From
its inception, airlift of personnel and cargo has been a major mission
of forces who have been associated with the term "special operations."
At the same time, conventional airlift squadrons have frequently been
assigned missions that fall under the category of "special." Though
modern USAF SOF personnel like to think of themselves as being
"special," the two missions are actually two sides of the same coin.
The first American mission that would fall under what today's military
considers "special operations" took place on Christmas Eve, 1942 when
two C-47s dropped 32 paratroopers from the 509th Paratroop Battalion
behind enemy lines to blow up the El Djem Bridge in Tunisia. The pilot
of the lead C-47 was Lt. Col. Philip Cochran, commander of a P-40
squadron who had attacked the bridge and was supposedly familiar with
its location. The plan called for the troops to be dropped five miles
north of the bridge, then they would march south to the objective. The
drop went well and the assembled troops marched south - for hours and
hours and hours! Cochoran had dropped them south of the bridge and they
were going away from it! After discovering the mistake, the troops
hurried the 20 miles to the bridge and rigged it for demolition. As
German troops closed on them from both directions along the railroad,
the paratroopers set off their charges then set out into the desert for
the 110-mile journey back to friendly lines. Only eight made it; the
rest were either killed or captured.
Nearly a year after the
episode in North Africa, Colonel Cochran, along with former Flying
Tiger Lt. Col. John R. Allison, was selected by General Henry H.
Arnold to organize and train a new unit to support British Brigadier
Orde Wingate's special force during long-range penetrations missions
into Burma. British and Chinese troops had been operating in Burma ever
since the country fell to the Japanese, while being supplied by the
troop carrier squadrons of the over-extended Tenth Air Force, with
occasional support by Air Transport Command aircraft pulled off of the
Hump Airlift. Cochran's new command, the 5318th Provisional Unit,
included the 319th Troop Carrier Squadron as well as fighter, bomber
and liaison squadrons. Their mission was to provide close air support,
airlift - including gliders - and casualty evacuation for Wingate's
Chindits.
By early 1944 Cochran's unit was in India, and
plans were made for an aerial invasion of Burma. The 319th was assigned
to tow the gliders while 10th Air Force troop carrier transports
provided the airlift. On March 5, 1944 the gliders assaulted onto LZ
BROADWAY, only to discover that the field was full of buffalo wallows.
After 37 gliders were cut loose, the remainder aborted the mission.
Most of those that landed were damaged beyond repair, but enough men
and equipment was brought in to construct an airstrip for C-47
landings, which began the next day. A similar mission was flown into
ABERDEEN two weeks later. In late March, 1944 Cochran's unit was
redesignated as the 1st Air Commando Group, in recognition of the role
of British Lord Montbatten, the British commander in Burma, with the
British commando forces. While the Chindits were working in southern
Burma, the American 5307th Provisional Unit commanded by BGen Frank
Merrill was making its way toward the town of Myitkinya, while
supported entirely by airdrops made by troop carrier command and air
commando transports. The "Marauders", as the 5307th has gone down in
history, captured the airfield at Myitkinya after a long trek and
established an airhead for the ultimate capture of the city, and
eventual return of Burma to Allied control.
The air commando
troop carrier squadrons worked closely with the the Tenth Air Force
C-47 units in support of Allied units operating in Burma. In addition
to C-47 airdrops and landings, the air commando liaison squadrons
delivered supplies into remote jungle airstrips and brought out
casualties. The air commando fighter and bomber squadrons were also
used to drop supplies. Fighters often dropped water in special tanks
suspended from their wings. Helicopters were also a part of the air
commando forces. They were used primarily for search and rescue
operations.
Three air commando groups were eventually organized
during World War II. The 1st and 2nd were both assigned to the CBI,
while the 3rd was attached to the Fifth Air Force in the Philippines in
late 1944.
Other special operations forces were assigned to
Europe, particularly the B-24 equipped unit - the 492nd Bomb
Group - known as "The Carpetbaggers" whose mission was to drop agents
and supplies into occupied Europe in support of resistance forces. The
51st Troop Carrier Wing in the Mediterranean, and its three groups, the
60th, 62nd and 64th, airdropped supplies to irregular forces operating
in the Balkans. Eighth Air Force B-17s dropped supplies to resistance
figthers in Poland, but most of the loads were recovered by the Germans.
When World War II ended the air commando units inactivated, and were
eventually disbanded. Yet at the same time, US military special
operations increased. Numerous conflicts were taking place throughout
the world in the wake of the war as the communists attempted to impose
their influence. American transports flew supplies to friendly
governments in several parts of the world. USAF C-47s, in particular,
were used in Yugoslavia; two were shot down. During the Korean War
315th Air Division C-119s, C-47s and C-46s supported teams working
behind enemy lines. For a brief period, the Air Force created special
Air Resupply and Communication Wings but they were short-lived. In
Indochina, the United States assisted the French by providing C-119s
and C-47s, along with American civilian crews employed by the
clandestine airline, Civil Air Transport.
Yet even though the
Air Force had no special operations units designated as such, there
were plenty of special operations going on in the 1950s. The CIA was
supporting Chinese troops who had remained inside China and across the
border in Burma after the Communist victory in China. While most
missions were flown by civilian contract crews, there is good reason to
believe that USAF C-130 crews from Okinawa airdropped supplies that
were too large for delivery from C-47s and C-46s. The 315th Air
Division sent C-119s and C-130s into Laos in the late fifties for
airlift operations of a humanitarian nature, but with political
implications. In 1960 the United States provided airlift support for
the Laotian Royalist forces, though most of the airplanes and crews
were from Civil Air Transport, a civilian airline with strong
connections to the CIA. In 1957 the CIA began an effort to organize and
equip guerilla forces in the mountainous kingdom of Tibet. Begun
initially with a B-17 flown by German and Polish ex-patriate pilots,
the effort in Tibet eventually used C-130s from the 315th Air Division
based at Naha, Okinawa. A C-130 crew from the 463rd TCW at Sewart AFB,
Tennessee commanded by Lt. Billie B. Mills was sent to to Colorado
Springs for what they thought was to take cadets from the newly
established US Air Force Academy on orientation flights, but when they
got there they were met by men in suits who told Mills that he and his
crew now belonged to them. After calling the wing commander at Sewart
who told him "to do what they tell you but don't let them kill you"
Mills and his crew flew several missions over the Rockies dropping
Tibetan guerrillas who were undergoing training at remote Camp Hale, a
camp just north of Leadville where the 10th Mountain Division had
trained during World War II. The CIA men were so impressed with Lt.
Mills and his crew that they had them detached and assigned to them to
go to Japan to train the civilian crews from CAT who would be flying
the actual missions. Billie, who retired as a colonel, says that he
felt a bit intimidated by the pilots he trained, all of whom had
thousands of hours including combat in World War II and Korea while he
was a young lieutenant. (He was a former radio operator who got his
commission through the cadet program.) Missions over Tibet
commenced in 1959 and continued off and on into the mid-sixties.
Several Tibetan teams were dropped into their remote homeland but most,
if not all, were compromised or detected by the Chinese and captured.
The missions originated out of Taklhi, Thailand after USAF crews
from the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron went first to Kadena where their
airplanes were desanitized and where they were joined by the CAT
civilians who had flown down for Japan.
After
the Laotian Civil War "ended" in a truce, the North Vietnamese remained
in Laos, prompting the newly elected President Kennedy to authorize
American covert actions in the country. One of his first actions was to
authorize the use of USAF C-130s "on loan" to Air America for
operations into Laos. A special flight called "E-Flight" was set up
within the 21st Troop Carrier Squadron at Naha, Okinawa to train the
Air America crewmen, who were actually employed by CAT, and deliver the
airplanes to Takhli, Thailand for operations into Southeast Asia.
Beginning in April, 1961 CAT crews flew airlift missions into Laos and
elsewhere in the region in USAF C-130s that had been stripped of their
markings and given false identities. Some missions landed on Laotian
airstrips while others involved drops of ammunition and other supplies
to Laotian forces. There is reason to believe that CAT crews landed in
North Vietnam as well. Some missions were also flown into Tibet, and
possibly into southern China where a large army of former Nationalist
Chinese soldiers remained after the Communist Chinese victory in 1949.
"Counterinsurgency" became a byword within the Kennedy Administration,
and shortly after the ill-fated Bay of Pigs Invasion the president
ordered the establishment of an American counterinsurgency force. On
April 14, 1961 the Air Force activated the 4400th Combat Crew Training
Squadron at Eglin AFB, Florida to develop an Air Force
counterinsurgency mission. Codenamed "JUNGLE JIM," the new unit set out
to train a volunteer force of airmen whose mission would be to go to
Third World nations and assist the local governments in combating
insurgencies. Their primary mission was to train local air units, but
the new force was also authorized to conduct limited combat operations.
Along with strike aircraft, JUNGLE JIM included an airlift element.
Airlift had been recognized as an important aspect of counterinsurgency
operations by the British in Malaya. The new unit adopted the old "air
commando" designation. Because the JUNGLE JIM mission was expected to
work in countries where the air forces were of World War II vintage,
the C-47 was chosen as the primary transport, though some C-46s were
added later. In November 1961 a JUNGLE JIM detachment moved to Bien
Hoa, South Vietnam as Project FARM GATE. Others would eventually deploy
to Udorn AB, Thailand to Howard AFB, Canal Zone. Each of the three
detachments included transports, some of which were equipped with
speakers for psychological warfare.
As the first Air Force unit
to deploy to South Vietnam, the FARM GATE detachment enjoyed a special
distinction as it set the flavor of USAF operations in Southeast Asia
during the first year of US involvement. In early 1962 the 4400th at
Hurlburt Field, Florida was replaced by the Special Air Warfare Center
which controlled two groups. The 1st Air Commando Group was responsible
for operations while the 1st Combat Applications Group was charged with
developing tactics for special warfare. FARM GATE personnel soon
adapted the Australian bush hat and got permission from USAF Chief of
Staff Curtis Lemay to make it their official headgear. Combined with
the leather gunbelts the men bought in Saigon, the hat made the air
commandos look like cowboys, and many thought they acted the part. Soon
after the arrival of the FARM GATE force a conventional airlift unit
arrived at Tan Son Nhut after Tactical Air Command C-123s from the
464th Troop Carrier Wing deployed to the Philippines, then on to
Vietnam as Project MULE TRAIN. A second squadron arrived a few weeks
later as SAWBUCK. For almost two years the FARM GATE C-47s and MULE
TRAIN/SAWBUCK C-123s provided airlift for both the South Vietnamese
government forces and for US Special Forces and other American advisory
units in the region. In early 1964 the temporary duty TAC C-123 crews
were replaced by permanently assigned personnel drawn from the Air
Force at large for the new 315th Troop Carrier Group which was based at
Tan Son Nhut. The unit's squadrons, however, were designated as air
commando squadrons even though they had no advisory function and no
special training. Until 1965, when conventional forces began arriving
in Vietnam, it seemed that all USAF personnel in Southeast Asia were
air commandos!
While the air commandos from Hulburt and the
newly created C-123 squadrons were engaged in what were more or less
conventional airlift functions in South Vietnam, the 6315th Operations
Group at Naha AB, Okinawa was developing special operations
capabilities within each of its C-130 squadrons. The 21st TCS was
charged with the E-Flight mission while the 817th and 35th each were
responsible for HALO operations. The 817th worked with Army Special
Forces personnel from the 1st Special Forces Group in HALO projects
while the 35th was responsible for high-altitude leaflet missions aimed
at certain Asian countries with communist governments. Beginning in
late 1964, the 6315th began flying nightly flare missions over Laos to
provide light for airstrikes against enemy infiltration routes. In
early 1965 the mission was expanded to include North Vietnam; C-130
flareships operated over the north until late in 1966 when increased
North Vietnamese antiaircraft capabilities made operations by slower
moving aircraft extremely risky. Flare missions were also flown in
South Vietnam by air commando C-47 and C-123 crews, and after mid-1966
in Laos as well, by C-123s assigned to the 606th Air Commando Squadron
at Nakonphanom AB, Thailand. The C-123s flew as "Candlestick" while the
C-130s out of Ubon operated as "Blind Bat" and "Lamplighter." The
6315th's 35th Troop Carrier Squadron was responsible for JILLI leaflet
missions against North Korea that commenced in the latter half of 1963.
The US Army history of Project JILLI states that the 35th TCS was given
responsible for the mission in late 1963, but goes on to say that
missions were flown in C-47s until 1965 when C-130 missions commenced.
No explanation is given for the gap of more than a year and a half, but
it is likely that it was because one of the first C-130 missions was
shot down by North Korean fighters in August, 1963. Public accounts of
Cold War losses of US aircraft to fighters show an aircraft lost on
August 6, 1963 only as a "LT" with the loss of six crewmembers. In 1965
the 35th also began FACT SHEET leaflet missions over North Vietnam, and
continued flying them until 1968 when the STRAY GOOSE mission assumed
the North Vietnam missions for training and as a cover for equipment
drops to agents.
In 1964 the USAF began developing a
long-range special operations mission. Vietnamese and Chinese pilots
and crewmembers were trained to fly C-123s under Project DUCK HOOK,
which operated out of Nha Trang, beginning in mid-1966. Project
"Heavy Chain" was begun to develop special procedures for the delivery
of cargo and personnel at night in mountainous terrain so as to avoid
detection by hostile defenders. At the same time, plans were made for a
C-130 special operations mission as modified C-130E(I)s were purchased
to equip a new unit at Pope AFB, NC. A detachment of the modified
C-130s deployed to Ching Chang Kuan AB, Taiwan as STRAY GOOSE to become
part of the 314th Troop Carrier Wing in mid-1966. As Det 1, 314th TCW,
the C-130s operated out of Nha Trang providing airlift for the the
Fifth Special Forces Group,
In October 1965 the 20th Helicopter
Squadron activated at Tan Son Nhut with CH-3 helicopters. The 20th was
initially assigned to carry cargo in support of remote USAF sites, but
soon became involved in cross-border operations into Laos. A second
squadron, the 21st HS, was based at Nakonphanom; the squadron equipped
with CH-53s in 1970. Initially, the USAF helicopter squadrons were
assigned outside the air commando units. Their mission was conventional
helicopter resupply for the Army and Marines and support of remote USAF
communications sites.
In 1968 all air commando units
were redesignated as special operations, with the airlift units coming
under the 14th Special Operations Wing at Nha Trang. The 14th SOW
controlled the modified C-130s and C-123s as well as the 20th
Helicopter Squadron which transferred to its control while the airlift
C-123s were assigned to the 315th SOW at Phan Rang; the
315th, which had no true SOF role, became a tactical airlift wing
in 1970.
Special operations airlift forces in Vietnam were
primarily responsible for supplying Special Forces sites. Some missions
were flown into Laos, Cambodia and North Vietnam in support of long
range penetration teams made up of South Vietnamese personnel. USAF
helicopters supported intelligence teams working along the Ho Chi Minh
Trail system from the Mu Gia Pass down into Laos and Cambodia. The SOF
helicopters also provided airlift for Laotian government forces in the
"secret war" in Laos while continuing their original mission of
supplying remote Air Force communications sites.
When the war
in Vietnam ended, the special operations forces were cut back along
with the rest of the military. But the ill-fated Iranian rescue mission
in 1980 led to a resurgence of emphasis on long-range special
operations teams whose mission would be primarily to conduct operations
such as the rescue of hostages. A new special operations force was
created under the Ninth Air Force, and based at Hurlburt Field. But the
mission soon transferred to the Military Airlift Command where it
became the 23rd Air Force. In 1983 the 23rd was responsible for the
planning and execution of Operation URGENT FURY, the invasion of
Grenada in October, 1983. NAVYSEALS OPERATIONS
In 1987 the 23rd Air Force became the Air Force Special Operations
Command, and assumed responsibility for the MC-130 COMBAT TALON airlift
mission, along with the AC-130 gunships and SOF helicopter squadrons. A
series of reorganizations has made the unit responsible for Air Force
search and rescue operations as well as several other functions that
were previously assigned to other commands, functions such as the
combat control teams whose mission is to set up drop zones for air
drops and the Air Force tactical control parties, whose function is the
control of tactical airpower on the battlefield as ground forward air
controllers.
In 1989 elements of the Special Operations Command
participated in Operation JUST CAUSE, the United States intervention in
Panama. SOC MC-130s airdropped military SOF forces. During DESERT
STORM, SOC MC-130s dropped Blu-82 15,000 pound bombs and leaflets,
while the command's helicopter units assisted Army SOF forces operating
deep inside Kuwait and Iraq. SOC AC-130 gunships were active in both
Panama and during DESERT STORM as they had been in Grenada.
Today, the command is charged with providing airlift and fire support
for military special operations forces from all the services, including
US Army Rangers and Special Forces, and US Navy SEALS.