The 606th Special Operations Squadron is an inactive unit of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. The squadron was first activated as the 606th Air Commando Squadron in March 1966 and stationed at

Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base The Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base (NKP), formerly Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, is a Royal Thai Navy facility used for riverine patrols along the Mekong River. It is approximately northeast of Bangkok, west of Nakhon Phanom ...

, Thailand. The squadron flew

C-123 Provider The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Reserve a ...

and A-26A bomber aircraft over the

Ho Chi Minh trail The Ho Chi Minh Trail (), also called Annamite Range Trail () was a Military logistics, logistical network of roads and trails that ran from North Vietnam to South Vietnam through the kingdoms of Kingdom of Laos, Laos and Cambodia (1953–1970), ...

at night during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

to interdict the movement of people and equipment. The squadron was inactivated on 30 June 1971.

Organization

The 606th Special Forces Squadron was composed of two sections, the

Fairchild C-123 Provider The Fairchild C-123 Provider is an American military transport aircraft designed by Chase Aircraft and built by Fairchild Aircraft for the U.S. Air Force. In addition to its USAF service, which included later service with the Air Force Reserve a ...

section which was under the call sign of "Candlestick", and the U-10

Helio Courier The Helio Courier is a cantilever high-wing light Short Take-Off and Landing, STOL cargo aircraft, utility aircraft designed in 1949. Around 500 of these aircraft were manufactured in Pittsburg, Kansas, from 1954 until 1974 by the Helio Aircraf ...

section which was under the call signs of "Loudmouth" and "Litterbugs" (and "Clown" for Civil Action missions).

History

C-123s had been used in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

since 1962 to drop flares for night

interdiction Interdiction is interception of an object prior to its arrival at the location where it is to be used in military, espionage, and law enforcement. Military In the military, interdiction is the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy f ...

missions, but their use declined after the introduction of the

Douglas AC-47 Spooky The Douglas AC-47 ( "Puff, the Magic Dragon") was the first in a series of fixed-wing gunships developed by the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War. It was designed to provide more firepower than light and medium ground-attack aircra ...

in the country. The continued need for flare drop aircraft continued for operations over Laos, and in the spring of 1966,

Pacific Air Forces The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PAC ...

activated the 606th Air Commando Squadron at

, Thailand and equipped it with UC-123Bs to continue this mission.Anthony calls the 606th a "flare-dedicated" unit, but it was a composite unit from first organization. Anthony, p. 81. Although starting out as a flare support flight, the UC-123s had added night

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

and

forward air control Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC). ...

, which became its primary missions by 1968. The squadron flew from four to nine night

missions per night over the

Steel Tiger Operation Steel Tiger was a covert U.S. 2nd Air Division, later Seventh Air Force and Task Force 77 (United States Navy), U.S. Navy Task Force 77 aerial interdiction effort targeted against the infiltration of People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) m ...

and

Barrel Roll A barrel roll is an aerial maneuver in which an airplane makes a complete rotation on both its longitudinal and lateral axes, causing it to follow a helix, helical path, approximately maintaining its original direction. It is sometimes describe ...

areas of Laos, flying in shifts to provide coverage throughout the night. After a lack of success with the use of

starlight scope A night-vision device (NVD), also known as a night optical/observation device (NOD) or night-vision goggle (NVG), is an optoelectronic device that allows visualization of images in low levels of light, improving the user's night vision. The ...

s in T-28s, a locally manufactured mount was designed and mounted near the Provider's escape hatch, which enabled an observer to sweep the area below the plane for targets. "Candlestick" flare and reconnaissance planes then teamed up with "Zorro" T-28s or "Nimrod'

Douglas A-26 Invader The Douglas A-26 Invader (designated B-26 between 1948 and 1965) is an American twin-engined light bomber and attack aircraft, ground attack aircraft. Built by Douglas Aircraft Company during World War II, the Invader also saw service during ...

s strike aircraft as a hunter killer team. By 1969, heavy

antiaircraft Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

fire proved a problem for the "Candlestick" aircraft, which had upgraded to the UC-123K. The unit improvised a defense using

chaff Chaff (; ) is dry, scale-like plant material such as the protective seed casings of cereal grains, the scale-like parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil ...

, which was manually thrown out the floor hatch to confuse enemy

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

s. The "Candlestick" operation ended when the squadron was inactivated in June 1971.

North American T-28 Trojan The North American Aviation T-28 Trojan is a Radial engine, radial-engine military trainer aircraft manufactured by North American Aviation and used by the United States Air Force and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s. Besides its use ...

s, call sign "Zorro" also flew with the 606th. Twelve of them moved to Nakhon Phanom in June 1966 along with

"Nimrods". After being credited with 67 truck strikes during the week of 2 through 9 November 1966, a detachment of

"Nimrods" was attached to the 606th. In September 1967, this detachment plus the T-28 "Zorro" forward air controllers were spun off into the

609th Special Operations Squadron The 609th Special Operations Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 56th Special Operations Wing at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base, Thailand. The squadron served for two and a half years com ...

.Anthony, p. 99.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 606th Air Commando Squadron, Composite and activated on 12 January 1966 (not organized) : Organized on 8 March 1966 * Redesignated 606th Special Operations Squadron on 1 August 1968 : Inactivated on 15 June 1971

Assignments

, 12 January 1966 (not organized) *

Thirteenth Air Force The Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force (13 EAF) is a provisional numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam on the island of Oahu, ...

, 8 March 1966 (attached to

2d Air Division The 2nd Air Division (2nd AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Military Airlift Command, assigned to Twenty-Third Air Force, being stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida. It started operations on 7 ...

) * 634th Combat Support Group, 8 April 1966 *

56th Air Commando Wing The 56th Fighter Wing is a fighter wing in the United States Air Force. It is the world's largest Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II wing and one of two Air Force F-35 training locations. Additionally, it is one of two active-duty F-16 training b ...

(later 56th Special Operations Wing), 8 April 1967 - 15 June 1971

Stations

, 8 March 1966 - 15 June 1971

Aircraft

* Fairchild UC-123B * Fairchild UC-123K * North American T-28 Trojan * Helio U-10 Courier

Awards and campaigns

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * Halliday, John T. " Flying Through Midnight: A Pilot's Dramatic Story of His Secret Missions Over Laos During the Vietnam War", Scribner, published Nov 2005, .
AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits
Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC, 15 June 1971
AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits, Vol II
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804124603/http://www.usafpatches.com/pubs/AFP900-2Vol2.pdf , date=4 August 2015 Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC, 30 September 1976 Special operations squadrons of the United States Air Force