During World War II, the group operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater and used Lockheed F-5 Lightnings and Consolidated F-7 Liberators to photograph Japanese airfields, harbors, beach defenses, and personnel areas in New Guinea, the Bismarcks, Borneo, and the southern Philippines. It reconnoitered target areas and enemy troop positions to provide intelligence for air force and army units. T\In 1944, the group was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for carrying out one of the most important and difficult assignments ever given to a photographic unit: to obtain 80,000 prints of Japanese defenses in the Philippines in eight days. The group's F-5s and F-7s risked enemy interception and braved severe tropical weather to complete their mission all without fighter escort. The action proved critical to the successful amphibious assault of the Philippines.
