605th Special Operations Squadron

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{{Infobox military unit

|unit_name= 5th Fighter Squadron (Commando)

File:United States Air Forces Southern Command - Emblem.png

| image=OA-37B 24th Wing in Guatemala 1987.JPEG

| image_size = 290

|caption=OA-37B of the 24th Wing in Guatemala

|dates= 1944–1945, 1962–1972

|country={{flag|United States|23px}}

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|branch={{air force|USA}}

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|role=Special Operations

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|motto=Cualquier Hora, Cualquier Lugar Spanish Anyplace, Anytime

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|identification_symbol=175px

|identification_symbol_label=605th Special Operations Squadron emblem

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The 605th Special Operations Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 24th Special Operations Wing at Howard Air Force Base, Panama Canal Zone, where it was inactivated on 30 April 1972.

History

The squadron was first active during World War II as the 5th Fighter Squadron, Commando. After training in the United States the squadron moved to the China Burma India Theater, where it served in combat until the surrender of Japan. The squadron returned to the United States where it was inactivated in November 1945.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 35

The squadron was activated again in October 1963 as the United States expanded its special operations units and was stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, where it trained units of various Latin American air forces until it was inactivated in late 1972.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 5th Fighter Squadron, Commando on 9 August 1944

: Activated on 1 September 1944

: Inactivated on 3 November 1945

  • Disbanded on 8 October 1948
  • Reconstituted 24 October 1963, redesignated 605th Air Commando Squadron, Composite and activated (not organized)

: Organized on 15 November 1963See Ravenstein, pp. 25–26

: Redesignated 605th Special Operations Squadron on 1 August 1968

: Inactivated on 30 April 1972

=Assignments=

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  • 1st Air Commando Group, 1 September 1944 – 3 November 1945 (attached to 1st Provisional Fighter Group, February 1945 – May 1945)
  • Tactical Air Command, 24 October 1963 (not organized)
  • 1st Air Commando Wing 15 November 1963 (attached to USAF Southern Command (?) November 1963 – July 1964)
  • 5700th Air Base Wing. 1 July 1965
  • 24th Air Commando Wing (later 24th Special Operations Wing), 8 November 1967 – 30 April 1972Ravenstein, pp. 25–26

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References

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=Bibliography=

{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}

  • * {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|origyear=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 20 December 2016|edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
  • {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977|year=1984|url=https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-12-9|url-access=registration}}