18th Flight Test Squadron

18th Flight Test Squadron

18th Flight Test Squadron V-22 Osprey
Active 1941–1945; 1969–1972; 1983–present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
Type Special Operations
Part of U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command
United States Special Operations Command
Engagements World War II
Vietnam
Insignia
18th Flight Test Squadron emblem (approved 13 July 1992)[1]

The 18th Flight Test Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida performs field tests of aircraft for Air Force Special Operations Command located with one detachment at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The 18th FLTS evaluates aircraft, equipment and tactics in realistic battlespace environments to provide decision makers accurate, timely and complete assessments of mission capability. From concept development to system fielding, the unit's mission improves the survivability and combat capability of special operations forces worldwide.

Mission

The 18th Flight Test Squadron (FLTS), located at Hurlburt Field, Florida, is the "independent field test agency" of Air Force Special Operations Command. It has one detachment at Edwards Air Force Base, California. The 18th FLTS evaluates aircraft, equipment and tactics in realistic battlespace environments to provide decision makers accurate, timely and complete assessments of mission capability. From concept development to system fielding, the unit's mission improves the survivability and combat capability of special operations forces worldwide.[2]

Units

The 18th FLTS is composed of approximately 96 people. The squadron consists of seven flights: fixed wing, vertical lift, operations analysis, combat applications, special missions, instrumentation and mission support.

The one detachment at Edwards Air Force Base, which is responsible for operational test and evaluation and tactics development and evaluation of the MV/CV-22 Osprey and supports Headquarters Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center in conducting joint tests with the Navy and Marine Corps.

SMOTEC filled a unique role by exploring new frontiers in special operations capabilities and developed better equipment and tactics to support Air Force special operations forces located throughout the world. It provided AFSOC with the centralized expertise needed for development and operational testing of new systems and tactics, proposed changes in doctrine, and recommended new requirements. The unit's co-location with the 1st SOW made it ideally suited to perform the mission of improving the worldwide Air Force aim of special operations forces.

On 1 October 1993 the 1st SOW was redesignated as the 16th SOW. SMOTEC remained a direct reporting unit to Headquarters AFSOC until 31 March 1994. On 1 April 1994, Air Force organizational changes dictated the unit's inactivation and realignment under the 18th Flight Test Squadron, also a direct reporting unit to HQ AFSOC.

History

World War II

B-18 as flown by the squadron

The squadron was activated at Langley Field, Virginia in January 1941 as the 18th Bombardment Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the 34th Bombardment Group, and equipped with a mixture of B-17C and B-17D Flying Fortresses and Douglas B-18 Bolos. Along with the 34th Group, the squadron moved to Westover Field, Massachusetts four months after they were activated.[3][4]

After the Pearl Harbor attack the squadron began antisubmarine patrols off the Northeast coast of the United States, but soon became part of Western Defense Command and moved to Pendleton Field, Oregon. By the summer of 1942, Second Air Force had become primarily a heavy bomber training force and the squadron became a B-17 Replacement Training Unit (RTU) at Geiger Field.[4] RTUs were oversized units which trained aircrews prior to their deployment to combat theaters.[5]

On 15 December 1942 the squadron moved to Blythe Army Air Base, California a base of the Desert Training Center.[6] The unit provided cadres for a number of heavy bomber units that served with Eighth Air Force during this period.[7]

B-24H of the 34th Bomb Group[note 1]

The 18th began training with Consolidated B-24 Liberators for overseas combat operations on 5 January 1944. Its ground echelon moved to the port of embarkation on 1 April 1944,[4][7] while the air echelon began its overseas movement on 31 May 1944, taking the southern ferry route, from Florida to Trinidad, Brazil, West Africa and Marrakesh arriving at RAF Valley, Wales.[7] The squadron arrived at its permanent station, RAF Mendlesham, England, in April 1944 and entered combat on 23 May 1944.[4][7]

The squadron helped to prepare for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by bombing airfields in France and Germany, and supported the June landings by attacking coastal defenses and communications. It supported ground forces at Saint-Lô in late July and struck V-1 flying bomb launch sites, gun emplacements, and supply lines throughout the summer of 1944.[4]

34th Bomb Group B-17G Flying Fortress[note 2]

The mixture of B-24s and B-17s in the 3d Bombardment Division presented a number of operational problems, and in early 1944 plans had begun at VIII Bomber Command headquarters to standardize the division with the Flying Fortress.[8] The 34th Group flew its last B-24 mission on 24 August 1944.[7] It transferred its Liberators for overhaul and eventual transfer to units of the 2d Bombardment Division,[9] and began converting to B-17s. It flew its first mission with the new planes on 17 September 1944.[4][7] The squadron engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic objectives from October 1944 to February 1945. Targets included marshaling yards in Ludwigshafen, Hamm, Osnabrück, and Darmstadt; oil centers in Bielefeld, Merseburg, Hamburg, and Misburg; factories in Berlin, Dalteln, and Hanover; and airfields in Münster, Neumünster, and Frankfurt.[4]

During this period the squadron also supported ground forces during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. In March 1945, with few enemy industrial targets remaining and with Allied armies advancing across Germany, the 18th turned almost solely to interdicting enemy communications and supporting Allied ground forces.[4] The 18th flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945.[7]

After V-E Day the squadron flew missions carrying food to flooded areas of the Netherlands and transported prisoners of war from German camps to Allied centers. The squadron redeployed to the United States in June and July 1945.[4] The first elements of the air echelon departed 19 June 1945. The ground echelon sailed aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth from Southampton on 6 August 1945. Upon arrival in the states, unit personnel were given 30 days leave.[7] The squadron reassembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.[4]

Vietnam War

AC-119 Stinger

The 18th returned to action as the 18th Special Operations Squadron 25 Jan 1969. Activated at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, and deployed to Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam, the 18th SOS flew the Fairchild AC-119K Stinger gunship. The squadron's primary mission was the interdiction of enemy supply lines, close air support, and air base defense. Following the transfer of the aircraft to the South Vietnamese Air Force, the 18th SOS was inactivated 31 Dec 1972.

Test and evaluation

On 1 Oct 1983, the Special Missions Operations Test and Evaluation Center (SMOTEC) was activated at Hurlburt Field by order of the Secretary of the Air Force as a direct reporting unit of Headquarters Military Airlift Command at Scott Air Force Base. SMOTEC was formed through the consolidation of the test and evaluation function previously assigned to the 1550th Aircrew Training and Test Wing, located at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, which was responsible for combat rescue and related test. It was also responsible for the informal test and evaluation staffs of the 2nd Air Division and the 1st Special Operations Wing, at Hurlburt Field. Though testing was reassigned to SMOTEC in October 1983, most of the testing continued at Kirtland for the reminder of that year.[2]

Lineage

18th Bombardment Squadron

Activated on 15 January 1941
Redesignated 18th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943
Inactivated on 28 August 1945

18th Special Operations Squadron

Activated on 25 January 1969
Inactivated on 31 December 1972
Activated on 15 July 1991
Redesignated 18th Flight Test Squadron on 23 March 1994
Inactivated on 1 April 1994
Activated on 1 April 1994[1]

Assignments

Stations

  • Langley Field, Virginia, 15 January 1941
  • Westover Field, Massachusetts, 29 May 1941
  • Pendleton Field, Oregon, 27 January 1942
  • Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona, 13 May 1942
  • Geiger Field, Washington, 4 Jul 1942
  • Ephrata Army Air Base, Washington, 1 December 1942
  • Blythe Army Air Base, California, 7 December 1942
  • Salinas Army Air Base, California, c. 29 May 1943
Operated from Kern County Airport, Bakersfield, California, 22 June -13 July 1943

Aircraft

References

Notes

  1. ↑ The plane is Douglas-Tulsa B-24H-15-DT Serial 41-28851 of the 7th Bomb Squadron. This aircraft was damaged during a mission on 24 August 1944 and made an emergency landing in Sweden (MACR 8461). The aircraft was interned until the end of the war then repaired and flown back to the UK in 1945.
  2. ↑ The aircraft is Lockheed/Vega B-17G-65-VE Serial 44-8457

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Robertson, Patsy (April 22, 2008). "Factsheet 18 Flight Test Squadron (USAFE)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Factsheet 18th Flight Test Squadron". Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs. August 17, 2011. Archived from the original on 25 February 2013. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  3. ↑ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 98
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 87-89
  5. ↑ Craven & Cate (eds.), Vol. VI, p. xxxvi
  6. ↑ Wilson, p. 128
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Freeman (1970), p. 240
  8. ↑ Freeman (1970), p. 156
  9. ↑ Freeman (1970), p. 172
  10. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20130217072853/http://www.afsoc.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123336024
  11. ↑ Station number in Anderson

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

Some of this text in this article was taken from USAFSOC which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource.

External links

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