Las Vegas 2 SOS MQ-1 vintage art

Las Vegas 2 SOS MQ-1 vintage style Heritage poster art.

The 2d Special Operations Squadron (2 SOS) is an Air Force Reserve Command unit, assigned to the 919th Operations Wing. They’re currently minutes away from the sandy white beaches of Florida’s Emerald Coast stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida, operating the MQ-9 Reaper in support of the Global War on Terrorism. From 2009-2014 the 2 SOS operated the MQ-1 out of Las Vegas, NV (Nellis Air Force Base) depicted in this artwork. 

The 2d Special Operations Squadron’s history reaches back to the front lines of WWI as a Balloon Squadron. The unit is one of the oldest units in the United States Air Force, being formed on 25 September 1917 at Fort Omaha, Nebraska. During World War I, the unit was part of the Balloon Section, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), becoming the first American balloon company to reach the Western Front in France and enter combat. 2d SOS thus holds the distinction among all USAF units of being “the first complete American air unit in history to operate against an enemy on foreign soil.” It was part of the Army Balloon and Airship School after the war, being a balloon training unit until the beginning of World War II. It was later part of the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War.

The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator is an American remotely piloted aircraft built by General Atomics and used primarily by the United States Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency. Initially conceived in the early 1990s for aerial reconnaissance and forward observation roles, the Predator carries cameras and other sensors but has been modified and upgraded to carry and fire two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles or other munitions.