2nd Troop Carrier Squadron


The 2nd Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 65th Troop Carrier Group. It was inactivated at Mitchel Air Force Base, New York on 1 April 1953.

History

Established under the 1st Photographic Group in May 1941. Performed aerial mapping primarily over the northwestern United States prior to the Pearl Harbor Attack using P-39 Airacobra sub-variants which were equipped for the ground-attack and reconnaissance roles. After the United States entry into World War II, flew aerial mapping missions over Western Canada and the Alaska Territory, mapping uncharted territory to support the building of the Alaska Highway. Deployed to South America in 1942–1943; mapping locations in British Guiana and Brazil for locations of emergency airfields as part of the development of the South Atlantic Transport Route. Flew very long reconnaissance range missions from the Aleutian Islands over the Japanese Kuril Islands in the North Pacific, the squadron's aircraft being some of the first United States aircraft over Japanese soil after the 1942 Doolittle Raid.
Reassigned to Far East Air Forces in late 1944; engaged in long-range mapping and reconnaissance over combat areas in support of seaborne landings in the Southwest Pacific Area and the liberation of the Philippines. Remained in the Western Pacific after the Japanese. Unit largely demobilized in the Philippines, Inactivated in early 1946.
Reactivated in the Air Force Reserve after the war; becoming the first flying unit assigned to Rome Army Airfield, New York in 1946; later being redesignated as a Troop Carrier squadron in 1952, although not re-equipped. Inactivated in 1952 due to budget reductions.

Lineage