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Lt. Will Patton
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Paint configuration represents the 3rd Scouting Force
The Scouting Forces were to check for German flak, bad weather, and enemy activites. This group was created by Colonel Bud Peaslee, commander of the 384th Bomb Group, as he had suggested this to General James Doolittle in 1944. Just like Indians, Naval convoys, and armored divisions, the Army Air Corps also had scouts.
The 1st Scouting Force (experimental) was at Honington, England on September 19th, 1944, and was attached to the 364th Fighter Group, which maintained its logistics, and detached pilots on a 15-day rotational basis. From this base, 107 missions were accomplished, and then the 1st SF was attached to the 857th BG at Bassingbourn, and logged another 24 missions.
The 2nd Scouting Force was formed at Steeple Morden, where it received support of the 355th FG. These pilots were gathered from many different fighter units, and successfully finished their first 136 missions on September 26th, 1944, with the last mission being on April 21st, 1945.
After these pilots had completed their transition into the P-51D at Goxhill, the 3rd Scouting Force was formed at Wormingford, with the support of the 55th FG. Although started with the assistance of the 55th FG, the 3rd Scouting Force established itself as an independent entity.
At the beginning, the pilots of the 55th FG were detached to fly the P-51D's as scouts, but quickly the older bomber pilots replaced them. The 3rd Scouting Force conducted the first of its 140 missions in the P-51D on September 15th, 1944, and the last mission on April 21, 1945. The 3rd SF had the uniqueness of having some B-17's in their fleet, for doing weather reconnaissance over Grand-Brittany and 'The Sleeve' [the peninsula of Upper Normandy].
Although the 3rd Scouting Force was not meant for combat, the outfit downed 22 German fighters while defending bombers. During their 6 months of existence, the Scouting Units lost 24 pilots: 9 in training and 15 in combat.
 On January 15th, 1945, Lt. Patton embarked upon his 60th mission, and had recently written home announcing that he was engaged to be married. Under the direction of Lt. Col. Vince Masters, eight fighters and eight bombers took off from their base in Wormingford destined for Lechfeld, Germany. They were to do reconnaissance work for a bombing run by the 338th Bomb Group on the Augsburg Train Station. At the English coast, difficulties started. Climbing to an altitude of 11,000 meters (3700 feet), the visibility was found to be quite bad. Twenty minutes into the flight, Lt. Beaty
the 8 Mustangs were struggling to remain in a tight formation when Lt. Ed Beaty saw two Messerschmidts on his right, which had already decided to engage them. In order not to compromise the mission, two Mustangs broke formation to move the two Germans away from the squadron. Before losing all contact with the other pilots, a third pilot left the squadron in hopes of attracting any other Luftwaffe planes away from his team members. In the thick fog, different maneuvers made the enemy think that the formation was completely broken up.
Lt. Col. Vince Masters
Commander, 3rd Scouting Force
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