The 73rd Special Operations Squadron is a unit of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army S ...

, assigned to the

1st Special Operations Wing The 1st Special Operations Wing (1 SOW) at Hurlburt Field, Florida is one of three United States Air Force active duty Special Operations wings and falls under the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC). The 1st Special Operations Wing i ...

Hurlburt Field Hurlburt Field is a United States Air Force installation located in Okaloosa County, Florida, immediately west of the town of Mary Esther. It is part of the greater Eglin Air Force Base reservation and is home to Headquarters Air Force S ...

, Florida. The squadron operates the

AC-130J Ghostrider The Lockheed AC-130 gunship is a heavily armed, long-endurance, ground-attack variant of the C-130 Hercules transport, fixed-wing aircraft. It carries a wide array of ground-attack weapons that are integrated with sophisticated sensors, navig ...

ground-attack aircraft in support of Air Force Special Operations Command. The 73rd is one of the oldest in the Air Force, its origins dating to the formation of the 73rd Aero Squadron in February 1918. It served on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

in France during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, and took part in the Aleutian Campaign during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. It was part of

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile c ...

during the Cold War. The 73rd was inactivated and its personnel and equipment transferred to the

16th Special Operations Squadron The 16th Special Operations Squadron is part of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. It operates the AC-130W Stinger II aircraft in support of special operations. Mission Train and maintain its combat-ready ...

in 2015. The squadron was reactivated on 23 February 2018 to fly the new AC-130J "Ghostrider" gunship assigned to the 1st Special Operations Group at Hulburt Field, Florida.

History

World War I

The 73rd dates to the formation of the 73rd Aero Squadron at

Rich Field Rich Field is a former World War I military airfield, located in Waco, Texas, near what is now the intersection of Bosque Boulevard and 41st Street. It operated as a training field for the Air Service, United States Army from 1917 until 1919. Th ...

, Waco, Texas on 22 February 1918. The first personnel were 150 privates under the command of 1st Lieutenant Loren W. De Motte, which arrived at the Aviation Camp. Once organized into a unit, the 73rd was transferred to

Call Field Call Field is a former World War I military airfield, located southwest of Wichita Falls, Texas. It operated as a training field for the United States Army Air Service between 1917 until 1919. The airfield was one of thirty-two Air Service tr ...

, Wichita Falls, Texas, where it underwent basic indoctrination training. The men were also trained in aviation mechanic work.Gorrell, p. 26 73d Aero Squadron - Group Photograph

On 8 July, orders were received for the unit to proceed to the

Aviation Concentration Center Camp Albert L. Mills (Camp Mills) was a military installation on Long Island, New York. It was located about ten miles from the eastern boundary of New York City on the Hempstead Plains within what is now the village of Garden City. In September ...

, Garden City, Long Island, for preparation to serve overseas. An observation balloon detachment of 30 men was assigned to the squadron at Garden City, and the unit moved to the

Port of Embarkation A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

at Hoboken, New Jersey on 29 July where it boarded a ship bound for France. After an uneventful crossing of the Atlantic, it arrived at the port of

Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French ...

on 26 August. At Brest, the balloon detachment was detached from the squadron, and the squadron was ordered to proceed to the

St. Maixent Replacement Barracks The Air Service Replacement Concentration Barracks is a former military facility in the vicinity of Saint-Maixent-l'École, Poitou-Charentes, France. It was used by the Air Service, United States Army as the Air Service Replacement Concentratio ...

for assignment. Initially assigned as a support unit to the

1st Day Bombardment Group First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

at Delouze Aerodrome on c. 20 September, the squadron maintained

Dayton-Wright DH-4 The Dayton-Wright Company was formed in 1917, on the declaration of war between the United States and Germany, by a group of Ohio investors that included Charles F. Kettering and Edward A. Deeds of Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company ( DELCO ...

s of the group. On 4 October, it was ordered to

Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome : ''see also: Organization of the Air Service of the American Expeditionary Force'' When the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917, the Air Service of the United States Army existed only as a branch of the Signal Corps, and was kno ...

, where it was reassigned to the Second Army. At Colombey, the squadron operated the 6th Air Park; a maintenance and supply organization as part of the 1st Air Depot. It moved to

Ourches Aerodrome Ourches Aerodrome, was a temporary World War I airfield in France. It was West-Northwest of the commune of Ourches-sur-Meuse, in the Meuse department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. Overview The airfield was built by the French Army an ...

about 15 November It remained in France after the Armistice in November, returning to the United States in June 1919 where it was demobilized at

Hazelhurst Field Roosevelt Field is a former airport, located east-southeast of Mineola, Long Island, New York. Originally called the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, or sometimes Hempstead Plains field or the Garden City Aerodrome, it was a training field (Hazel ...

, New York on 4 July.

Inter-war period

A new unit, the

73rd Headquarters Squadron The 73rd Special Operations Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The squadron operates the AC-130J Ghostrider ground-attack aircraft in support of Air Force ...

was constituted in the Regular Army Reserve on 18 October 1927 at San Antonio, Texas. Army reserve officers assigned to the unit participated in summer training at Kelly Field, Texas, 1928–30 with the

3rd Attack Group Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

. On 8 May 1929, it was redesignated as the

73rd Pursuit Squadron The 73rd Special Operations Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the 1st Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The squadron operates the AC-130J Ghostrider ground-attack aircraft in support of Air Force ...

, and became an associate unit of the

18th Pursuit Group 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect numb ...

Dodd Field Dodd Army Airfield was an airfield located within the current boundaries of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Dodd Field includes the area bounded on the north by Rittiman Road, on the west by Harry Wurzbach Memorial Highway, on the south by ...

, Texas.Clay, p. 1424 The unit was activated on 15 July 1931 by the Army Air Corps as an active-duty squadron. It was assigned without reserve personnel to the

17th Pursuit Group The 17th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. The group was last stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The Group is a direct successor to the 17th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the ...

March Field March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...

, California and equipped with

Boeing P-12 The Boeing P-12/F4B was an American pursuit aircraft that was operated by the United States Army Air Corps , United States Marine Corps, and United States Navy. Design and development Developed as a private venture to replace the Boeing F2B a ...

fighters. In 1934 it received new

Boeing P-26 Peashooter The Boeing P-26 "Peashooter" was the first American production all-metal fighter aircraft and the first pursuit monoplane to enter squadron service with the United States Army Air Corps. Designed and built by Boeing, the prototype first flew in ...

s but retained the P-12s. It was reorganized and redesignated as the 73rd Attack Squadron on 1 March 1935. The squadron was awarded the Frank Luke Trophy for 1935, having the highest gunnery score in the U.S. Army Air Corps. On 5 June 1936 the squadron was consolidated with its World War I predecessor unit, the 73rd Aero Squadron. It received

Northrop A-17 The Northrop A-17, a development of the Northrop Gamma 2F model, was a two-seat, single-engine, monoplane, attack bomber built in 1935 by the Northrop Corporation for the United States Army Air Corps. When in British Commonwealth service during W ...

attack aircraft, replacing the Boeing fighters. The squadron flew reconnaissance flights in support of flood relief in southern California from 2 to 5 March 1938. Reorganized and redesignated as the

3rd Bombardment Squadron The 3rd Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 111th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, based at Travis Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 1 January 1953. History World War ...

(Medium) on 17 October 1939, being re-equipped with

Douglas B-18 Bolo The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American heavy bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force (as the Digby) during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company ...

s. It moved to

McChord Field McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worldwi ...

, Washington, 26 June 1940. The 73rd was relieved from assignment to the 17th Bombardment Group on 3 May 1941 and assigned to the

28th Composite Group 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of t ...

World War II

The squadron moved to the new

Elmendorf Field Elmendorf may refer to: People