USAF / 21st SOS / Full Squadron History / Jolly Green Giant

 

'DUST DEVILS'

Lineage
Constituted as 21st Pursuit Squadron (Interceptor) on 22 Dec 1939.
Activated on 1 Feb 1940.
Inactivated on 2 Apr 1946.
Consolidated (19 Sep 1985) with the 21st Helicopter Squadron, which was constituted on 24 Feb 1956.
Activated on 9 Jul 1956.
Inactivated on 15 Oct 1957.
Activated on 30 Jun 1967.
Organized on 15 Jul 1967.
Redesignated as 21st Special Operations Squadron on 1 Aug 1968.
Inactivated on 22 Sep 1975.
Activated on 1 May 1988.
Inactivated on 31 Oct 2007.
Activated on 1 Jul 2019.

Assignments
35th Pursuit Group, 1 Feb 1940–15 Jan 1942 (attached to 24 Pursuit Group, c. 20 Nov 1941–2 Apr 1946).
Eighteenth Air Force, 9 Jul 1956 (attached to 63 Troop Carrier Wing, 9 Jul 1956–30 Jun 1957; 314 Troop Carrier Wing, 30 Jun-30 Aug 1957); Ninth Air Force, 1 Sep–15 Oct 1957 (remained attached to 314th Troop Carrier Wing through c. 8 Oct 1957).
Tactical Air Command, 30 Jun 1967;
507th Tactical Control Group, 15 Jul 1967;
56th Air Commando (later, 56 Special Operations) Wing, 27 Nov 1967;
Thirteenth Air Force, 30 Jun–22 Sep 1975 (attached to 656 Special Operations Wing, 30 Jun–22 Sep 1975).
39th Special Operations Wing, 1 May 1988 (attached to Joint Special Operations Task Force, 13 Jan–18 Mar 1991 and 6 Apr–10 Jun 1991);
352th Special Operations Group, 1 Dec 1992–31 Oct 2007 (attached to Joint Special Operations Task Force, 2 Mar–12 Jul 1993).
353th Special Operations Group, 1 Jul 2019-.

Stations
Moffett Field, CA, 1 Feb 1940;
Hamilton Field, CA, 10 Sep–Oct 1941;
Nichols Field, Luzon, c. 20 Nov 1941 (air echelon operated from Clark Field, c. 9–c. 15 Dec 1941);
Lubao, Luzon, c. 25 Dec 1941;
Bataan, Luzon, c. 4 Jan–Apr 1942 (a portion of the air echelon operated from Mindanao, c. 9 Apr–c. 1 May 1942).
Donaldson AFB, SC, 9 Jul 1956–15 Oct 1957.
Shaw AFB, SC, 15 Jul–27 Nov 1967;
Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand, 27 Nov 1967–22 Sep 1975 (air echelon operated from Ubon RTAFB, Thailand, 11–13 Apr 1975;
the USS Midway, 20 Apr–2 May 1975;
U–Tapao RTNAF, Thailand, 2–5 May and 14–16 May 1975).
RAF Woodbridge, England, 1 May 1988 (deployed at Batman AB, Turkey, 13 Jan–18 Mar 1991; Diyarbkir AB, Turkey, 6 Apr–10 Jun 1991);
RAF Alconbury, England, 1 Apr 1992– 17 Feb 1995 (deployed at Brindisi AB, Italy and Incirlik AB, Turkey, 2 Mar–12 Jul 1993);
RAF Mildenhall, England, 17 Feb 1995-31 Oct 2007. 
Yokota AB, Japan, 1 Jul 2019-.

Aircraft
Probably P–36, 1940–1941;
P–40, 1941–1942.
H–21, 1956–1957.
CH–3, 1967–1971;
CH–53, 1970–1975.
MH–53, 1988–2007.
CV-22, 2019-.

Operations
Combat in the Philippine Islands, 8 Dec 1941–c. 1 May 1942; ground echelon fought as infantry unit in Bataan, 18 Jan–c. 8 Apr 1942. Carried as an active unit but was not operational from the fall of the Philippines until inactivation. Combat in Southeast Asia, Nov 1967–Aug 1973. Airlifted personnel from Saigon, Apr 1975 and airlifted US Marines in rescue of the SS Mayaquez, May 1975. Provided support to coalition forces during Southwest Asia conflict, Jan–Mar 1991 and later.

If you have any additional information about this patch please contact me & I´ll get back to you.

Thanks👣