1st special operations wing

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The 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of the US Air Force's active duty special operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC).

1st Special Operations Wing

The 1st Special Operations Wing is the successor organization to the 16th Pursuit Group, one of the first 15 air combat groups created by the Army before World War II.

Members Of The 1st Special Operations Squadron Stand In Front Of Their Mc 130e Hercules Aircraft While Listening To A Welcoming Speech. The Squadron Has Just Transferred From Kadena Air Base, Japan

The emblem of the 16th Pursuit Group was adopted in 1934. It has four lights—representing the four groups of soldiers—showing the destruction of the sky.

The beginning of the 1st Special Operations Wing can be traced to the commissioning by the Army Air Service of the 16th Pursuit Group on March 24, 1923 as part of the United States Army Panama Departmt at Albrook Field, in the Canal Zone. However, the unit was only active on December 1, 1932. The 16th Pursuit Group blew its tires in defense of the Panama Canal. This group was continuously reorganized in accordance with the changes that occurred in the Army Air Corps, first the 16th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) in 1939 and finally the 16th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) in 1939.

Although the teams assigned to the team changed over the years, the team's headquarters remained at Albrook Field throughout its existence. The teams assigned were:

As the United States prepared for World War II in 1940-1941, the 16th Pursuit Group could only count 22 Curtiss P-36A Hawks on hand as of 1939, although these were the best fighter aircraft available at the time (In addition, the group's headquarters. had Northrop Two A-17s and two North American BC-1s). Additionally, in February 1939 the group was shown in the Battle Order documents with 10 Douglas B-18s, but these were in their 44th Reconnaissance and 74th Attack Squadrons assigned to the group at the time (the 44th Recon Squadron had its status changed from " Assigned" to "Attached" on 1 February 1940, and finally transferred to the 9th Bomb Group on 20 November, where it was also attached).

Th Special Operations Wing

In June 1941, relief arrived for the P-36A's in the form of 6 Curtiss P-40B's and 64 P-40C's, although these were split between the 16th and 32nd Pursuit Groups (the 16th's new aircraft never arrived mother too. Soon, in April and May of 1941 no less than 17 of the group's P-36A's were either unusable or waiting for maintenance due to lack of parts or because of the hard use they had during the intensive training program. With the arrival of the P-40s, the behavior improved too much, and Group Headquarters added the rare Sikorsky OA-8 to its roster for rescue and communications operations, and in August it had an A-17 and one BC-1 lost, at which point all remaining P-36As were transferred to newly formed 32d Pursuit Group.

At the outbreak of war in December 1941, the group had 20 P-40Cs in service (with five others awaiting repair and three that could not be repaired - two from the 24 new P-40Es that had arrived, although one of these broke up quickly. The 40C had no props, and all team supplies were distributed at Albrook Field.

In mid-January 1942, it was quickly decided to move a squadron from headquarters to Borinqu Field, Puerto Rico to link up with the VI Interceptor Command headquartered there, and six P-40C fighters were also quickly moved to Atkinson Field, British Guiana. . and Zandery Field, Dutch Guiana, to provide local air cover for other Elemt stationed at those remote Ferrying Command bases. In addition to these, the group had 23 P-40C's, eight P-40E's and 14 of its former P-36As returned to Albrook.

As of mid-February 1942, Group Elemts still stationed at Albrook had the following aircraft on hand, but only 11 pilots among them, only seven of whom had more than a year's experience in pursuit aircraft (numbers in parentheses indicate the number in each active category):

File:6th Special Operations Squadron And Aircraft.jpg

As the group's soldiers moved through their various roles since the beginning of the war, the group's headquarters became less important in day-to-day operations and finally, on January 17, 1943, the group's headquarters was moved to Albrook. La Joya Auxiliary Airdrome No.

In fact, the group was disbanded on 31 October 1943, at which time HHS still had one Curtiss P-36A assigned to it. Command and control responsibility for the remaining squadrons came under the umbrella of XXVI Fighter Command.

A P-47 Thunderbird of the 1st Air Commando Group, 10th Air Force, takes off. Republic P-47D-23-RA Thunder, AAF Ser. No 42-28152, front showing diagonal fuselage identification stripes that were unique to 1ACG aircraft

The next unit in the 1 SOW lineage is the 1st Air Commando Group, which inherited the history and lineage of the 16th Group.

Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing Challenge Coin

President Franklin D. Roosevelt, at the Quebec Conference in August 1943, was impressed by Brigadier Orde Wingate's report on what could be accomplished in Burma with sufficient air support.

To maintain Roosevelt's planned air support for British incursion operations far into Burma, the US Army Air Forces formed the 5318th Airlift Unit to support the Chindits. In March 1944, they were designated by USAAF Commander General Hap Arnold as the First Air Commando Group. Arnold selected Colonel John R. Alison and Colonel Philip Cochran as unit commanders.

Alison was a P-40 flight instructor, and served as a pilot with Major David Lee "Tex" Hill's 75th Fighter Squadron, part of Col. Robert Lee Scott, Jr. AVG famous Flying Tigers in China-Burma-India theater. General Claire Lee Chnault asked Arnold, who had known Alison in service at Langley Field, to suggest that Alison be given a new command. Cochran was a decorated P-40 pilot for the North African campaign noted for his unusual air tactics.

As a result, the 5318th Provisional Air Unit was formed in India in late 1943. As a mixed group, the group arrived in September 1944 from operational divisions (rather than units): bombers; fighters; Light aircraft (and helicopters); transportation; Slides; and a light load. The 1st Air Commando group consisted of a group of 30 A-Model P-51 Mustangs led by Lt. Col. , 13 C-47 air transports led by Major William T. Cherry, Jr., 225 Waco CG-4A military gliders led by Captain William H. Taylor, Jr., and 100 L- 1 and L-5 Stinel communications aircraft led by Major Andrew Rebori and Lt. col. Clinton B. Gaty.

Air Force Special Operations Command And 1st Special Operations Wing Leadership Welcome U.s. Air Force Gen. Paul J. Selva, Vice Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff, To Hurlburt Field, Florida, July

The group tested the use of the United States' first helicopter in combat, six Sikorsky R-4s led by Lt. Clinton B. Gaty, May 1944.

A terrible accident occurred when 2 CG-4 gliders being towed by one of the unit's skytrains collided, killing many American and British Chindits. The commander of the British army, Lt Col D.C Herring, restored the confidence of the American people, who were worried about whether the Chindi would trust them to carry them when carrying out operations, by sending the Air Commandos a message that the motto of this group is;

The unit was redesignated the 1st Air Commando Group on 25 March 1944. It provided fighter cover, bombardment and airlift services to the Chindits (Wingate raiders) fighting behind Amy's lines in Burma. Operations included the airdrop and landing of troops, food, and supplies; displacement of victims; and attacks on emy planes and lines of communication.

The 1ACG began receiving better performing P-51B Mustangs in April 1944. They converted from the P-51 Mustang to the D-Model P-47 Thunderbolt fighters in September 1945.

U.s. Air Force 1st Special Operations Wing Over Beach Sticker

In September 1944, after the first unit was merged with the headquarters of the new base (also known as the 1st Air Commando Group), these units were replaced by a troop carrier group, two combat groups and three liaison groups. The group continued to provide supply, evacuation and communications services to the Allied forces in Burma until the end of the war, including the movement of Chinese troops from Burma to China in December 1944. They also attacked bridges, railways, airstrips, boats, oil wells. . , and military posts in Burma; and escorting bombers to targets in Burma, including Rangoon. Transferred back to P-51 Mustangs (D-models) in Jan 1945. Left Burma in Oct and operated in New Jersey in Nov 1945.

On March 15, 1945, 40 P-51D Mustangs armed with anti-tank missiles attacked Don Muang Airfield, which was empty of more than 100 Japanese aircraft. At 13:30 (1330 military time), i

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