page_title: 73rd Special Operations Squadron
section_title: World War I
hierarchical_section_title: 73rd Special Operations Squadron / History / World War I
caption_attribution_description: 73d Aero Squadron group photograph, taken at Ourches Aerodrome, France, November, 1918
context_page_description: The 73d Special Operations Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The squadron operates the AC-130J Ghostrider ground-attack aircraft in support of Air Force Special Operations Command.
  The 73d is one of the oldest in the Air Force, its origins dating to the formation of the 73d Aero Squadron in February 1918. It served on the Western Front in France during World War I, and took part in the Aleutian Campaign during World War II. It was part of Strategic Air Command during the Cold War. The 73d was inactivated and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 16th Special Operations Squadron in 2015. The squadron was reactivated on 23 February 2018 to fly the new AC-130J "Ghostrider" gunship assigned to the 1st Special Operations Group at Hulburt Field, Florida.
context_section_description: The 73d dates to the formation of the 73d Aero Squadron at Rich Field, Waco, Texas on 22 February 1918.  The first personnel were 150 privates under the command of 1st Lieutenant Loren W. De Motte, which arrived at the Aviation Camp.   Once organized into a unit, the 73d was transferred to Call Field, Wichita Falls, Texas, where it underwent basic indoctrination training.   The men were also trained in aviation mechanic work.
  On 8 July, orders were received for the unit to proceed to the Aviation Concentration Center, Garden City, Long Island, for preparation to serve overseas.   An observation balloon detachment of 30 men was assigned to the squadron at Garden City, and the unit moved to the Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey on 29 July where it boarded a ship bound for France. After an uneventful crossing of the Atlantic, it arrived at the port of Brest, France on 26 August. At Brest, the balloon detachment was detached from the squadron, and the squadron was ordered to proceed to the St. Maixent Replacement Barracks for assignment.   Initially assigned as a support unit to the 1st Day Bombardment Group at Delouze Aerodrome on c. 20 September, the squadron maintained Dayton-Wright DH-4s of the group.  On 4 October, it was ordered to Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome, where it was reassigned to the Second Army.   At Colombey, the squadron operated the 6th Air Park; a maintenance and supply organization as part of the 1st Air Depot. It moved to Ourches Aerodrome about 15 November
  It remained in France after the Armistice in November, returning to the United States in June 1919 where it was demobilized at Hazelhurst Field, New York on 4 July.
caption: 73d Aero Squadron group photograph, taken at Ourches Aerodrome, France, November, 1918.
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