1st Special Operations Squadron The 1st Special Operations Squadron ( 1 SOS ) is part of the 353d Special Operations Group at Kadena Air Base , Japan . It operates MC - 130 Combat Talon II aircraft providing special operations capability . Air crews are trained in night low - level flying , using night vision goggles . Mission . To deliver troops and equipment into denied areas during adverse weather conditions at night by airdrop or landing . History . The 1st conducted gunnery testing and training from 1939 – 1942 . It flew administrative airlift from 1949 – 1952 and 1953 – 1954 . The 1st flew combat missions in Southeast Asia from 8 July 1963 – 7 November 1972 and 15 December 1972 – 28 January 1973 . It also trained Vietnamese Air Force pilots in counter - insurgency operations from , July 1963 – November 1972 . It acquired the Combat Talon mission from the redesignated 90th Tactical Fighter Squadron on 15 December 1972 . Three MC - 130 Combat Talon s from the 1st SOS led the Night One mission of Operation Eagle Claw , the hostage rescue mission in Iran , in April 1980 . The 1st operates the MC - 130H Combat Talon II aircraft in support of joint and allied special operations forces . Vietnam War . The 1st Special Operations Squadron was originally constituted as the 1st Air Commando Squadron , Composite ( 1st ACS ) , and activated on 17 June 1963 under Pacific Air Forces . It organized on 8 July 1963 at Bien Hoa Air Base , South Vietnam , and was assigned to the 34th Tactical Group . It was reassigned the following year , on 8 July , to the 6251st Tactical Fighter Wing ( although attached to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing , from 21 November 1965 – 8 March 1966 ) . Relocating to Pleiku Air Base , South Vietnam , it was reassigned to the 2nd Air Division on 18 February 1966 , and reassigned again to the 14th Air Commando Wing on 8 March 1966 . Redesignated the 1st Air Commando Squadron , Fighter , on 15 August 1967 , it was reassigned on 20 December 1967 to the 56th Air Commando Wing ( redesignated the 56th Special Operation Wing in August 1968 ) , and moved to Nakhon Phanom RTAFB ( Royal Thai Navy Base ) , Thailand . On 1 August 1968 the 1st ACS was redesignated as the 1st Special Operations Squadron ( 1st SOS ) . The 1st saw extensive combat in Southeast Asia , from 8 July 1963 – 7 November 1972 and from 15 December 1972 – 28 January 1973 . In its early years in Southeast Asia , the squadron flew a variety of aircraft , beginning with the B - 26 Invader and T - 28 Trojan in 1963 and 1964 , both aircraft used for close air support . While at its initial home base at Bien Hoa AB , aircrews of the 1st Air Commando Squadron performed the first combat tests of the famous FC - 47 gunship , beginning in December 1964 . In 1964 the 1st began flying the A - 1 Skyraider , the aircraft with which it is most closely associated , but continued to fly other types into 1966 . Its primary mission after the move to Nakhon Phanom RTAFB was interdiction along the Ho Chi Minh Trail , but its pilots and planes also flew cover for pilot rescue missions , and it continued to fly close air support missions for U . S . and Vietnamese ground forces . It also trained Vietnamese Air Force pilots in counterinsurgency operations , from July 1963 – November 1972 . Aircraft flown by the 1st SOS were the B – 26 ( 1963 – 1964 ) ; T – 28 ( 1963 – 1964 ) ; U – 10 Super Courier ( 1963 – 1966 ) ; C – 47 ( 1963 – 1966 ) ; RB – 26 ( 1963 – 1964 ) ; A – 1 ( 1964 – 1972 ) ; FC – 47 ( 1964 – 1965 ) ; AC – 47 ( 1965 ) ; and the C ( later , MC ) – 130 beginning in 1972 . Among its pilots was Major Bernard Francis Fisher , who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on 10 March 1966 over South Vietnam . In the first action of the Vietnam War that merited the award of the Air Force Cross , Captain Howard Rudolph Cody ] and his navigator First Lieutenant Atis Karlis Lielmanis both received the award posthumously for extraordinary heroism on 24 November 1963 while flying a B - 26 out of Bien Hoa AB on a close air support mission . Two other early recipients of the Air Force Cross were Maj . Carl Berg Mitchell and his navigator , Capt . Vincent Joseph Hickman . Maj . Mitchell and Capt . Hickman were awarded the medal posthumously for a B - 26 mission over Dong Nai Province on 14 January 1964 . Capt . John Edgar Lackey received the award for extraordinary heroism during a search and rescue mission over Laos on 18 and 19 March 1972 . The last pilot of the 1st to be awarded the Air Force Cross was Maj . James C . Harding , for extraordinary heroism in action near Tchepone , Laos from 10 to 13 April 1972 . Post - Vietnam operations . Following the end of combat operations at the end of 1972 , the 1st SOS was reassigned to the 18th Tactical Fighter Wing on 15 December 1972 and relocated to Kadena AB , Japan ( although a segment of the squadron operated from Nakhon Phanom RTAFB , from 15 December 1972 – 28 January 1973 ) . The 1st SOS was reassigned to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Wing , on 15 January 1981 , relocating in the process to Clark AB , Philippines . On 1 March 1983 the squadron was reassigned to the 2nd Air Division ; to the Twenty - third Air Force on 1 February 1987 ; and to the 353rd Special Operations Wing ( later the 353rd Special Operations Group ) , on 6 April 1989 . The 1st SOS relocated to Kadena AB , Japan , on 5 February 1992 . In August 2000 , a crew from the 1st SOS , along with another from the 17th SOS , flew a C - 130 each to deliver 19 tons of disaster relief aid across the Pacific to assist in Vietnam ' s worst flooding in a century . Nearly 22 , 000 pounds of plastic sheeting , 3 , 600 blankets and 5 , 000 water containers were flown from Guam to Okinawa and then on to Vietnam by the two Kadena - based C - 130s . Today . As an integral part of the 353rd Special Operations Group , the 1st Special Operations Squadron operates the MC - 130H Combat Talon II aircraft in support of joint and allied special operations forces . This aircraft is capable of delivering troops and equipment into denied areas during adverse weather conditions at night by airdrop or landing . Its air crews are specially trained in night low - level flying , using night vision goggles . The 353rd Special Operations Group is the focal point for all U . S . Air Force special operations activities throughout the USPACOM theater . The group contains more than 750 Airmen and five squadrons .