8th Air Support Operations Squadron

The 8th Air Support Operations Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit that was last stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy. Its first predecessor served during World War II, participating in the amphibious landings in Normandy on D-Day as the 8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron.

8th Air Support Operations Squadron
Squadron members, soldiers of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team and Italian army paratroopers Board a CH-47 Chinook
Active1942–1945; 1984–1991; 1994-2004; 2006–2013
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleClose air support operations
SizeSquadron
Motto(s)Sparare Avanzere Communicare (Italian for 'Shoot, Scoot, Communicate') (After 2006)
EngagementsEuropean Theater of Operations
Desert Storm[1]
DecorationsAir Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award[1]
Insignia
8 Air Support Operations Sq emblem
8th Air Support Operations Group emblem[a]

The squadron's second predecessor served in combat during Desert Storm as the 8th Air Support Operations Group, but was inactivated later in 1991. It was activated as a squadron at Aviano in December 2006.

History

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World War II

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The squadron's first predecessor was activated in August 1942 at Richmond Army Air Base as the 8th Communications Squadron. Although assigned to Eighth Air Force, it was attached to First Air Force for training until moving to the European Theater of Operations in January 1943.[1]

It entered combat as the 8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron on D-Day, 6 June. Its air support parties primarily served units of the United States First Army, directing air support missions for the ground forces they served. It provided six teams that made airborne and amphibious landings in the initial invasion. It continued in combat until May 1945. Following V-E Day, it became part of the occupation forces until returning to the United States in December 1945 for inactivation. It was disbanded on 8 October 1948.[1]

Cold War and Desert Storm

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The second predecessor of the squadron was activated at Moehringen Army Installation, Germany in March 1984 as the 602nd Air Support Operations Center. It advised the Army's VII Corps on employment of tactical airpower. It provided the VII Corps with an air support operations center and managed the tactical air control parties for the corps’ combat maneuver units. In February 1988, the two units were consolidated into a single unit that was redesignated the 8th Air Support Operations Group the following month. The group saw combat in Southwest Asia from January through December 1991, when it was inactivated.[1]

Post Cold War

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It was reduced to a flight and activated in July 1994 at Fort Lewis, Washington. It was inactivated there in 2004.[1]

In December 2006 it was redesignated the 8th Air Support Operations Squadron and activated at Aviano Air Base, Italy.[b] The squadron's main mission was to advise Southern European Task Force and the 173rd Airborne Brigade on the use of air power and provide precision terminal attack guidance of close air support aircraft.[2] Due to budget constraints, the squadron was inactivated in 2013.[citation needed]

Lineage

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8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron
  • Constituted as the 8th Communications Squadron, Air Support on 8 July 1942[c]
Activated on 29 August 1942
Redesignated 8th Air Support Communications Squadron on 11 January 1943
Redesignated 8th Air Support Control Squadron on 22 November 1943
Redesignated 8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron on 1 April 1944
Inactivated on 28 December 1945
  • Disbanded on 8 October 1948
  • Reconstituted on 8 February 1988 and consolidated with the 602d Air Support Operations Group as the 602d Air Support Operations Group[1]


8th Air Support Operations Squadron
  • Constituted as the 602nd Air Support Operations Center on 8 March 1984
Activated on 15 March 1984
Redesignated 602d Air Support Operations Group on 1 May 1985
  • Consolidated with the 8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron on 8 February 1988[1]
Redesignated [8th] Air Support Operations Group on 1 March 1988[d]
Inactivated on 1 November 1991
  • Redesignated 8th Air Support Operations Flight on 24 June 1994
Activated on 1 July 1994
Inactivated on 2 February 2004[3]
  • Redesignated 8th Air Support Operations Squadron on 21 November 2006[4]
Activated on 1 December 2006[4]
Inactivated in 2013[citation needed]

Assignments

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Stations

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References

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Notes

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Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Approved 4 April 1989.
  2. ^ The 8th Air Support Operations Squadron (Provisional) was activated at Aviano on 25 August 2006 and attached to the 4th Air Support Operations Group. It was inactivated on 1 December 2006, when the 8th was activated, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Status Report, August 2006, Maxwell AFB, AL.
  3. ^ This squadron is not related to the 8th Communications Squadron, Wing (originally the 325th Signal Company, Aviation) active from 1946 to 1948, or the current 8th Communications Squadron, which was first activated in 1948.
  4. ^ Robertson lists this redesignation, but repeats the group's previous designation, in an apparent typographical error.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Robertson, Patsy, Lineage and Honors History of the 8th Air Support Operations Flight, 11 July 2008
  2. ^ Wronek, Colleen (8 August 2006). "New TACP squadron arriving at Aviano". 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Lineage through 2004 in Robertson
  4. ^ a b c d Research Division, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Air Force Organization Change Status Report, December 2006, Maxwell AFB, AL
  5. ^ a b Station number in Anderson, p. 31.
  6. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 32.
  7. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 35.
  8. ^ a b Station number in Johnson, p. 33.
  9. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 32.

Bibliography

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  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency