414-я экспедиционная разведывательная эскадрилья ВВС США: История и современность.

The 414th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit. It operates the General Atomics MQ 1 Predator, last known assigned to the 39th Expeditionary Operations Group, Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. The 39th Expeditionary Operations Group was part of the 39th Air Expeditionary Wing (manned by the 39th Air Base Wing). It controls the launch and landing of the Predator air vehicles. The squadron was activated as the 24th Reconnaissance Squadron in February 1942. Shortly thereafter, it was redesignated as the 414th Bombardment Squadron. After brief training in the United States with Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress aircraft, it was one of the first heavy bomber squadrons to deploy to the European Theater of Operations. At the end of the year, following Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany from the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions. Following V E Day, it was inactivated in Italy. The squadron was converted to provisional status under its current designation in 2011.

The squadron's mission is to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for NATO and Turkey. The squadron uses the General Atomics MQ 1 Predator, a remotely piloted aircraft that provides full motion, high definition video surveillance. About fifteen Air Force personnel are stationed at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey to operate the Predators. Maintenance operations were transferred to a contractor. The squadron is responsible for the launch and recovery of mission aircraft, acting as the launch and recovery element, while a mission control element operates the Reaper during its mission. In 2011 the mission control element was located at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri.

The squadron was activated at MacDill Field, Florida in February 1942 as the 24th Reconnaissance Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the 97th Bombardment Group. Since a reorganization of General Headquarters Air Force in September 1936, each bombardment group of the Army Air Forces (AAF) had an assigned or attached reconnaissance squadron, which operated the same aircraft as that group's assigned bombardment squadrons. The following month, it moved to Sarasota Army Air Field, Florida, where it trained with Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress aircraft and also flew antisubmarine patrols. In April, the practice of having one squadron of heavy bombardment groups designated for reconnaissance ended and the squadron became the 414th Bombardment Squadron. After a brief training period the squadron left Sarasota on 16 May.

The haste with which the squadron had trained and deployed resulted in deficiencies in its training. Most pilots had not flown at high altitudes on oxygen; some gunners had never operated a turret, much less fired at a moving target. Crews had flown together for only a few weeks in training. The squadron's first weeks in England were devoted to intensive training, with numerous specialists attending Royal Air Force (RAF) schools to prepare for combat. The squadron flew its first mission on 17 August 1942, attacking a marshalling yard at Rouen, which was also the first mission flown by AAF heavy bombers stationed in Great Britain. Two days later, the squadron supported Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe, by attacking Abbeville/Drucat Airfield. It attacked naval installations, airfields and industrial and transportation targets in France and the Low Countries. The 414th and 342nd Squadrons were at Grafton Underwood, while the 340th and 341st, along with 97th Group headquarters were at RAF Polebrook. In September, the AAF decided to follow its own organization and use larger bases that would accommodate an entire group, and the 414th and 342nd Squadrons joined the rest of the group at Polebrook. USAFE activated it for the first time at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey in the fall. Its Predators were previously deployed in Iraq, where they flew missions surveilling elements of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which continued from Incirlik. The squadron is made up of airmen deployed from Creech and Holloman Air Force Bases.