersen, MSG Nicholas F.; Fuller, John F. (1987). Matthews, James K.; Gustin, Joylyn I. (eds.). Air Weather Service: Our Heritage 1937-1987 (PDF). Scott AFB, IL: Air Weather Service. OCLC 18406969. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. Retrieved 17 December 2016.