• Source: 8th Air Support Operations Squadron

    • The 8th Air Support Operations Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit that was last stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy. Its first predecessor served during World War II, participating in the amphibious landings in Normandy on D-Day as the 8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron.
    The squadron's second predecessor served in combat during Desert Storm as the 8th Air Support Operations Group, but was inactivated later in 1991. It was activated as a squadron at Aviano in December 2006.


    History




    = World War II

    =
    The squadron's first predecessor was activated in August 1942 at Richmond Army Air Base as the 8th Communications Squadron. Although assigned to Eighth Air Force, it was attached to First Air Force for training until moving to the European Theater of Operations in January 1943.
    It entered combat as the 8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron on D-Day, 6 June. Its air support parties primarily served units of the United States First Army, directing air support missions for the ground forces they served. It provided six teams that made airborne and amphibious landings in the initial invasion. It continued in combat until May 1945. Following V-E Day, it became part of the occupation forces until returning to the United States in December 1945 for inactivation. It was disbanded on 8 October 1948.


    = Cold War and Desert Storm

    =
    The second predecessor of the squadron was activated at Moehringen Army Installation, Germany in March 1984 as the 602nd Air Support Operations Center. It advised the Army's VII Corps on employment of tactical airpower. It provided the VII Corps with an air support operations center and managed the tactical air control parties for the corps’ combat maneuver units. In February 1988, the two units were consolidated into a single unit that was redesignated the 8th Air Support Operations Group the following month. The group saw combat in Southwest Asia from January through December 1991, when it was inactivated.


    = Post Cold War

    =
    It was reduced to a flight and activated in July 1994 at Fort Lewis, Washington. It was inactivated there in 2004.
    In December 2006 it was redesignated the 8th Air Support Operations Squadron and activated at Aviano Air Base, Italy. The squadron's main mission was to advise Southern European Task Force and the 173rd Airborne Brigade on the use of air power and provide precision terminal attack guidance of close air support aircraft. Due to budget constraints, the squadron was inactivated in 2013.


    Lineage


    8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron
    Constituted as the 8th Communications Squadron, Air Support on 8 July 1942
    Activated on 29 August 1942
    Redesignated 8th Air Support Communications Squadron on 11 January 1943
    Redesignated 8th Air Support Control Squadron on 22 November 1943
    Redesignated 8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron on 1 April 1944
    Inactivated on 28 December 1945
    Disbanded on 8 October 1948
    Reconstituted on 8 February 1988 and consolidated with the 602d Air Support Operations Group as the 602d Air Support Operations Group

    8th Air Support Operations Squadron
    Constituted as the 602nd Air Support Operations Center on 8 March 1984
    Activated on 15 March 1984
    Redesignated 602d Air Support Operations Group on 1 May 1985
    Consolidated with the 8th Tactical Air Communications Squadron on 8 February 1988
    Redesignated [8th] Air Support Operations Group on 1 March 1988
    Inactivated on 1 November 1991
    Redesignated 8th Air Support Operations Flight on 24 June 1994
    Activated on 1 July 1994
    Inactivated on 2 February 2004
    Redesignated 8th Air Support Operations Squadron on 21 November 2006
    Activated on 1 December 2006
    Inactivated in 2013


    = Assignments

    =
    Eighth Air Force, 29 August 1942 (attached to First Air Force until c. 27 Dec 1942)
    VIII Air Support Command, c. 13 January 1943
    IX Fighter Command, 16 October 1943
    IX Air Support Command (later IX Tactical Air Command), 4 December 1943
    XII Tactical Air Command, 1 August – 30 November 1945
    Army Service Forces, Port of Embarkation, 1–28 December 1945
    601st Tactical Control Wing, 15 March 1984
    65th Air Division, 1 June 1985 (attached to Seventeenth Air Force for operational control after 31 October 1985)
    Seventeenth Air Force, 15 March 1986 – 1 November 1991
    1st Air Support Operations Group, 1 July 1994 – 2 February 2004
    4th Air Support Operations Group, 1 December 2006 – 2013


    = Stations

    =


    References




    = Notes

    =
    Explanatory notes

    Citations


    = Bibliography

    =
    This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

    Anderson, . Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
    Johnson, David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Retrieved 24 July 2022.
    Robertson, Patsy, Lineage and Honors History of the 8th Air Support Operations Flight, 11 July 2008, Air Force Historical Research Agency, Maxwell AFB, AL.

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