33d Special Operations Squadron

The 33d Special Operations Squadron (33 SOS) flies MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and is currently stationed at Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis, New Mexico. The 33 SOS is under the command of the Air Force Special Operations Command. The Reaper is a medium altitude, multi-sensor platform that can locate, identify and destroy enemy positions.

History

Activated as a World War I Army Air Service Aero Squadron at Kelly Field, Texas. Deployed to France in late 1917. Constructed facilities, maintained aircraft, and functioned as a flying training unit. Inactivated in 1919.

Reorganized in 1923, activated in 1932 by the Army Air Corps at Langley Field, Virginia. Equipped with a variety of biplane pursuit aircraft, later Northrup A-17A dive bombers. Upgraded to modern Curtiss P-40 Warhawks in 1940, deployed to Iceland when the United States assumed military defense of the Danish Colony in 1941. Performed air defense mission in Iceland during World War II, later equipped with P-39 Aircobras and P-47 Thunderbolts. Inactivated in June 1945.

Reactivated by Tactical Air Command at Clovis AFB, New Mexico in 1953. Never made operational and inactivated after a few weeks. Again reactivated at Myrtle Beach AFB, SC in 1956 as a training squadron. Never made operational and inactivated again after a few weeks.

Reactivated a third time by Tactical Air Command in 1969 at Shaw AFB, SC as an RF-4C Phantom II reconnaissance training squadron. Performed training for new photo-reconnaissance pilots at Shaw until parent wing converted to F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft, became an operational squadron in 1995, the last of the RF-4C squadrons at Shaw to remain equipped with the Phantom.

Trained in tactical fighter missions designed to destroy enemy forces, 1985-1993. Deployed aircrews and aircraft to Southwest Asia (SWA); participated in Operation Southern Watch over southern Iraq in support of United Nations operations, 1992-1993. Lt Col Gary L. North, commander of 33 Fighter Squadron, became the first F-16 pilot to score an aerial victory in SWA, 27 Dec 1992. Inactivated in late 1993 during switchover from 363d FW to 20th FW.

Reactivated in 2009 at Cannon AFB, New Mexico as a MQ-9 Reaper UAV squadron.

Lineage

• Organized as 33d Aero Squadron on 12 Jun 1917

Demobilized on 14 Apr 1919

• Reconstituted and redesignated as 33d Pursuit Squadron on 24 Mar 1923

Activated on 25 Jun 1932

Re-designated: 33d Pursuit Squadron (Fighter) on 6 Dec 1939

Re-designated: 33d Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 12 Mar 1941

Re-designated: 33d Fighter Squadron on 15 May 1942

Re-designated: 33d Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 3 Feb 1944

Inactivated on 22 Jun 1945

• Re-designated as 33d Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 3 Mar 1953

Activated on 8 Apr 1953

Inactivated on 25 Jun 1953

• Re-designated as 33d Fighter-Day Squadron on 7 May 1956

Activated on 25 Jul 1956

Inactivated on 19 Nov 1956

• Re-designated 33d Tactical Reconnaissance Training Squadron on 18 Aug 1969

Organized on 15 October 1969, assuming personnel and equipment of 4415th Combat Crew Training Squadron

Inactivated on 1 Oct 1982

• Re-designated 33d Tactical Fighter Squadron on 7 Sep 1984

Activated on 1 Jan 1985

Re-designated 33d Fighter Squadron on 1 Nov 1991

Inactivated on 15 Nov 1993

• Re-designated as 33d Special Operations Squadron on 29 Apr 2009

Activated on 29 May 2009.

Assignments

• Unknown, 12 Jun-Dec 1917
• Third Aviation Instruction Center, Dec 1917-Jan 1919
• Unknown, Jan-14 Apr 1919
• 8th Pursuit Group, 25 Jun 1932
• Iceland Base Command, 6 Aug 1941
• 342d Composite Group, 11 Sep 1942
• 24th Composite Wing, 18 Mar 1944
• Iceland Base Command, 15 Jun 1944-9 Jun 1945
• 37th Fighter-Bomber Group, 8 Apr-15 Jun 1953
• 342d Fighter-Day Group, 25 Jul-19 Nov 1956
• 363d Tactical Reconnaissance (later, 363 Tactical Fighter) Wing, 15 Oct 1969-1 Oct 1982
• 363d Tactical Fighter (later, 363 Fighter) Wing, 1 Jan 1985
• 363d Operations Group, 1 May 1992-15 Nov 1993
• 27th Special Operations Group, 29 May 2009-Present

Stations

Aircraft

See also

• List of American Aero Squadrons

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Mauer, Mauer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ISBN 0-89201-097-5
• Official fact sheet of 33d Special Operations Squadron

External links