page_title: 319th Special Operations Squadron
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 319th Special Operations Squadron / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: IWM caption&#160;: THE WAR IN THE FAR EAST: THE BURMA CAMPAIGN 1941-1945, Description: Logistics: A C 47 aircraft releases parachutes with ammunition and rations for American troops in the field about 1500 yards from the Japanese line on the Myitkyina front.
context_page_description: The 319th Special Operations Squadron was first activated in September 1944 as the 319th Troop Carrier Squadron and served in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. It provided airlift support and conducted airborne drops and glider operations for Allied troops in Burma, central China, and French Indochina in the last year of World War II.
  The squadron was activated in April 1962 at Hurlburt Field, Florida and deployed planes and crews from Hurlburt for special air warfare and civic actions missions, then trained aircrews on special operations airlift at England Air Force Base, Louisiana until being inactivated as the 319th Special Operations Squadron in June 1972.
  On 1 October 2005, the squadron was again activated as part of an overall expansion of the Air Force Special Operations Command. It operates the Pilatus U-28A Draco.
context_section_description: The 319th was first activated in India as the 319th Troop Carrier Squadron (Commando) in September 1944.  The squadron served in the China-Burma-India Theater during World War II. It provided airlift support and flew aerial resupply missions in support of various commando units, such as Merrill's Marauders and the Chindits and conducted airborne drops and glider operations for Allied troops in Burma, central China, and French Indochina in the last year of World War II.  After the end of the war, the squadron moved to China, where it continued operations until October 1945.  In November 1945, the squadron returned on paper to India, but was not manned or equipped.  It was inactivated there in December 1945.
caption: C47 releases rations near Myitkyina, Burma
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