in spite of intense anti-aircraft fire, to strafe airfields and to destroy enemy aircraft on the ground. Received second DUC for operations on 19 February 1945 when the organization flew a sweep over Germany to hit railway tracks, locomotives, oil cars, goods wagons, troop cars, buildings, and military vehicles. The 55th Flew last combat mission on 21 April 1945. The 55th Fighter Group moved to AAF Station Kaufbeuren Germany on 22 July 1945 as part of the occupation forces. It was assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe. While on occupation duty, the group was one of the units to receive the first U.S. operational jet fighter, the Lockheed P-80B Shooting Star in July 1946. However, the Group continued to fly P-51s and according to. one source, A-26s. On 29 April, the unit moved to AAF Station Giebelstadt, Germany, and on 20 August 1946, the unit was inactivated, the resources being transferred to the 31st Fighter Group. With more than 600 combat missions, the group destroyed over 400 enemy aircraft while damaging more than 100. The 55th, inactivated in August 1946, had 16 aces credited with 90 victories. Postwar era On 24 February 1947, Strategic Air Command activated and redesignated the 55th Fighter Group as the 55th Reconnaissance group at MacDill Field, Florida, operating the RB-17. The newly activated group's mission consisted of aerial photography, mapping, charting, and photo reconnaissance missions, some of which flew around the globe. RB-17s were specifically used by the 55th RG to probe the borders of the Soviet Union, who had by then begun to emerge as a potential threat to the Western Powers. Little was known about the air defence capability of the Soviet Union at this time and the most effective way of determining their capability was to probe the borders and see whether they would respond. Gradually the RB-17s and other aircraft mapped the perimeter of the Soviet Air Defences from the Baltic to the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan. The group then converted to RB-29s and transferred to Topeka (later Forbes) AFB, Kansas, in 1948, but was again inactivated in October 1949. On 1 November 1950, the 55th Strategic reconnaissance group was activated as a "paper organization" with the tactical squadrons attached directly to the 55th Strategic Reconnaissance wing. The wing was bestowed with the awards and honors of the 55th Reconnaissance Group and moved to Ramey AFB, Puerto