| 185th Special Operations Squadron | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1943–1945; 1947–1953; 1953–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  Oklahoma |
| Branch |  Air National Guard |
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Special Operations |
| Part of | Oklahoma Air National Guard |
| Garrison/HQ | Will Rogers Air National Guard Base, Oklahoma |
| Mottos | Air Guardsmen, fit to lead, highly trained and ready to conduct special operations ... anyplace ... anytime[dubious –discuss] |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation French Croix de Guerre with Palm Belgian Fourragère |
| Insignia | |
| 185th Special Operations Squadron emblem |  |
| 185 Air Transport Squadron emblem[b] |  |
| 185th Fighter-Bomber Squadron emblem[1][c] |  |
| 506th Fighter Squadron emblem[2] |  |
| World War II fuselage code[2] | 4K |
The185th Special Operations Squadron is a unit of theOklahoma Air National Guard's137th Special Operations Wing, located atWill Rogers World Airport (Will Rogers Air National Guard Base), Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The 185th is the only National Guard unit (and only US Air Force unit) to be equipped with the MC-12W. The unit is known as the "Sooners".[citation needed] Famous unit alumni include former Vietnamprisoner of warBrig. Gen. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner and AstronautCaptain Fred Wallace Haise Jr.,Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot.
The squadron was first organized atKey Field, Mississippi in February 1943 as the620th Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the404th Bombardment Group. The squadron was initially equipped with a mix ofDouglas A-24 Banshees andBell P-39 Airacobras. In July 1943, the squadron moved toCongaree Army Air Field, South Carolina, where it was redesignated the506th Fighter-Bomber Squadron The following month. In early 1944, the squadron converted toRepublic P-47 Thunderbolts. Completing its training for combat in March, it deployed to the United Kingdom.[3][4]
The squadron arrived at its first overseas station,RAF Winkton, England in early April. It became operational on 1 May and began bombing andstrafing targets in France to help prepare forOperation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy. At the end of the month, it dropped the "Bomber" from its name and became the506th Fighter Squadron, but retained theair support mission. The squadron provided top cover for the landings onD-Day. A month later, on 6 July, the squadron moved toChippelle Airfield in France, from which it provided air support forOperation Cobra, the Allied breakout atSaint-Lô, later that month. Despite suffering heavy losses fromflak, the squadron helped cover fourarmored divisions dunging the breakout.[4] This support earned the squadron theFrench Croix de Guerre with Palm.[3]
The squadron supported theAllied advance across the Netherlands, operating from bases in France and fromSint-Truiden Airfield, Belgium. Its actions in this area, resulted in the squadron beingcited in the order of the day of the Belgian Army and the award of theBelgian Fourragère for its contributions to the liberation of the Belgian people.[3] On 10 September, the squadron participated in threearmed reconnaissance missions. On these missions, despite adverse weather and heavy antiaircraft fire, the squadron attackedlines of communications, factories and rail targets as ground forces advanced. These missions earned the squadron theDistinguished Unit Citation.[4]
During December 1944 and January 1945, attacked German positions during theBattle of the Bulge. Later it supportedOperation Lumberjack and the establishment of a bridgehead on the west bank of theRhine in March 1945. The squadron also flewair interdiction missions, strafing and bombing troop concentrations, railroads, highways, bridges, ammunition and fuel dumps, armored vehicles, docks, and tunnels. It covered bombing missions byBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses,Consolidated B-24 Liberators, andMartin B-26 Marauders.[4] On 4 May, the squadron flew armed reconnaissance missions that would prove to be its last combat missions of the war.[5]
The squadron briefly served with U.S. forces in theAmerican occupation zone of Germany before returning to the United States in August 1945. It reassembled atDrew Field, Florida on 11 September, but was inactivated on 9 November 1945.[3]
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The 506th Fighter Squadron was redesignated the185th Fighter Squadron and allotted to theNational Guard on 24 May 1946. It was organized at theWestheimer Airport, Oklahoma, and was extended federal recognition on 18 December 1947. The squadron was equipped withNorth American P-51D Mustang fighters and was assigned to theOklahoma National Guard's 137th Fighter Group.
The 137th Fighter Group provided command and logistical support for both the 185th and the125th Fighter Squadrons, based atTulsa Municipal Airport. The 125th performedair defense training missions over Northern Oklahoma and the panhandle; the 185th trained over Southern Oklahoma to the Texas border.
In April 1949, a tornado struck the Airport at Norman. The damage was considered too extensive for economical repair and the decision was made to move the 185th Fighter Squadron toWill Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City. The move was accomplished on 6 September 1949. Fortunately, none of the unit's F-51D aircraft were destroyed due to all being checked out by pilots for training flights away from base.
The 185th's parent 137th Fighter Group was federalized and ordered to active service on 10 October 1950. The squadron was then assigned directly to theOklahoma Air National Guard, continuing its air defense mission. However, on 1 February 1951, the squadron was re-equipped with North American RF-51D Mustangs as the185th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, and began training for tacticalaerial reconnaissance and flying aerial photography missions.
The 185th wasfederalized and ordered to active service on 1 April 1951. It was assigned to the118th Tactical Reconnaissance Group and moved toMemphis Municipal Airport the same month. The squadron moved toShaw Air Force Base, South Carolina on 5 January 1952. Squadron RF-51Ds were sent to Korea along with many of their pilots and joined the67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group where they served in combat. The remainder of the squadron were equipped withLockheed RF-80A Shooting Star reconnaissance jets. On 1 January 1953 the 185th was inactivated and transferred its personnel and planes to the regular30th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, which was simultaneously activated. It was returned to Oklahoma state control and to Will Rogers Airport as the185th Fighter-Bomber Squadron.
Reforming after their active duty service, the 185th was again assigned to the 137th Group on 1 January 1953, becomingTactical Air Command gained. The squadron was equipped with Mustangs again, due to the shortage of jet aircraft in the United States (almost all were in Korea). In the spring of 1953 they received reworked F-80A Shooting Star aircraft, brought up to F-80C standards. On 1 July 1955 the squadron was given a fighter-interceptor mission inAir Defense Command, and it became the185th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, equipped withNorth American F-86D Sabres. Their F-80s were transferred to the civilianFederal Aviation Administration (FAA) for various experimental testing activities.
With the fighter interceptor mission assignment, the 185th also assumed arunway alert program on full 24-hour basis - with armed jet fighters ready toscramble at a moment's notice. This event brought the squadron into the daily combat operational program of the USAF, placing it on "the end of the runway" alongside regular USAF air defense fighter squadrons. In June 1959 the squadron traded their F-86Ds for the upgraded F-86L Sabre Interceptor with uprated afterburning engines and new electronics.
In April 1961, the 185th was traded its Sabre interceptors for 4-enginedBoeing C-97 Stratofreighter transports and became the185th Air Transport Squadron. With air transportation recognized as a critical wartime need, the 185th augmentedMilitary Air Transport Service airlift capability worldwide in support of the Air Force's needs. Throughout the 1960s, the 185th flew long-distance transport missions in support of Air Force requirements, frequently sending aircraft to the Caribbean, Europe, Australia, Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, and during theVietnam War, to both South Vietnam, Okinawa and Thailand.
Part of the squadron's mission was a specially equipped C-97E, 51-0224, the "Miss Oklahoma City" also known as the "Talking Bird". From 1961 though 1963 the aircraft was used as an airborne command post to maintain constant secure communications between the nation's capital and President John F. Kennedy during his visits to foreign countries. The C-97s were retired in 1968 and the squadron re-equipped withDouglas C-124C Globemaster II heavy transports. The squadron continued to fly long-distance intercontinental airlift flights until the Globemasters were retired in 1975.
In 1975 the squadron became the185th Tactical Airlift Squadron when it was re-equipped with theLockheed C-130A Hercules tactical airlifter. In June 1979 the 185th Tactical Airlift Squadron was the first Air National Guard unit to receive C-130H aircraft, receiving new aircraft direct from Lockheed.
In subsequent years the squadron served in humanitarian missions worldwide. During the 1990s the 185th provided counter-drug support coordinated through the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. As of mid-2001, numerous drug enforcement operations had resulted in the destruction of 7.2 million marijuana plants, estimated 4.1 billion dollars in destroyed drugs, 814 arrests, 165 seized weapons, and 1.1 million dollars in currency and assets seized.
Following theOklahoma City bombing in April 1995, unit air guardsmen provided site security and medical, rescue, and recovery personnel, assisting in every aspect of the disaster rescue and recovery effort. The squadron provided operational support during the1991 Gulf War, and contributed logistical assistance in Bosnia in the late 1990s. Personnel from the squadron aided New Mexico ranchers faced with livestock devastation after severe winter storms covered the grasslands with snow. 137th aircrew delivered much needed hay to starving livestock, averting near disaster to New Mexico's livestock industry.
In its2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations, theDepartment of Defense recommended relocating the137th Airlift Wing toTinker Air Force Base and associate with the507th Air Refueling Wing ofAir Force Reserve Command. The squadron's C-130H aircraft would be distributed to the136th Airlift Wing atNAS JRB Fort Worth, Texas (4 aircraft), and the139th Airlift Wing atRosecrans Memorial Airport, Missouri (4 aircraft). The other elements of the wing's expeditionary combat support would remain in place at Will Rogers. Beginning in October 2008, the185th Air Refueling Squadron aircrews jointly operated theBoeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft at Tinker with the aircrews of the Air Force Reserve465th Air Refueling Squadron.
As a result of theNational Defense Authorization Act of 2015, the squadron transitioned fromAir Mobility Command as an associate KC-135R unit at Tinker AFB toAir Force Special Operations Command as a MC-12W unit. The unit ceased operations as an associate unit flying KC-135s in the summer of 2015.
It started receiving its MC-12W aircraft in July 2015, returning to its previous home ofWill Rogers World Airport/ANG Base. The squadron first deployed to supportUnited States Special Operations Command elements in October 2017. While commonly known as "Liberty," after theSecond World WarLiberty ships, the aircraft does not have an official nickname, and AFMC's Project Liberty Office was closed upon transfer of the aircraft to the Project Javaman Office for support toUnited States Special Operations Command. 'Javaman' was named after a declassifiedWorld War II naval project involving remote control attack boats controlled by retrofitted bomber aircraft.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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