The unit was formed during World War II initially as a night interceptor squadron and deployed to England as part of Ninth Air Force.

[note 3] In January, training was interrupted when the night fighter school moved from Florida to Hammer Field, California.

President Truman's reduced 1949 defense budget also required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force.

When the Korean War erupted in late June 1950, the USAF's standard fighter in the Far East was the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, however the F-80 and its reconnaissance version, the RF-80, were very short-legged.

Accurate battlefield intelligence was a top priority, and the 45th was assigned directly to the 314th Air Division, which was the main USAF command and control headquarters in theater.

[6] As the U.N. offensive moved across the 38th parallel into North Korea, it was found that the squadron's pilots often had to fend for themselves since the Mustangs couldn't outrun the communist jets they would encounter.

Also the MiGs would run out of fuel in a few minutes and turn back while the squadron's Mustangs could return to flying photo reconnaissance.

Also the pilots of the 45th would often join in, using the Mustang's ground attack capabilities to shoot up targets of opportunity until the Thunderjets would come in with napalm bombs.

[6] On 12 July 1953, squadron pilots on a reconnaissance mission revealed North Korean preparation for an attack on the stabilized front line.

The communists had chosen a period of relatively bad weather to use as cover for the buildup for the attack; however the 45th had identified eighty-five enemy targets with low-flying aerial photography of the area.

A B-29 raid was ordered and using SHORAN Radar to bomb through the cloud cover, the enemy forces building up for the attack were broken up.

[6] The last mission in the Korean War for the 45th was to take part in a maximum effort to photograph every airfield in North Korea just before the armistice was scheduled to take place on 27 July 1953.

It still operated aircraft along the Korean demilitarized zone, monitoring the border for communist aggression and provided photographic and electronic intelligence for areas and of targets of particular interest to Fifth Air Force (Project "Hawkeye").

It provided and maintained visual surveillance of Communist and United Nations forces activities; occasionally directed adjustment of long range artillery and naval gunfire during cease-fire violations.

The exact work of the squadron over the balance of the late 1950s and early 1960s remains classified to this day, but it is believed that there were reconnaissance missions flown over Communist China and southeastern portions of the Soviet Union by its aircraft.

A detachment of the squadron was sent from Japan to Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base, co-located with Bangkok's international airport, in Thailand, to fly high-speed reconnaissance missions over South Vietnam.

[1] In December 1962, another detachment was deployed to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, near Saigon, South Vietnam.

Squadron aircraft and personnel began rotational temporary duty to Tan Son Nhut, which continued until November 1965.

The unit trained over 600 students[10] and supported numerous operational deployments and exercises until it was inactivated on 30 September 1989,[1] when the RF-4C was being withdrawn from the inventory.