@blank

Based at: Offutt AFB, NE - Underground command post
Aircraft: None
Status: Now the AF Intelligence Agency's 544th Intell Group
Bomb Squadrons:
Links:

NOTE: This unit is not listed in Ravenstein's U.S. Air Force Combat Wings nor any of the other books I've encountered on SAC.
TSgt Ronald E. Mixer, USAF, (Retired) provided the following information:

The 544th Aerospace Reconnaissance Technical Wing was activated on 1 Jan 1963, at Offutt AFB, NE. It was assigned to the Strategic Air Command. It was redesigned 15 Oct as 1979 as 544^th Strategic Intelligence Wing, and on 1 Sep 1991 as 544^th Intelligence Wing. It was inactivated on 1 Jun 1992..

Tom Iarossi tiarossi@fncnet.com served in the unit and furnished the followings:

The 544th didn't have any aircraft. Our primary mission was analysis of satellite reconnaissance of the USSR and PRC. We also had a small section called Contingency where they parked us until our Top Secret SSIR clearances came through, and that section looked at SR-71, U-2 and drone photos of North Korea, Cuba and North Vietnam. We were in one of the basement vaults in SAC Headquarters. The 544th crest on the mug I have is shaped like the SAC crest and shows a winged eyeball looking down on a checkerboard pattern with a red crenellated edge. The motto below it says "Hic Et Ubique". The unit received the AF Outstanding Unit Award at least four times.

Terry Horstead, tlhorstead@hotmail.com, provided the following:

I spent years supporting the AF Elint Recon Operation, both Overseas and at Offutt. The 544th and it's three Squadrons handled our TAKE as we called the information gathered. Let me give you the official word on this unit from the " Strategic Air Command Unit Missions & Histories 1988 from the Office of the historian at Strategic Air Command Headquarters.

     The 544th Aerospace Reconnaissance Technical Squadron was formed at Bolling AFB, DC on the 16 Nov 1950, from the personnel assets of the 4203rd Photographic Technical Squadron (Discontinued). The 544th relocated to Offutt AFB, Nebraska on April 1952, however maintained Detachment 1 at Bolling AFB. During the 1950's & 60's the mission was continually expanding and was upgraded to a Group on July 11, 1958, and to a Wing in Jan 1963.
      The unit was most visible to the outside (Outside the Intell Community) during the Cuban Missile Crises, when the 544 discovered the Missiles in Cuba, and also supported the combat effort in South East Asia. There were/are 3 three Squadrons Assigned to the 544th, the 544th Intelligence Analysis Squadron, The 544th Intelligence Exploration Squadron, & the 544th Target Materials Squadron.
        The Wing was redesignated to 544th Strategic Intelligence Wing on 15 Oct 1979. On 5 Feb 1987 the 544th was awarded the AF Outstanding Unit Award. The Wing is a current unit today as the AF Intelligence Agency's 544th Intell Group. I will try to send the scans of the Squadrons Emblems.   The 544th Intelligence is headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., provides intelligence and information to Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). The group was established to provide a single focal point for continental U.S. based operational space issues and to posture AIA to better support AFSPC and national agencies. The group was activated on Sept. 7, 1993.