Active 1917 – present Role Special Operations | Country United States Part of 919th Operations Group | |
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Branch United States Air Force Garrison/HQ Hurlburt Field, Florida | ||
The 2d Special Operations Squadron (2 SOS) is an Air Force Reserve Command unit, assigned to the 919th Operations Group. Stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida, the unit operates MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Vehicles.
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The unit is one of the oldest units in the United States Air Force, being formed on 25 September 1917 at Fort Omaha, Nebraska. During World War I, the unit was part of the Balloon Section, American Expeditionary Forces (AEF), becoming the first American balloon company to reach the Western Front in France and enter combat. 2d SOS thus holds the distinction among all USAF units of being "the first complete American air unit in history to operate against an enemy on foreign soil."
It was part of the Army Balloon and Airship School after the war, being a balloon training unit until the beginning of World War II. It was later part of the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War.
World War I
The unit was initially formed at Fort Omaha, Nebraska as Company B, 2d Balloon Squadron on 25 September 1917 at the Fort Omaha Balloon School. Its mission was to provide forward observations for the artillery. The unit trained in the fall of 1917, one of the last, as training was rather difficult at Fort Omaha: the weather was bad much of the time, and it was impossible to keep balloons in the air for long periods. The Army decided they needed Balloon Schools in warmer, more stable, environments and selected Camp John Wise in San Antonio, Texas and Camp Ross, Arcadia, California. On 30 November, orders were received for the unit to proceed to the Aviation Concentration Center, Garden City, Long Island, for preparation to serve overseas.
On 7 December, the squadron, now designated as the 2d Balloon Company, boarded a train and proceeded to St. John, New Brunswick, Newfoundland where it boarded the RMS Tunisian for the overseas crossing of the Atlantic. It left on 12 December and arrived at Liverpool, England on Christmas Day. From there, the company traveled by train to Southampton on the English Channel coast and boarded the steamer Archangle for Le Harve, France, arriving on 28 December. It reported to the American Expeditionary Force Balloon School at Camp de Coetquidan, Morbihan, France, on 3 January 1918.
At the school, the company received French Caquot (U.S. Type R) observation balloons. It was trained on the equipment by members of the French Army, and on 23 January, the first trail ascents with an observer in the basket was made. The company sent members to the front lines and operated under French control, making artillery adjustments for the 101st, 102, 149th and 150th French Artillery Regiments. Finally, on 29 February, training was ended and the 2d Balloon Company was ordered to report to the First Army at Toul, arriving on 1 March, joining the French encampment of the 90th French Balloon Company at Camp L'Emitage, near Menil-la-Tour. It was the first American balloon company to reach the Western Front and enter combat.
The first observer of the company to be decorated was 1st Lieutenant Sidney Howell, when on 16 March, he was forced to jump from a burning balloon set on fire by enemy aircraft. He received a Croix de Guerre with palm. During the Chateu-Thierry operations, the company took a very active part, following the advance of Allied troops moving frequently as the front moved up. Frequently the balloons were attacked and set on fire by enemy aircraft, observers jumping and landing safely. The company took part in the St. Mihiel and Muse-Argonne offensives during 1918, making a total of 180 ascensions with 13 observers. The missions being hazardous with 9 balloons being shot down, however no squadron members were killed or wounded in action.
With the Armistice on 11 November 1918, the company was reassigned to the Third Army of Occupation and ordered to report to Euren, Germany, in the Rhineland and performed occupation duty along the Rhine River. It remained with Third Army until 20 May until being relieved and ordered to return to the United States. After processing at the 1st Air Depot, Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome, France, the unit reported first to a staging area, then to a port for the return home.
The 2d Balloon company arrived at the Port of New York on 22 June 1919 on the USS Patria and transferred to Mitchel Field, New York, c. 23 June 1919, where the men were demobilized and returned to civilian life.
Inter-war period
On 11 August 1919, the designation was transferred to Camp Ross, Arcadia, California without personnel. The unit was re-organized on 1 October 1921 and re-designated as the Air Service Balloon School. However, the Air Service decided to close Camp Ross due to the Santa Ana winds which blew in from the desert. These winds created much havoc with the aerial observation, ground training, and balloon handling. The remaining equipment left over from the war and some men were sent to Brooks Field, Texas. The unit was demobilized on 21 May 1922.
A new 2d Balloon Company was constituted in the Regular Army on 18 October 1927, and assigned to the 26th Balloon Group at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. The company was assigned to the Army's VIII Corps Area, however it was never organized. The designation was transferred to the VI Corps Area on 1 September 1928 without personnel or equipment and then to the IV Corps Area, being organized at Fort Bragg, North Carolina on 29 May 1930 and being attached to Corps Headquarters. The unit was equipped with type C-3 Observation Balloons as well as type A-6 and A-7 Spherical Balloons. It was consolidated with its World War I predecessor unit on 6 August.
At Fort Bragg, the unit was re-designated as the 2d Balloon Squadron on 1 October 1933 and reassigned to the 24th Balloon Group; later being assigned to the 21st Balloon Group on 1 June 1937 and equipped with C-6 Observation Balloons in 1938. It supported activities of the Coast Artillery Barrage Balloon Training Center at Camp Davis, North Carolina, 1940-41. Aircraft reconnaissance technology was making the manned observation balloon obsolete by 1940; the unit was lastly assigned on 1 September 1941 to the I Air Support Command of First Air Force at Pope Field, before being disbanded on 3 February 1942 shortly after the Pearl Harbor Attack.
Strategic Air Command
In its early years, along with its own fighter wings for escorting its bombers, Strategic Air Command (SAC) formed a limited air transport capability to supplement that of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), which provided SAC with the majority of its airlift support. The 2d Strategic Support Squadron was organized and activated on 14 January 1949 at Biggs AFB, Texas, being assigned to SAC's Eighth Air Force.
Initially flying C-54 Skymasters, the squadron carried much classified equipment and personnel to various locations around the world. During the 1950s the squadron operated from several SAC bases in various locations and was upgraded to the C-124 Globemaster II intercontinental airlifter in 1950. The squadron was inactivated on 15 June 1961 when SAC divested itself of its organic transport aircraft and transferred the mission back to MATS.
Modern era
The squadron was reactivated in the Air Force Reserve in 2009. With its history of being a decorated combat reconnaissance unit, the squadron was assigned modern MQ-1 Predator UAVs. The 2d SOS became the first Air Force Reserve squadron to assume command of a UAV combat air patrol - a 24/7 orbit over a critical area of a combat zone.
The 2d SOS was originally established as a classic "associate" Air Force Reserve squadron with a bit of a twist. It was initially located at Nellis AFB, Nevada, geographically separated from both its parent unit, the 919th Special Operations Wing at Duke Field, Florida, and its host associate unit, the Regular Air Force's 3rd Special Operations Squadron at Cannon AFB, New Mexico. It was/is also geographically separated from the aircraft it operates, as all of the aircraft the squadron operates are owned by the active-duty, and all of the aircraft are deployed in combat areas. In 2014, the squadron relocated to its current home of Hurlburt Field, Florida, concurrent with its transition to the MQ-9 Reaper.
Like many other UAV squadrons, the 2d SOS is composed of people with a wide range of aircraft experience in addition to the MQ-1 and MQ-9: AC-130 gunships, MC-130 Combat Talons, A-10s, Marine Corps AV-8 Harriers, Navy F-14s, F-15s, F-16s, Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18s, F-22s and bombers, tankers, airlifters, and even helicopters.