page_title: 185th Special Operations Squadron
section_title: Tactical airlift
hierarchical_section_title: 185th Special Operations Squadron / History / Oklahoma Air National Guard / Tactical airlift
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Air Force Lockheed C-130H-LM Hercules aircraft (s/n 78-0812) from 185th Airlift Squadron, 137th Airlift Wing, Oklahoma Air National Guard (ANG), flies over snow blanketed New Mexico enroute to deliver hay to cattle stranded in remote fields after a major blizzard hit the area in December 1997.
context_page_description: The 185th Special Operations Squadron is a unit of the Oklahoma Air National Guard's 137th Special Operations Wing, located at Will Rogers World Airport, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The 185th is the only National Guard unit to be equipped with the MC-12W. The unit is known as the "Sooners." Famous unit alumni include former Vietnam prisoner of war Brig. Gen. James Robinson "Robbie" Risner and Astronaut Captain Fred Wallace Haise Jr., Apollo 13 Lunar Module Pilot.
context_section_description: In 1975 the squadron became the 185th Tactical Airlift Squadron when it was re-equipped with the Lockheed C-130A Hercules tactical airlifter.  In June 1979 the 185th Tactical Airlift Squadron was the first Air National Guard unit to receive C-130H aircraft, receiving new aircraft direct from Lockheed.
  In subsequent years the squadron served in humanitarian missions worldwide. During the 1990s the 185th provided counter-drug support coordinated through the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. As of mid-2001, numerous drug enforcement operations had resulted in the destruction of 7.2 million marijuana plants, estimated 4.1 billion dollars in destroyed drugs, 814 arrests, 165 seized weapons, and 1.1 million dollars in currency and assets seized.
  Following the Oklahoma City bombing in April 1995, unit air guardsmen provided site security and medical, rescue, and recovery personnel, assisting in every aspect of the disaster rescue and recovery effort.  The squadron provided operational support during the 1991 Gulf War, and contributed logistical assistance in Bosnia in the late 1990s.  Personnel from the squadron aided New Mexico ranchers faced with livestock devastation after severe winter storms covered the grasslands with snow. 137th aircrew delivered much needed hay to starving livestock, averting near disaster to New Mexico's livestock industry.
caption: A squadron C-130H flies over snow blanketed New Mexico to deliver hay to cattle stranded after a major blizzard hit the area in December 1997[note 5]
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