| Unit Name: | 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron |
| Dates: | 1943–1949; 1950–1989; 1996–2023 |
| Country: |  United States |
| Role: | Airborne Command and Control |
| Command Structure: | Air Combat Command |
| Garrison: | Robins Air Force Base, Georgia |
| Motto: | Light the Way |
| Battles: | European Theater of Operations Vietnam War Global War on Terrorism[1] |
| Decorations: | Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device Air Force Meritorious Unit Award Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Belgian Fourragère Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm |
| Identification Symbol Label: | 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron emblem (approved 20 October 2016) |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron emblem[2] [3] |
| Identification Symbol 3 Label: | 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron emblem (approved 31 July 1952)[4] |
The 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron was a United States Air Force squadron assigned to Air Combat Command's 461st Air Control Wing, 461st Operations Group, stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The squadron previously flew the Northrop Grumman E-8C JSTARS, providing airborne battle management, command and control, surveillance, and target acquisition with the last E-8C flight on September 8, 2022.
The 16th Squadron operated the Northrop Grumman E-8C Joint STARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System), an advanced ground surveillance and battle management system. J-STARS detected, located, classified, tracks and targets ground movements on the battlefield, communicating real-time information through secure data links with combat command posts.
The squadron was first activated as the 380th Fighter Squadron, part of IV Fighter Command in early 1943. It engaged in the air defense of the San Francisco area as well as acting as a Replacement Training Unit until the end of 1943. It trained as a North American P-51 Mustang operational squadron before deploying to the European Theater of Operations. In Europe it became part of IX Fighter Command in England. Operated both as a tactical fighter squadron, providing air support to Allied ground forces in France as well as an air defense squadron, attacking enemy aircraft in air-to-air combat over Europe.[1]
The squadron was converted to a tactical reconnaissance squadron in August 1944, when it was redesignated the 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. It engaged in hazardous reconnaissance flights over enemy-controlled territory unarmed, gathering intelligence for Allied commanders until the end of combat in Europe, May 1945. The unit advanced eastward across France using advanced landing grounds, then into the Low Countries and Occupied Germany.[1]
The squadron remained in Germany as part of the occupation forces, returning to Langley Field, Virginia in June 1947. The unit remained assigned to Tactical Air Command as a reconnaissance squadron. The squadron was inactivated in 1949.[1]
In 1950 the squadron was activated once again at Langley, now designated the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.[5] It moved to Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina in 1958 where it re-equipped with McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo reconnaissance aircraft. The squadron deployed to south Florida in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, flying hazardous overflights over Cuba gathering intelligence photos.[6] The unit upgraded to the McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II in 1965. It also operated a flight of Martin EB-57E Canberra electronic warfare aircraft. It added Douglas EB-66 Destroyer jamming aircraft beginning in 1971 as part of the phaseout of the Destroyer at Shaw. It was the last USAF active duty B-57 squadron, retiring the aircraft in 1976 when F-4G Phantom IIs took over its mission.
The 16th remained the single RF-4C squadron at Shaw after the 1982 realignment of its parent 363d from a tactical reconnaissance to tactical fighter wing. It continued reconnaissance training in the United States until 1989 when the RF-4Cs were transferred to 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing at Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas, and the squadron was inactivated.
The squadron was reactivated as the 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron in 1996 at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia as an E-8 JSTARS squadron. In 2002, the JSTARS mission was transferred to the Georgia Air National Guard and the 116th Air Control Wing and the squadron became a Guard unit. Ten years later the mission returned to the regular Air Force, with Georgia Air National Guard associate units joining the mission.[1] As a JSTARS squadron, the 16th flew over 5,030 combat sorties, totalling 51,138 combat hours, and earned 9 Headquarters Air Force Battle Management Aircrew of the Year awards.[7] The squadron was inactivated on February 16, 2023.[8]
Activated on March 1943
Redesignated 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 25 August 1944
Redesignated 160th Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic on 29 Ju1y 1946
Redesignated 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic on 14 June 1948
Inactivated on 26 April 1949
Activated on 1 September 1950
Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photographic on 10 October 1950
Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Night Photographic-Jet on 8 November 1955
Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, Photographic-Jet on 1 March 1965
Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 8 October 1966
Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Training Squadron on 1 October 1979
Redesignated 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 July 1982
Inactivated on 15 December 1989
Activated on 1 October 1996
Inactivated on 16 February 2023[9]
Air echelon attached to 10th Photographic Group, 24 December 1944 – 6 February 1945
Operated from Conflans Airfield (A-94),[11] France, 24 December 1944 – 6 February 1945
Operated from MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, 22 October-30 November 1962[12]