Since its inception, the "Fightin'
Fifty-Fifth" has operated around the world, flying a wide variety of aircraft. In June 2007 the wing was given the nickname 'war hawks' after an adversary described the RC-135S Cobra Ball mission in the Pacific as, '
imperialist war hawks running amuck'.
Cold War On 1 November 1950, the
55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (55 SRW) was activated under the
Wing Base Organization at
Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, as the
headquarters for the
55th Strategic Reconnaissance Group and its supporting units. From 1950 to 1954 the Wing's task was to perform strategic reconnaissance, charting photography, precise electronic geodetic mapping, and electronic reconnaissance missions. In 1952, the wing moved to
Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, and converted to
Boeing RB-50 Superfortresses. On 13 March 1953, a wing RB-50 flying out of
Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, was attacked by Soviet
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighters near Siberia, but was able to ward off the fighter's attack with defensive fire. The United States protested the attack, stating the plane was on a weather reconnaissance flight over international waters, 25 miles from the
Kamchatka Peninsula. The Soviets responded by saying the plane was intercepted over their territory near
Cape Krestovoi. A little more than three months later, on 29 July 1953 an RB-50 of the wing's
343d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron was shot down by Soviet fighters about ninety miles south of
Vladivostok. The Soviet Union did not deny the plane's location was over water, but claimed that the bomber had twice flown over Soviet territory and fired on their MiGs, who then returned fire defensively. The wing formally assumed a global strategic reconnaissance mission in 1954 and transitioned to the
RB-47E "Stratojet." The Wing was deployed at
Ben Guerir Air Base, in what was then French Morocco, between May and August 1955. When the mapping and charting functions originally assigned to the 55th Reconnaissance Group were transferred on 1 May 1954, the wing assumed the mission of global strategic reconnaissance, including electronic reconnaissance. It also carried out weather reconnaissance operations until June 1963, and photographic reconnaissance missions until May 1964. The wing moved to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, in August 1966. That same year the 55th's
38th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron assumed responsibility for SAC's airborne command and control system. The
2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron inherited this mission after activation in April 1970. The
1st Airborne Command and Control Squadron, flying
E-4A aircraft, transferred to the 55th on 1 November 1975, bringing with it the National Emergency Airborne Command Post, now called the National Airborne Operations Center. The Wing flew reconnaissance operations during the U.S. military operations in Grenada in 1983 and Libya in 1986. On 1 March 1986, the 55 SRW became the host unit at Offutt after the inactivation of the 3902d Air Base Wing. The Wing ended nearly twenty-five years of continuous Airborne Command Post ('Looking Glass') operations in 1990, assumed a modified alert posture, and continued worldwide reconnaissance. In October 1998, the wing transferred control of the EC-135 LOOKING GLASS mission to the United States Navy's TACAMO aircraft and the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, which flew the EC-135 LOOKING GLASS aircraft, inactivated. The wing deployed a Rivet Joint RC-135 from
Hellenikon Air Base, Greece, to
Riyadh Air Base, Saudi Arabia, on 8 August 1990, and began 24-hour-a-day reconnaissance of the region two days later for Central Command Commander Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, under
Operation Desert Shield. At the start of Operation Desert Storm, 18 January 1991, the wing continued to provide real-time information. In 1996, this operation moved to
Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia. On 9 August 2015, the wing celebrated 25 years of what is believed to be the longest continuous deployment by an Air Force unit. == Mission ==