522d Special Operations Squadron

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.

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 March.

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 7 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 Commando 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) Group, 1 Feb 1940 – 7 Nov 1945
 * 27th Fighter (later, 27 Fighter-Escort) Group, 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 Group, 7 April 2011 – present

Assignments

 * Barksdale Field, Louisiana, 1 Feb 1940
 * Hunter Field, Georgia, 7 Oct 1940 – 19 Oct 1941
 * Fort William McKinley, Luzon, Philippines, 20 Nov 1941
 * Lipa Airfield, Luzon, Philippines, 22 Dec 1941
 * Cabcaben, Luzon (Ground echelon), 25 Dec 1941
 * Air echelon operated from Archerfield Airport, Brisbane, Australia, 24 Dec 1941 – 16 Feb 1942


 * Bataan, Luzon (Ground echelon), 29 Dec 1941
 * Air echelon operated from Batchelor Airfield, Australia, 17 Feb-c. 8 Mar 1942
 * Air echelon operated from Archerfield Airport, Brisbane, Australia, c. 10-c. 25 Mar 1942


 * Charters Towers Airfield, Australia, Apr-4 May 1942
 * Hunter Field, Georgia, 4 May 1942
 * Key Field, Mississippi, 14 Jul 1942
 * Hattiesburg Army Airfield, Mississippi, 15 Aug 1942
 * Harding Army Airfield, Louisiana, 25 Oct-21 Nov 1942
 * Sainte-Barbe du Tlélat Airfield, Algeria, 26 Dec 1942
 * Nouvion Airfield, Algeria, 5 Jan 1943
 * Ras el Ma Airfield, French Morocco, 4 Apr 1943
 * Korba Airfield, Tunisia, c. 8 Jun 1943
 * Gela Airfield, Sicily, 18 Jul 1943
 * Barcelona Landing Ground, Sicily, 3 Sep 1943
 * Capaccio Airfield, Italy, 18 Sep 1943
 * Paestum Airfield, Italy, 4 Nov 1943
 * Pomigliano Airfield, Italy, 19 Jan 1944
 * Castel Volturno Airfield, Italy, 10 Apr 1944
 * Santa Maria Airfield, Italy, 9 May 1944
 * Le Banca Airfield, Italy, 7 Jun 1944
 * Ciampino Airfield, Italy, 12 Jun 1944
 * Voltone Airfield, Italy, 4 Jul 1944
 * Serragia Airfield, Corsica, 10 Jul 1944
 * Le Luc Airfield, France, 25 Aug 1944
 * Salon-de-Provence Air Base (BA 701), France, 30 Aug 1944
 * Loyettes Airfield (Y-25), France, 11 Sep 1944
 * Tarquinia Airfield, Italy, 2 Oct 1944
 * Pontedera Airfield, Italy, 3 Dec 1944


 * St-Dizier Airfield (A-64), France, 21 Feb 1945
 * Toul/Ochey Airfield (A-96), France, 19 Mar 1945
 * Biblis Airfield (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 Shanks, 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 Sturgate, 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-25 Nov 1964
 * Further Deployed to: Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, 15 Aug-25 Nov 1964
 * Deployed to: Undisclosed locations in Southwest 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 Bolos and A-18 Shrikes, 1940-1941
 * A-24 Banshee, 1941-1942
 * A-20 Havoc, 1941, 1942-1943
 * A-36 Apache, 1943-1944
 * P-40 Warhawk, 1944
 * P-47 Thunderbolt, 1944-1945; 1946-1947
 * P-51 Mustang, 1947-1948


 * F-82 Twin Mustang, 1948-1950
 * F-84 Thunderjet, 1950-1951, 1951-1957
 * F-101 Voodoo, 1957-1958, 1958
 * F-100 Super Sabre, 1959-1969
 * F-111D Aardvark, 1969-1970, 1970-1971, 1971-1998
 * F-16 Falcon, 1998-2007
 * MC-130J Commando II, 2011 – present