| 7406th Support Squadron |
 The 7406th Support Squadron was activated at Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany on 10 May 1955 and
received its first aircraft (RB50s) in March 1956. The RB50s were replaced with specially
configured C130A-II recon aircraft in 1958. The first C-130A 56-0484 was assigned in March
1958. Other C130A-II aircraft assigned to the 7406th SS included in order of assignment
from July to October 1958: 56-0525, 56-0528, 56-0530, 56-0534, 56-0538,56-0541, 56-0535
and 56-0540. One of these C130's (60528) was shot down with the loss of a crew of
seventeen (six 7406th flight crew members and eleven USAFSS recon flyers) over Soviet
Armenia on Sept 2, 1958, becoming the first C130 lost to hostile fire. Four Soviet MiG-17
pilots took turns firing on the unarmed C130 when the American aircraft inadvertently
penetrated Soviet airspace while on a recon mission along the Turkish-Armenian border.
C-130 60528 had less than 200 flying hours when it was shot down. On Sept 2, 1997, the
National Security Agency dedicated at National Vigilance Park, Fort
Meade, Maryland an Aerial Recon Memorial consisting of a refurbished C130A tail number
57-0453 that has been restored to look identical to C-130A 60528 when it was shot down.
The Aerial Recon Memorial honors all SILENT WARRIORS (all military airborne recon crews)
who paid the ultimate price while defending their country.The mission of the 7406th SS was airborne reconnaissance. The 7406th SS owned and maintained the aircraft and provided the flight crews. A separate USAF Security Service squadron provided the recon crew that manned the intelligence collection positions on the aircraft. C130B-II aircraft that had previously been assigned at Yokota Air Base, Japan from 1961-1971 were sent to the 7406th at Rhein-Main in 1971--replacing the C130A-II models that were converted to original 'cargo' configuration and assigned to air national guard units in CONUS. The 7406th SS continued flying recon missions from Rhein-Main in the C-130B models until June 30th 1973 when the squadron's sister Security Service flying squadron moved to Athens, Greece. The 7406th SS operations remained at Rhein-Main but flew its operational missions out of Athens from 1 July 1973 until its last C130B-II mission was flown on June 13, 1974. The 7406th SS was deactivated in June 1974. (note: patch image and info courtesy of Larry Tart.) |