373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group


The United States Air Force's 373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group is a Twenty-Fifth Air Force unit located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

Mission

The 373 ISRG is the Department of Defense host service organization and primary force provider for the Misawa Security Operations Center, providing warfighters and strategic/national level policy makers with actionable, time-critical intelligence.

History

The group was first organized in 1943. It transferred, without personnel and equipment, to England on 7 July 1943 and assigned to Eighth AF. The group used Supermarine Spitfires and Stinson L-5s to obtain information about bombardment targets and damage inflicted by bombardment operations; provide mapping service for air and ground units; observe and report on enemy transportation, installations, and positions; and obtain data on weather conditions.
Prior to June 1944, the group photographed airfields, cities, industrial establishments, and ports in France, the Low Countries, and Germany. Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations during the period 31 May – 30 June 1944, when its coverage of bridges, marshalling yards, canals, highways, rivers, and other targets contributed much to the success of the Normandy campaign.
The unit covered missile sites in France during July, and in August carried out photographic mapping missions for ground forces advancing across France. It provided reconnaissance support for the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September and for the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944– January 1945. Used North American P-51 Mustangs to escort its own reconnaissance planes during the last months of the war as the group supported the Allied drive across the Rhine and into Germany. Took part in the final bomb damage assessment following V–E Day

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