522d Special Operations Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 522d Special Operations Squadron (522 SOS), the Fireballs, is a unit of the United States Air Force
. It is part of the 27th Special Operations Group
, the flying component of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon AFB. It will be the first to operate the MC-130J Combat Shadow II.
.
The unit was redesignated as the 522d Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 23 Aug 1943 and then the 522d Fighter Squadron, Single Engine, on 30 May 1944. During World War II, it was one of the most decorated U.S. Army Air Force units. The unit later served in conflicts such as the Korean and Vietnam wars, and flew almost a dozen different aircraft in support of various missions. The 522d Fighter Squadron inactivated in 2007 when the 27th Fighter Wing
became the 27th Special Operations Wing.
The 522d Special Operations Squadron was reactivated on 07 April 2011 using the lineage of the 522d Fighter Squadron. Lt. Col. Paul Pendleton assumed command of the 522 SOS and will lead the unit in its new role as the U.S. Air Force's first MC-130J Combat Shadow II squadron.
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. It is part of the 27th Special Operations Group
27th Special Operations Group
The 27th Special Operations Group is the flying component of the 27th Special Operations Wing, assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command...
, the flying component of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon AFB. It will be the first to operate the MC-130J Combat Shadow II.
Mission
The mission of the 522 SOS will be infiltration, aerial refueling of Special Operations Forces aircraft, and the resupply of joint and coalition SOF via airdrop in hostile, denied, and politically sensitive areas. The unit will achieve Initial Operational Capability in 2012.History
The 522 SOS was originally constituted in 1939 as the 16th Bombardment Squadron (Light) and activated on 1 February 1940. It was stationed at Barksdale Field, LA, and later Hunter Field, GA, before being assigned to Luzon in the Philippines in 1941. After war began between the United States and Japan, the unit's air echelon operated Australia. When American units in the Philippines surrendered, ground elements of the unit were part of the Bataan Death MarchBataan Death March
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer, by the Imperial Japanese Army, of 75,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of prisoners.The march was characterized by...
.
The unit was redesignated as the 522d Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 23 Aug 1943 and then the 522d Fighter Squadron, Single Engine, on 30 May 1944. During World War II, it was one of the most decorated U.S. Army Air Force units. The unit later served in conflicts such as the Korean and Vietnam wars, and flew almost a dozen different aircraft in support of various missions. The 522d Fighter Squadron inactivated in 2007 when the 27th Fighter Wing
27th Fighter Wing
The 27th Special Operations Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. It is assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command...
became the 27th Special Operations Wing.
The 522d Special Operations Squadron was reactivated on 07 April 2011 using the lineage of the 522d Fighter Squadron. Lt. Col. Paul Pendleton assumed command of the 522 SOS and will lead the unit in its new role as the U.S. Air Force's first MC-130J Combat Shadow II squadron.
Lineage
- Constituted 16th Bombardment Squadron (Light) on 22 Dec 1939
- Activated on 1 Feb 1940
- Re-designated: 522d Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 23 Aug 1943
- Re-designated: 522d Fighter Squadron, Single Engine, on 30 May 1944
- Inactivated on 7 Nov 1945
- Activated on 20 Aug 1946
- Re-designated: 522d Fighter Squadron, Two Engine, on 22 Jul 1947
- Re-designated: 522d Fighter Squadron, Jet, on 1 Dec 1949
- Re-designated: 522d Fighter-Escort Squadron on 1 Feb 1950
- Re-designated: 522d Strategic Fighter Squadron on 20 Jan 1953
- Re-designated: 522d Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 1 Jul 1957
- Re-designated: 522d Tactical Fighter Squadron on 1 Jul 1958
- Re-designated: 522d Fighter Squadron on 1 Nov 1991
- Designated as 522d Expeditionary Fighter Squadron and placed in provisional status when deployed to combat area of operations as part of Global War on Terrorism after 11 September 2001.
- Inactivated on 30 September 2007
- Converted to provisional status and allocated to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate any time after 1 October 2007.
- Converted to regular status, 1 April 2011
- Re-designated 522d Special Operations Squadron, and activated 7 April 2011
Assignments
- 27th Bombardment (later, 27th Fighter-Bomber; 27th Fighter) Group27th Special Operations GroupThe 27th Special Operations Group is the flying component of the 27th Special Operations Wing, assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command...
, 1 Feb 1940-7 Nov 1945 - 27th Fighter (later, 27 Fighter-Escort) Group27th Special Operations GroupThe 27th Special Operations Group is the flying component of the 27th Special Operations Wing, assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command...
, 20 Aug 1946
- Attached to 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, 6 Aug 1951-15 Jun 1952
- 27th Fighter-Escort (later, 27th Strategic Fighter; 27th Fighter-Bomber; 27th Tactical Fighter; 27th Fighter) Wing, 16 Jun 1952
- Attached to unknown, 6 Sep-18 Dec 1958
- Attached to TUSLOG, 18 Oct 1959-22 Feb 1960
- Attached to 405th Fighter Wing, 13 Feb-c. 7 Mar 1961
- Attached to TUSLOG, 5 Feb-15 Jun 1962
- Attached to 2d Air Division, 12 Dec 1962-c. 15 Feb 1963 and 16 Mar-6 May 1964
- Attached to 405th Fighter Wing, 8 Aug-c. 20 Sep 1964
- Attached to 2d Air Division, c. 20 Sep-15 Nov 1964
- Attached to 405th Fighter Wing, 15 Aug-25 Nov 1965
- 27th Operations Group, 1 Nov 1991
- Twelfth Air Force, 1 Oct 2007
- Attached to 712th Operations Group [Provisional], 1 October 2007-1 March 2008
- 27th Special Operations Group27th Special Operations GroupThe 27th Special Operations Group is the flying component of the 27th Special Operations Wing, assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command...
, 7 April 2011-Present
- 27th Special Operations Group
Assignments
- Barksdale Field, Louisiana, 1 Feb 1940
- Hunter Field, Georgia, 7 Oct 1940-19 Oct 1941
- Fort William McKinleyFort William McKinleyFort William McKinley, was established in the Philippines during the Philippine–American War in 1901 when the whole land south of Pasig River down to Alabang was declared a U.S. Military Reservation. During the World War II era, it was where USAFFE had its headquarters for the Philippine Department...
, Luzon, Philippines, 20 Nov 1941 - Lipa Airfield, Luzon, Philippines, 22 Dec 1941
- Cabcaben, Luzon (Ground echelon), 25 Dec 1941
- Air echelon operated from Archerfield AirportArcherfield AirportArcherfield Airport is a small airport located 7 1/2 miles at Archerfield in the south west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For some time it was the primary airport in Brisbane. During World War II it was used as a Royal Australian Air Force station. Airport traffic peaked in the 1980s...
, Brisbane, Australia, 24 Dec 1941-16 Feb 1942- Bataan, Luzon (Ground echelon), 29 Dec 1941
- Air echelon operated from Batchelor AirfieldBatchelor AirfieldBatchelor Airfield, is an airport located south of Batchelor, Northern Territory, Australia. Currently, it has no commercial air service and is utilised by the Northern Australian Gliding Club.-History:...
, Australia, 17 Feb-c. 8 Mar 1942 - Air echelon operated from Archerfield AirportArcherfield AirportArcherfield Airport is a small airport located 7 1/2 miles at Archerfield in the south west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. For some time it was the primary airport in Brisbane. During World War II it was used as a Royal Australian Air Force station. Airport traffic peaked in the 1980s...
, Brisbane, Australia, c. 10-c. 25 Mar 1942- Charters Towers Airfield, Australia, Apr-4 May 1942
- Hunter Field, Georgia, 4 May 1942
- Key FieldKey fieldA key field is a field or set of fields of a database table which together form a unique identifier for a database record . The aggregate of these fields is usually referred to simply as "the key". Key fields also define searches...
, Mississippi, 14 Jul 1942 - Hattiesburg Army Airfield, Mississippi, 15 Aug 1942
- Harding Army Airfield, Louisiana, 25 Oct-21 Nov 1942
- Sainte-Barbe du Tlélat AirfieldSainte-Barbe du Tlélat AirfieldSainte-Barbe du Tlélat Airfield was a World War II military airfield in Algeria near the city of Oued Tlelat.The airfield was a temporary facility used by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force during the North African Campaign against the German Afrika Korps...
, Algeria, 26 Dec 1942 - Nouvion AirfieldNouvion AirfieldNouvion Airfield was a pre-war airport and World War II military airfield in Algeria, located about 5 km west of Camp Militaire d' El Ghomri in Mascara province; about 76 km east of Oran.-History:...
, Algeria, 5 Jan 1943 - Ras el Ma AirfieldRas el Ma AirfieldRas el Ma Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Morocco, located in the southeast suburbs of Ras Kebdana. The airfield served as a support facility for the port, allowing Allied aircraft to be assembled and parepared for combat duty, then flown from the airstrip as...
, French Morocco, 4 Apr 1943 - Korba AirfieldKorba AirfieldKorba Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Tunisia, located about 3 km west of Hamadet Bir Messaouda in Nabul provience; 13 km north of Korbra, and 60 km east-southeast of Tunis....
, Tunisia, c. 8 Jun 1943 - Gela Airfield, Sicily, 18 Jul 1943
- Barcelona Landing GroundBarcelona Landing GroundBarcelona Landing Ground is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Sicily, located in the southwestern suburbs of Milazzo. It was a temporary field built by the Army Corps of Engineers used as part of the Invasion of Italy in August 1943....
, Sicily, 3 Sep 1943 - Capaccio AirfieldCapaccio AirfieldCapaccio Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Italy, located about 7 km west of Capaccio in southern Italy. It's precise location is undetermined...
, Italy, 18 Sep 1943 - Paestum AirfieldPaestum AirfieldPaestum Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Italy, located approximately 9 km north-northeast of Agropoli, in the province of Salerno, in the Campania region of Italy....
, Italy, 4 Nov 1943 - Pomigliano AirfieldPomigliano AirfieldPomigliano Airfield was a military airfield and base in Pomigliano d'Arco, southern Italy. It was attacked on several occasions by the United States Army Air Force...
, Italy, 19 Jan 1944 - Castel Volturno AirfieldCastel Volturno AirfieldCastel Volturno Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Italy, located approximately 3 km east of Castel Volturno, in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about 35 km northwest of Naples and about 35 km west of Caserta on the Volturno river.It was an...
, Italy, 10 Apr 1944 - Santa Maria AirfieldSanta Maria AirfieldSanta Maria Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Italy, located in the Cappella Santa Maria Del Carmine area of Naples, about 23 km southeast from the main Naples Airport....
, Italy, 9 May 1944 - Le Banca AirfieldLe Banca AirfieldCercola Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in Italy, located approximately 14 km northeast of Caiazzo, in the province of Caserta , 30 km north-northeast of Naples....
, Italy, 7 Jun 1944 - Ciampino Airfield, Italy, 12 Jun 1944
- Voltone Airfield, Italy, 4 Jul 1944
- Serragia AirfieldSerragia AirfieldSerragia Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in France, located approximately 26 km west-southwest of Porto-Vecchio on Corsica. Its last known use was by the United States Army Air Force Twelfth Air Force in 1944....
, Corsica, 10 Jul 1944 - Le Luc Airfield, France, 25 Aug 1944
- Salon-de-Provence Air BaseSalon-de-Provence Air BaseSalon-de-Provence Air Base is a base of the French Air Force located south Salon-de-Provence in southern France.It hosts the training facilities for the officers of the air force:* École de l'Air: for young students** pilot commissioned officers...
(BA 701), France, 30 Aug 1944 - Loyettes AirfieldLoyettes AirfieldLoyettes Airfield is an abandoned World War II United States Army Air Forces military airfield in France, which was located approximately 1 km north of Loyettes , 28 km east of Lyon. It was located at a prewar grass airdrome, which was improved by the XII Engineer Command for military...
(Y-25), France, 11 Sep 1944 - Tarquinia AirfieldTarquinia AirfieldTarquinia Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield in the Lazio region of central Italy, about 6 km South-Southwest of Tarquinia....
, Italy, 2 Oct 1944 - Pontedera AirfieldPontedera AirfieldPontedera Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Italy, located within the town of Pontedera, in Tuscany in the administrative province of Pisa....
, Italy, 3 Dec 1944
- St-Dizier Airfield (A-64), France, 21 Feb 1945
- Toul/Ochey Airfield (A-96), France, 19 Mar 1945
- Biblis AirfieldBiblis AirfieldBiblis Airfield is an abandoned World War II military airfield located in Germany, approximately 5 miles northeast of Worms ; approximately 300 miles southwest of Berlin....
(Y-78), Germany, 5 Apr 1945 - AAF Station Mannheim/Sandhofen, Germany, 23 Jun 1945
- AAF Station Stuttgart/Echterdingen, Germany, 15 Sep-20 Oct 1945
- Camp ShanksCamp ShanksCamp Shanks, named after Major General David Carey Shanks was a United States Army installation in and around Orangeburg in the Town of Orangetown, New York. Situated near the juncture of the Erie Railroad and the Hudson River, it served as a point of embarkation for troops departing overseas...
, New York, 6-7 Nov 1945 - AAF Station Fritzlar, Germany, 20 Aug 1946
- AAF Station Bad Kissingen, Germany, 25 Jun 1947
- Andrews Field, Maryland, 25 Jun 1947
- Kearney AAFld (later, AFB), Nebraska, 16 Jul 1947
- Bergstrom AFB, Texas, 16 Mar 1949
- Deployed at Taegu AB (K-9), South Korea, 5 Dec 1950-30 Jan 1951
- Deployed at Itazuke AB, Japan, 31 Jan-20 Jun 1951
- Deployed at Misawa AB, Japan, 13-16 Oct 1952
- Deployed at Chitose AB, Japan, 17 Oct 1952-c. 13 Feb 1953
- Deployed at RAF SturgateRAF SturgateRoyal Air Force Station Sturgate was an airfield located 10 miles north of Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England.-Royal Air Force:The airfield was opened in 1944 at Royal Air Force Station Sturgate. Originally used for blind flying training two operational Lancaster squadrons arrived in June 1945 but both...
, England, 7 May-17 Aug 1955 - Deployed at Kadena AB, Okinawa, 6 Sep-18 Dec 1958
- Cannon AFB, New Mexico, 18 Feb 1959-30 September 2007
- Deployed at Incirlik AB, Turkey, 18 Oct 1959-22 Feb 1960
- Deployed at Clark AB, Philippines, 13 Feb-c. 7 Mar 1961
- Deployed at England AFB, Louisiana, 29 Mar-5 May 1961
- Deployed at Incirlik AB, Turkey, 5 Feb-15 Jun 1962
- Deployed at MacDill AFB, Florida, 21 Oct-1 Dec 1962
- Deployed at Takhli RTAFB, Thailand, 13 Dec 1962-1 Jun 1963 (A Flight)
- Deployed at Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, 13 Dec 1962-1 Jun 1963 (B Flight)
- Deployed at Takhli RTAFB, Thailand, 16 Mar-6 May 1964 (A Flight)
- Deployed at Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, 16 Mar-6 May 1964 (B Flight)
- Deployed at Clark AB, Philippines, 8 Aug-15 Nov 1964
- Further Deployed to: Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, 15 Aug-25 Nov 1965
- Deployed to: Undisclosed locations in Southwest AsiaSouthwest AsiaWestern Asia, West Asia, Southwest Asia or Southwestern Asia are terms that describe the westernmost portion of Asia. The terms are partly coterminous with the Middle East, which describes a geographical position in relation to Western Europe rather than its location within Asia...
as part of 27th Expeditionary Operations Group, 2002-2007 - Deployed at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, 13 Apr-12 May 1966
- Cannon AFB, New Mexico, 1 October 2007-1 March 2008
- Cannon AFB, New Mexico, 7 April 2011-Present
Aircraft
- Trained with B-18 BoloB-18 BoloThe Douglas B-18 Bolo was a United States Army Air Corps and Royal Canadian Air Force bomber of the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by Douglas Aircraft Company and based on its DC-2 and was developed to replace the Martin B-10....
s and A-18 ShrikeA-18 Shrike|-See also:-Bibliography:*Eden, Paul and Soph Moeng, eds. The Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft. London: Amber Books Ltd., 2002, ISBN 0-7607-3432-1....
s, 1940-1941 - A-24 Banshee, 1941-1942
- A-20 Havoc, 1941, 1942-1943
- A-36 Apache, 1943-1944
- P-40 Warhawk, 1944
- P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
, 1944-1945; 1946-1947 - P-51 MustangP-51 MustangThe North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
, 1947-1948
- F-82 Twin MustangF-82 Twin MustangThe North American F-82 Twin Mustang was the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as a long-range escort fighter in World War II; however, the war ended well before the first...
, 1948-1950 - F-84 ThunderjetF-84 ThunderjetThe Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces proposal for a "day fighter", the F-84 flew in 1946...
, 1950-1951, 1951-1957 - F-101 VoodooF-101 VoodooThe McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a supersonic military jet fighter which served the United States Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force...
, 1957-1958, 1958 - F-100 Super SabreF-100 Super SabreThe North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of...
, 1959-1969 - F-111 Aardvark, 1969-1970, 1970-1971, 1971-1998
- F-16 Falcon, 1998-2007