21st Special Operations Squadron The 21st Special Operations Squadron is a unit within the 352d Special Operations Group ( 352 SOG ) , United States Air Force , United States European Command , and was based at Royal Air Force base RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk , eastern England . Mission . The 21st Special Operations Squadron is the Vertical lift aircraft portion of the 352d Special Operations Group . The squadron ' s mission includes ; all - weather , low - level penetration of denied territory to provide infiltration , exfiltration , resupply , or fire support for air , ground , and naval forces that could encompass Europe , Southwest Asia and Africa , according to Special Operations Command Europe . The squadron operates the Bell Boeing V - 22 Osprey , a fixed wing , tilt - rotor transport aircraft . The CV - 22 used by special operations can travel 500 nautical miles at or below 500 feet above ground level , locate a small landing zone , infiltrate and exfiltrate a team of 18 special operations forces , and return to base . The ability to land like a helicopter means the Osprey can get to remote locations that planes can ’ t reach . History . The 21st Special Operations Squadron traces its lineage to the 21st Pursuit Squadron ( Interceptor ) which was constituted on 22 December 1939 . Activated on 1 February 1940 at Moffett Field , California , it was assigned to the 35th Pursuit Group until 15 Jan 1942 ( but attached to the 24th Pursuit Group , c . 20 November 1941 – 2 April 1946 ) . The squadron saw combat in the Philippine Islands , from 8 December 1941 – c . 1 May 1942 and a ground echelon fought as infantry in Bataan , from 18 January – c . 8 April 1942 . It was not operational from the fall of the Philippines until its inactivation on 2 April 1946 . Aircraft flown by the squadron during that period were probably the P - 36 , ( 1940 – 1941 ) and the P - 40 ( 1941 – 1942 ) . It was consolidated on 19 September 1956 with the 21st Helicopter Squadron , which had been constituted on 24 February 1956 . It was activated on 9 July 1956 at Donaldson AFB , South Carolina , flying the H - 21 and assigned to the Eighteenth Air Force ( but attached to the 63rd Troop Carrier Wing , 9 July 1956 – 30 June 1957 ; 314th Troop Carrier Wing , 30 June 1957 ) . It was reassigned to Ninth Air Force , on 1 September until 15 October 1957 ( remained attached to 314th Troop Carrier Wing through c . 8 October 1957 ) . It inactivated on 5 October 1957 . It reactivated on 30 June 1967 , assigned to Tactical Air Command , and was organized on 15 July 1967 at Shaw AFB under the 507th Tactical Control Group . Operating the CH - 3 ( until 1971 ) , it was reassigned to the 56th Air Commando ( later , 56th Special Operations ) Wing , on 27 November 1967 . It was re - designated as the 21st Special Operations Squadron on 1 August 1968 . In 1970 , the squadron began operating the CH - 53 . In September 1970 , the 21st Special Operations Squadron ( SOS ) flew eleven CH - 3E helicopters and one , new CH - 53 helicopter which arrived at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base on 8 August . The squadron referred to the large CH - 53 as " BUFF , " for " big , ugly , fat fellow , " and this designation should not be confused with a similar nickname given to B - 52 bombers . Vietnam War . The squadron saw combat in Southeast Asia , from November 1967 – August 1973 , aircraft losses were as follows : The 21st was reassigned to Thirteenth Air Force , on 30 June 1975 ( though attached to the 656th Special Operations Wing , 30 June – 22 September 1975 ) before inactivating on 22 September 1975 at U - Tapao Air Base , Thailand . Reactivation in Europe . The squadron was reactivated on 1 May 1988 at RAF Woodbridge , England . The 67th ARRS which flew both the HC - 130 " Hercules " and HH - 53 " Super Jolly Green Giant " was split into two units , becoming the 67th Special Operations Squadron for the 130 fixed - wing aircraft and the 21st Special Operations Squadron for the rotary wing . Flying the MH - 53J Pave Low III , it was assigned to the 39th Special Operations Wing ( though attached to the Joint Special Operations Task force at Batman Air Base , Turkey , from 13 January – 18 March 1991 and from 6 April – 10 June 1991 at Diyarbakır AB , Turkey ) . The 21st provided support to coalition forces during Southwest Asia conflict , from January to March 1991 and later . The 21st relocated to RAF Alconbury , England , and was reassigned to the 352d Special Operations Group , on 1 December 1992 ( though attached to Joint Special Operations Task Force from 2 March – 12 July 1993 , deploying during that period to Brindisi Air Base , Italy and Incirlik Air Base , Turkey ) . Joint Task Force Provide Comfort deployed to Incirlik Air Base at Adana , Turkey , on 6 April 1991 . The initial Provide Comfort deployment was a scaled - down package made up of the lead elements of the USAF 39th Special Operations Wing ( SOW ) . This unit was first labeled " Express Care . " Its ground organization included command , administration , ordnance , maintenance , supply , and support personnel . The ground component of Joint Task Force Express Care was the 1st Battalion , 10th SFG ( A ) . The Army ' s Special Forces were experienced , highly skilled , unconventional warriors specially trained to work and live with indigenous populations in remote areas . About 200 Special Forces soldiers were assigned to support Provide Comfort . General Jay Garner tasked Colonel James L . Jones to move the 24th MEU ( SOC ) into northern Iraq on 20 April to secure the town of Zakho . In preparation , a flight of two MH - 53J Pave Low helicopters from 21 SOS made a reconnaissance of the area . They brought back photographs and video imagery of the operations area and potential camp sites . A squadron MH - 53 Pave Low was escorted by two Hungarian Hind MI - 24 gunships over Lake Balaton on their way to Szentkirályszabadja airfield Veszprém , Hungary , for participation in the Hungarian / US Bilateral Rescue Exercise Combined Rescue 95 . The Stokes Litter on the Pave Low is designed for rapid extraction of injured without landing . In 1998 , an Air Force MH - 53 Pave Low from the 21st Special Operations Squadron , RAF Mildenhall , England , flew out of San Vito , Italy in support of the Bosnian peacekeeping mission . An MH - 53J Pave Low helicopter from the 352d Special Operations Group ' s 21st Special Operations Squadron , landed aboard the operating in the Mediterranean Sea on 4 February 1999 . The helicopter , call sign SKAT 08 , got an emergency call to evacuate a seaman with appendicitis for transport to the hospital in Lecce , Italy . The patient was transferred and the helicopter returned to Brindisi Air Station , Italy , without incident . The 21st Special Operations Squadron participated in a combat search and rescue mission for the pilot of a downed F - 117A stealth fighter during the air campaign against Serbia and the forces of Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milošević . A radio transmission from a refueling tanker stating it had received no response from his F - 117A customer . Then followed reports the stealth fighter was missing or shot down . Soon after , the MC - 130P Combat Shadow crew took off en route to Bosnia - Herzegovina for a rendezvous with three rescue helicopters . Two were MH - 53 Pave Lows , one from the 21st SOS and the other from the 20th SOS at Hurlburt Field , Florida . The third helicopter was an MH - 60 Pave Hawk from the now inactivated 55th SOS at Hurlburt Field . The plan called for the rescue helicopters to refuel immediately before crossing the Serbian border to allow them to operate with full fuel tanks . After more than 90 minutes of orbiting close to the border , the call came from the helicopter crews for the desperately needed fuel that would enable them to continue the rescue mission . The refueling took place at the unusually low altitude of 700 feet within three miles of the Serbian border . President Clinton called the 352nd SOG commander to give personal thanks . In 1993 , the 352nd Special Operations Group , RAF Mildenhall , England , and the 16th Special Operations Wing , Hurlburt Field , Florida , initially deployed people and hardware to San Vito while supporting Operation Provide Promise , a humanitarian airlift that sustained thousands of sick and starving civilians trapped by Bosnia ' s civil war . Eventually , as Balkan peacekeeping efforts began in earnest , that tasking switched to Operation Deny Flight , with 352nd SOG and 16th SOW resources staying put . And they maintained a sizable presence there as long as US F - 16 Falcons , French Mirages or British Tornadoes continue flying air - policing missions . Supporting the fighter community is a big part of the mission . The Squadron has an all - weather , around - the - clock capability to go in and get them if anything goes wrong . Things did " go wrong " for one French aircrew on 30 August 1995 , during the first day of Operation Deliberate Force , NATO ' s bombing campaign that eventually forced Bosnian factions into a truce . Within an hour after the campaign began , Serbian ground forces shot down a Mirage , capturing its injured pilot and weapon systems officer . Unaware the Frenchmen were prisoners , special operations members flew nightly reconnaissance missions into Bosnia from Italy , hoping to locate and then rescue the men . On one flight , two MH - 53 Pave Low helicopters from Mildenhall ' s 21st Special Operations Squadron – exposed by bright moonlight – came under heavy anti - aircraft and small - arms fire . Seventy - five miles deep into hostile territory , the choppers , call signs Knife 44 and 47 , slugged their way out while receiving help from a Hurlburt AC - 130 Spectre , two A - 10s , two Marine F - 18s and a Navy EA - 6 . Staff Sgts . Dennis Turner and Randy Rutledge , Knife 44 side - gunners from Hurlburt ' s 20th SOS , were wounded by searing shrapnel during the fight but managed to return a furious fusillade of their own . Both men received Purple Heart s . Mildenhall ' s 21st and 7th SOS , using MH - 53s and MC - 130H Combat Talon IIs , also ferried troops into Sarajevo and Tuzla , and played a key role in Bosnia ' s 1996 elections by flying 54 U . S . delegates – including special envoy Richard Holbrooke – to eight polling sites scattered throughout the war - scarred country . During the delegate shuttles , Hurlburt 16th SOS Spectres patrolled travel routes , and MC - 130P Combat Shadows from Mildenhall ' s 67th SOS refueled helicopters and provided airborne command and control . In mid - 1996 Air Force Special Operations Command helicopters passed the 5 , 000 flying - hour milestone supporting NATO ' s Bosnian operations . MH - 53J Pave Low III crews from both the 21st Special Operations Squadron , RAF Mildenhall , UK , and the 20th SOS , Hurlburt Field , Florida , provided combat search and rescue capability for more than three years and continue flying missions supporting Operation Joint Endeavor . The Pave Lows did numerous combat search and rescue missions , including two missions into Bosnia to search for two French crewmembers shot down during Operation Deliberate Force . The Paves also aided the Marine helicopters that rescued Capt . Scott O ' Grady in 1995 . In early 1997 members of the 352nd Special Operations Group , 100th Air Refueling Wing and 3rd Air Force departed for areas around Zaire as part of the enabling force to support Joint Task Force Guardian Retrieval . Approximately 200 people and aircraft from the 352nd Special Operations Group , 23 people from the wing and seven from 3rd AF deployed to Libreville , Gabon , in West Africa , while four other wings and 3rd AF members were sent to Brazzaville , Congo . The wing also supported the operation with air refueling . The first SOG assets , MC - 130P Combat Shadows from the 67th Special Operations Squadron , arrived in Africa followed by additional special operations assets including MH - 53J Pave Low helicopters from the 21st Special Operations Squadron . Team Mildenhall airmen joined about 400 soldiers , sailors and Marines comprising the joint task force ashore in West Africa . Approximately 550 American citizens were in Zaire and the majority of those were in the capital , Kinshasa . The 1 , 300 - member coalition force , spearheaded by Joint Special Operations Task Force 2 , operates 10 miles outside of Brindisi at San Vito Air Station . Its role : supporting NATO troops deployed to Bosnia - Herzegovina and aircrews monitoring a no - fly zone above that volatile country , where swarming Serbian mobs attacked Army patrols in September 1997 . All these special ops resources were based at San Vito , but for 34 years during the Cold War , the place hosted various intelligence people that intercepted and analyzed transmissions from former Warsaw Pact countries . You can still see the big Flare - 9 antenna – nicknamed the elephant cage – they used . And though the base supposedly closed in October 1994 , as part of the U . S . military drawdown , the Bosnian mission keeps San Vito ' s gates open . The leadership traits of four airmen earned them the Air Force ’ s 1999 Lance P . Sijan Leadership Award . They were : In March 2000 a MH - 53M Pave Low IV helicopter from the 21st Special Operations Squadron , UK refueled over South Africa from an MC - 130P Combat Shadow refueler from the 67th Special Operations Squadron . Both squadrons were from RAF Mildenhall , and deployed to Air Force Base Hoedspruit , South Africa , to support Operation Atlas Response . The Pave Lows operated from Air Force Base Hoedspruit where they are deployed in support of Operation Atlas Response , a multi - national humanitarian relief mission helping displaced people in central and southern Mozambique that had been devastated by floods . A U . S . Air Force flight crew used the maiden voyage of one of its MH - 53M Pave Low IV helicopters 12 March to deliver desperately needed clothing to flood victims in Mozambique as relief efforts here kicked into high gear . The crew , members of the 21st Special Operations Squadron from RAF Mildenhall , England , transported more than 4 , 700 pounds of donated clothing from the Mozambique town of Palmeira to Xai - Xai , a city still half - submerged by floodwaters . An MH - 53M Pave Low IV , from the 21st Special Operations Squadron , flew over the English countryside on 27 May 2000 , prior to the start of the 352nd Special Operations Group flying display during Air Fete 2000 at RAF Mildenhall , England . Air Fete is Europe ' s largest military sponsored air show . The MH - 53M ' s mission is to perform low - level , long - range , undetected penetration into denied areas , day or night , in adverse weather , for infiltration , exfiltration and resupply of special operations forces . Members of two U . S . Air Force units from RAF Mildenhall , England , participated in the annual Plymouth International Air Show on 8 – 10 June 2001 in Plymouth , Devon , England . Airmen from the 352nd Maintenance Squadron and the 21st Special Operations Squadron provided a static display of a MH - 53M Pave Low IV helicopter at the event designed to raise money for charity . Plymouth Hoe is one of the most unique of all Air show venues . At nearly 100 feet above sea level , spectators are level with the aircraft as they perform , creating a unique experience for the viewer . A call came on the early evening of 21 May 2002 to rescue two injured passengers aboard a storm - damaged yacht , the " Persuader " , in rough seas approximately 450 miles off the southwest coast of England . Answering that call was a combined Team Mildenhall effort resulting in hoisting the injured man and woman aboard an MH - 53M Pave Low IV helicopter and transferring them to a civilian hospital . Those involved in the daring rescue placed it among their most harrowing experiences . Because the yacht was out of range of British air and sea rescue vessels , the 21st Special Operations Squadron was called upon . The duration of the mission stretched across two days and required about 90 , 000 pounds of fuel via aerial refueling . The two Combat Shadows received about 56 , 000 pounds during three aerial refuelings from KC - 135s , and the two Pave Low helicopters received about 32 , 000 pounds during nine aerial refuelings from the two Combat Shadows . It was the longest non - stop rescue performed from the British Isles . Special Operations Forces and rescue forces were in high demand during Operation Iraqi Freedom . The MH - 53Ms from the 21st SOS conducted missions over Iraq . With the retirement from USAF active duty of the Pave LOW MH - 53J & M model helicopters , the 21st SOS was inactivated on 9 October 2007 . On Jun . 24 , 2013 the 21st SOS returned to RAF Mildenhall with their Bell Boeing V - 22 Osprey s .