44th Reconnaissance Squadron

The 44th Reconnaissance Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force's 432nd Wing, Air Combat Command stationed at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, where it operates unmanned aerial vehicles. The squadron is assigned to the 432nd Operations Group, and has been reported to operate the Lockheed Martin RQ-170 Sentinel.

The first predecessor of the squadron was the 44th Aero Squadron, which was organized in 1917. It served as a training unit until demobilizing in 1919. In 1924, this squadron was consolidated with the 44th Observation Squadron, which conducted aerial reconnaissance for the Field Artillery School. The consolidated squadron was inactivated in 1927.

The squadron was again activated in the Panama Canal Zone in 1931. In 1937, it became the 44th Reconnaissance Squadron, recognizing its mission encompassed longer range missions than battlefield observation. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the squadron was involved in the defense of the eastern part of the Caribbean. In April 1942, it became the 430th Bombardment Squadron. Later that year, it returned to the United States and became a training and test unit until inactivating in the spring of 1944.

It was reactivated a few weeks later as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit. It saw combat with the 502d Bombardment Group in the closing months of World War II, flying from Northwest Field, Guam and earning a Distinguished Unit Citation. It remained in the Pacific until it was inactivated on 15 April 1946.