71st Special Operations Squadron The 71st Special Operations Squadron ( 71 SOS ) is part of the 58th Special Operations Wing at Kirtland Air Force Base , New Mexico . It operates CV - 22 Osprey conducting special operations flying training . Mission . Provide Combat Ready CV - 22 Aircrews to Air Force Special Operations Command . History . Established in early 1943 as a C - 47 Skytrain transport squadron under First Air Force , later trained under I Troop Carrier Command in the eastern United States . Deployed to England in late 1943 , being assigned to Ninth Air Force in England , IX Troop Carrier Command to participate in the buildup of forces prior to the Allied landings in France during D – Day in June 1944 . Engaged in combat operations by dropping paratroop s into Normandy on D - Day ( 6 June 1944 ) and releasing gliders with reinforcements on the following day . The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation and a French citation for these missions . After the Normandy invasion the squadron ferried supplies in the United Kingdom . The squadron also hauled food , clothing , medicine , gasoline , ordnance equipment , and other supplies to the front lines and evacuated patients to rear zone hospitals . It dropped paratroops near Nijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during the airborne attack on Holland . In December , it participated in the Battle of the Bulge by releasing gliders with supplies for the 101st Airborne Division near Bastogne . Moved to France in early 1945 , and participated in the Western Allied invasion of Germany , participating in the air assault across the Rhine River in March 1945 , each aircraft towed two gliders with troops of the 17th Airborne Division and released them near Wesel . Returned to the United States in August 1945 , becoming a domestic troop carrier squadron for Continental Air Forces , inactivated July 1946 . For its perseverance and bravery , the 71st received the Distinguished Unit Citation and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm . It conducted Reserve troop carrier training after the war . The 71st was called to active duty status during the Korean War from , 1951 – 1953 and again during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 . From June to December 1968 , the squadron continued airlift support of Tactical Air Command and Air Force Logistics Command , while training in operations of AC - 119G gunships . Vietnam War . On 15 June 1968 , about a month after its parent 930th Tactical Airlift Group had been mobilized at Bakalar AFB , with eighteen C - l19Gs , the 71st Tactical Airlift Squadron moved to Lockbourne AFB , Ohio , and converted to AC - 119 gunship operations . On that same date , the 71st was redesignated as the 71st Air Commando Squadron , a name that lasted less than a month , as the unit became the 71st Special Operations Squadron on 8 July . Conversion from tactical airlift to gunship operations in the AC - 119 brought significant changes . The crew composition increased from five to eight as the crew acquired a second navigator and two gunners while the loadmaster cross - trained as an illuminator operator . Also , a change in the ratio of crews to airplanes increased total crew requirements from sixteen to twenty - four . By 21 November 1968 , the crews had formed and were ready . The aircrews left for Vietnam on 5 December ; four days later , other elements of the squadron left via C - 141 Starlifter s . The unit was reassigned to the 14th Special Operations Wing on 20 December 1968 . During its time in South Vietnam , the 71st got away cheaply for having flown more than 6 , 000 hours in six months in a combat zone . It lost no aircraft , and only six received any kind of battle damage in the air . The most serious incident involved an aircraft struck by about six rounds of 12 . 7 - mm fire which put 19 holes in the aft part of the fuselage and caused minor lacerations in the neck and back of a gunner . This active force man was augmenting the basic reserve crew ; nevertheless he became the first combat casualty aboard an Air Force Reserve aircraft since the 452d Light Bomb Wing was relieved at Pusan East ( K - 9 ) Air Base , South Korea , on 7 May 1952 during the Korean War . The squadron was relieved from active service and returned to Bakalar AFB on 18 June 1969 . It was inactivated on 1 October 1973 . Modern era . It was again called to active duty status on 1 January 1991 . It carried out combat search , rescue , visual reconnaissance and other special operations in Southwest Asia from , January – April 1991 . The 71st was again relieved from active status on 21 April 1992 . The 71 SOS was reactivated on 20 May 2005 at Kirtland AFB , NM to serve as the Air Force ' s CV - 22 Osprey training squadron . The unique capabilities of the CV - 22 required the creation of a separate squadron from existing AETC training squadrons . Regular training operations began in early 2007 .