It is assigned to the 25th Attack Group, also at Shaw, and is a component of the 432d Wing, located at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada.

Formed in August 1917 as the 50th Aero Squadron, the unit flew observation missions in American built de Havilland DH-4s over the battlefields of World War I.

In the spring of 1919, the squadron returned to the United States, and was stationed at Langley Field, Virginia until 1927, operating with the Air Corps Tactical School.

The focus of the 50th later changed to the classroom, supporting the instruction of US Air Force Academy cadets in military strategic studies as the 50th Education Squadron.

2 on 12 September and was designated as a school squadron, its personnel entered training for engine mechanics and performed field garrison duties.

It moved to the Aviation Concentration Center, Camp Mills, Garden City, New York arriving on 3 January 1918.

Once in England, the 50th was moved to RFC Harlaxton, Lincolnshire and began advanced training in aircraft rigging and engine repair, along with gunnery, radio, photography and aerial bombing prior to being sent to France.

After a short spell at the Behonne Air Depot, the squadron moved to Bicqueley Airdrome on 8 September for combat duty on the front.

The insigne was painted on the aircraft, and squadron members wore matching pins above the right breast pocket on their uniforms.

[5] In combat, the mission of the 50th Aero Squadron was general surveillance of the enemy rear areas by means of both visual and photographic reconnaissance.

Initially the aircraft flew observation or dropped messages[6] At the beginning of October, units of the 308th Infantry Regiment were cut off and surrounded by German troops.

[6] The following day, pilot Harold E. Goettler and observer Erwin R. Bleckley made a second trip to drop supplies to the battalion which had been cut off by the enemy in the Argonne Forest.

For this action, they were each awarded the Medal of Honor[7][8] On 28 October, the squadron moved from Remicourt to the new Parois Airdrome near Clermont-en-Argonne,[1] where it continued combat operations until the 11 November Armistice with Germany.

Personnel at Colombey were subsequently assigned to the Commanding General, Services of Supply and ordered to report to the staging camp at Clamecy, France on 9 April.

[13] In May 1921, it was attached to the 1st Provisional Air Brigade,[1] which was formed to demonstrate that aircraft could successfully attack armored navy ships.

[14] The squadron moved to Brooks Field, Texas, where it was assigned to the Air Corps Training Center, in June 1927.

The squadron flew patrol and search mission from the Hawaiian Islands, including air support during the Battle of Midway.

[18][21] In June 1942, shortly after the Battle of Midway, the 11th Group was authorized as a mobile force by the Army Air Forces in order to respond to a Navy request by Admiral Nimitz for long-range armed search planes to locate Japanese fleets, accompanied with firepower to withstand defending Japanese interceptors while tracking the fleet.

The 11th Group left Hawaii to support Navy operations in the South Pacific Theater during the Guadalcanal and Northern Solomon Islands Campaigns.

It bombed airfields, supply dumps, ships, docks, troop positions, and other objectives in the South Pacific from July to November 1942, and received a Distinguished Unit Citation for those operations.

It continued operations in the South Pacific, attacking Japanese airfields, installations, and shipping until late March 1943.

"[18] After V-J Day, the squadron flew surveillance and reconnaissance missions over China and ferried former prisoners of war to the Philippines.

On 15 June 1946, the squadron moved to Clark Field, Philippines, where it was transferred to the 313th Bombardment Wing and began to reman and reequip.

[1] As unmanned aerial vehicle operations at Shaw expanded, the 25th Attack Group was activated in October 2018 and the 50th was assigned to it.