Air Resupply And Communications Service
Air Resupply And Communications Service | |
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Andrews AFB, Maryland | |
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Air Resupply And Communications Service |
The Air Resupply And Communications Service (ARCS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was assigned to Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. Established during the Korean War, the mission of ARCS was providing the Air Force an unconventional warfare capability during the 1950s. It was inactivated in 1954, but elements continued to operate until the reactivation of air commando units by the Kennedy Administration in 1962.
Mission
The mission of ARCS was:
- Introducing, evacuating and supplying guerrilla-type units in enemy occupied territory.
- Storing and packaging psychological warfare propaganda materials and storing and packing supplies used by guerrilla-type personnel.
- Housing, supplying, administering, training and briefing guerilla-type personnel.
- Composing and reproducing psychological warfare propaganda.
- Composing and transmitting by radio, psychological warfare propaganda.
- Providing and maintaining communications circuits and communications security for the transmission and reception of intelligence material and for the analysis of such intelligence material.
- Perform such other functions as may be assigned.
History
Background
During
With the outbreak of the Cold War it became apparent to US leadership that the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin could not be appeased, persuaded, or otherwise convinced to respect the territorial rights of its neighbor nations. The United States Air Force (USAF) and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had been created by the National Security Act of 1947 and activated a short time later.[3]
Strategists in the Pentagon reasoned that the next war would be fought and won (or lost) in the minds of those fighting it. Subsequently, the Psychological Warfare Division was established at the Air Staff in February 1948. By definition psychological warfare in 1948 was synonymous with special operations as defined during World War II. The new Psychological Warfare Division (also known as PW) division immediately set about to develop plans to fight this "new" type of warfare, which came to be known as psychological warfare, or PSYWAR for short.[2]
In 1950 Air Staff/PW created special operations wings devoted to the PSYWAR mission to support United States objectives in the Cold War. All Air Commando-designated units had been inactivated after World War II, however the Korean War underscored the need for a substantial Air Force unconventional warfare capability. Despite the urgency of the war, it took eight months before the Air Resupply and Communications Service (ARCS) was activated by HQ USAF at
MATS established ARCS Wings as follows:
- The 580th and 582d Air Resupply and Communications Wings were established to support operations throughout the Middle East, as well as Western and Soviet-Controlled Europe, and the Soviet Union. Both were activated at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. The 580th in 1951 and the 582d a year later. After activation and training, both were deployed overseas; the 580th to Wheelus Air Base, Libya, and the 582s to RAF Molesworth, England.[2]
- The 581st Air Resupply and Communications Wing was activated at Mountain Home AFB in July 1951 and deployed to Clark Air Base, Philippines shortly afterwards. Its mission was PSYWAR operations in Korea.[2]
Equipment
Assigned to an Air Resupply Wing were 12 specially modified B-29 heavy bombers, four C-119 heavy transports, four SA-16 amphibians, and four H-19A helicopters. All aircraft were new, except for the B-29s, which had been pulled from USAF storage at
Extensive modifications were required for the B-29 Superfortress to enable it to perform the special operations mission. All turrets, except the tail turret, were removed from the aircraft, leaving the aircraft unarmed and incapable of self-defense. A parachutist's exit was made where the belly gun turret was originally located. Resupply bundles were mounted on bomb racks inside the bomb bay, thus allowing the bundles to be dropped like bombs over the drop zone. Aircraft were painted black, and a crude HTR-13 obstruction-warning radar was installed to warn the crew of approaching terrain. The major flaw in the B-29 employed in the special operations role, however, was that it had been designed for high-altitude precision bombing, not low-level airdrop. Over the drop zone at drop airspeed, the aircraft was near its stall speed and was difficult to maneuver.[3]
A B-29 was assigned to the 580th ARCW conducted trials at
Korean War
Detachment 2, 21st Troop Carrier Squadron
Beginning in the fall of 1950, two organizations began conducting "Special Air Missions" in South Korea shortly after the invasion of the South by North Korea. The
Flying single-aircraft, 8-hour missions in Korea's mountains, the Detachment became proficient in night operations. To ensure maximum communications and operations security for their missions, FECOM Intelligence gave the code-name "Rabbits" to these highly valued HUMINT agents. They knew that once dropped behind enemy lines, there was only one way back, to walk. Behind the lines, Rabbits used SCR-300 infantry radios to request resupply and to relay intelligence through Det 2 aircraft flying overhead with a long co-axian reception antennae trailing behind the aircraft. It worked, assuming that anti-aircraft fire, weather, or a collision with fog-shrouded mountains had not terminated the mission.[2]
Special female agents were also dropped with orders to attach themselves to the highest Chinese or North Korean officer and travel with him as far as possible toward the front lines. Unarmed, even without radios, their survival was totally dependent on their individual ability to deceive enemy officers they were sent out to approach. These female agents proved remarkably effective. Once near the lines, they would allow themselves to be captured by Allied forces. From detention camps, a pre-arranged signal from them would lead to their release and immediate debriefing of intelligence gathered during their mission. Approximately 1,000 Rabbits were dropped into enemy territory between September 1950 and June 1951. Amazingly, more than 70 percent returned to friendly territory, providing key intelligence into North Korean activities.[2]
Det 2. also developed a C-47 "Bomber". The unit modified some of its aircraft with container racks and bomb shackles and slung two 75-gallon napalm bombs under the transport's belly. Once the Rabbit was dropped by parachute, the "bomber" crews were free to take the war to the enemy. With the aid of moonlight, Det. 2 crews soon became adept at locating truck convoys moving south under cover of darkness to avoid allied airstrikes. By attacking at extremely low altitudes, their accuracy against convoys was phenomenal. From these attacks, it was learned that communist commanders were ordered to avoid detection at all costs, even after being fired upon. Thus the convoy attacks were usually met without any response.[2] Many of these missions were flown by Major (later Brigadier General) Harry C. Aderholt.[5]
The November 1950 Communist Chinese intervention into the Korean War was first detected by Det. 2 aircraft, when it saw thousands of troops, trucks, on the ground in Manchuria, on the Chinese side of the Yalu River. This intelligence, however, was not taken seriously and, as history shows, the massive Chinese attack took the UN Command in Korea by surprise. Also, Det 2's "bomber" operations were ordered to be immediately shut down when UN headquarters was made aware of a plan to attack the headquarters of the Soviet Advisory staff in North Korea. As UN forces retreated south during the Chinese attack, contact was lost between the two armies. The order came down from FECOM Intelligence to find the Chinese. In response, Det. 2 parachuted an early warning line of Rabbits at various distances along an east–west axis across the Korean peninsula. Due to various constraints with the SCR-300 radios and the mountainous terrain, the agents were given smoke grenades. At the same time the C-47s were painted with large black and white stripes under the wings for identification purposes. A system was developed that if the Chinese had crossed a point near a Rabbit, red smoke was put out, green if South Korean troops were near the agent, yellow if no one had crossed the areas. Crude, but effective, the system worked.[2]
The unit also employed PSYWAR operations by fitting loudspeakers to its C-47s. The sight of a transport aircraft flying low with impunity was in itself a psychological blow to Chinese Communist and North Korean soldiers, female voices were used for loudspeaker messages announcing that if the troops did not surrender, they would be napalmed.
In the overall effort, Det. 2's contribution was minor, but it demonstrated the usefulness of Air Commando and special operations.[2]
581st Air Resupply And Communications Wing
The 581st saw extensive combat in the Korean War, printing and then dropping millions of surrender leaflets on the enemy in countless PSYWAR operations. It supported the
In January 1953, the 581st lost one of its B-29s and its entire fourteen-man crew while flying a leaflet drop mission over North Korea near the Chinese border. The aircraft had already dropped leaflets over five North Korean towns and was beginning its last run over the village of Cholson. Some of the leaflets carried war news, but others warned of an impending bombing attack by United Nations forces. Suddenly enemy searchlights lit up the sky, and in a rare night attack, a
As the war wound down in 1953, the 581st responded to an urgent request by the French Government in
581st Air Resupply Squadron Helicopter Flight
Other 581st combat operations in Korea included a special
The helicopter Flight flew blacked-out, single-ship night low-level insertions of United Nations agents and sabotage teams behind North Korean lines. On occasion, the helicopters would augment the 2157th Air Rescue Squadron as a secondary mission. Virtually all night insertion missions began with one of the Flight's helicopters departing at night from Cho-do Island (K-54) a bleak rock located ten miles from the Korean coast, sixty miles north of the 38th Parallel. The island's proximity to the peninsula's coastline and mudflats provided an ideal base to conduct night special operations missions. The Flight would proceed from K-14 to Cho-do and pick up the agents. After a final briefing, the H-19s flew out over the sea at wave-top level to avoid North Korean radars.[2]
As the Air Rescue service did not fly night rescue missions, the North Koreans soon learned that the sound of a helicopter at night meant only one thing: an agent insertion or extraction mission was in progress. To lower the sound of the helicopters, the aircrews of the H-19s kept the engine exhaust stack on the left side of the helicopter away from the coastline as much as possible. The crews could only hope that North Koreans weren't waiting in ambush for them. As dangerous as these missions were, the Air Commandos at least had the element of surprise and the safety of darkness on their side.[2]
Two Air Commando H-19 pilots received the Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Crosses from an attempted rescue mission described in their citations as "the deepest helicopter penetration of the Korean War". Taking off from Cho-do Island in the early morning hours, Captain Frank J. Westerman and Lieutenant Robert Sullivan flew low-level through darkness for two hours, guided north by an Air Rescue SA-16 pathfinder aircraft flying overhead at an altitude of 100 feet. At first light, the helicopter was 16 miles south of the Chinese border and within ten minutes flying time of the Chinese MiG fighter base at Antung, the largest Chinese fighter base in North Korea. Racing inland they discovered the valley the downed pilot was reported to be in, which turned out to be a massive camouflage supply and troop depot. The valley contained at least a regiment of troops, all armed and firing as fast as they could. The hills looked like a large warehouse, piles of equipment and supplies under camouflage nets. It was quickly evident that no evading American was walking around in the area. The Air Commandos fled for their lives, informing the SA-16 offshore to do the same. It was likely that the rescue attempt was bait for a Chinese trap. All of the Air Commandos returned to Cho-do successfully.[2]
Cold War
From its base in Libya, the 580th AR&CW operated in Southern and Southeastern Europe as well as the Middle East, frequently working with United States Army Special Forces in the Alps. The 580th also had extensive ground-based printing facilities to produce propaganda leaflets to be dropped from its B-29s.[2]
Between 1953 and 1956, the 580th's SA-16 Flight supported CIA Lockheed U-2 overflights of Eastern Europe. On two different occasions, SA-16 crews recovered U-2 pilots after their all-black, single engine spy jets crashed, one in the Caspian Sea north of Iran and the second in the Black Sea. The SA-16 Flight was also particularly suited to support Special Forces teams. This mission required an SA-16 to fly across the Mediterranean at night from Wheelus AB and land on a lake in West Germany at dawn, pick up a team from the 10th Special Forces Group and transport them to RAF Molesworth, England. The SA-16 crew was briefed that their "customers" would be in a boat on the lake, disguised as fishermen. As dawn broke over the lake, the plane settled down on the water promptly on schedule and taxied over to the only boat on the lake.[2]
Loading their passengers aboard quickly, the crew took off for England, surprised to find that the three passengers consisted of two men and a woman. The crew remarked among themselves that they were surprised to learn that Army special forces now included women. The plane landed at Molesworth without incident. Only there did they learn that the crew had picked up three West German citizens who were out on a morning fishing trip. After apologies were made, the crew flew the civilians back to West Germany, and the passengers thanked the airmen for the surprise trip.[2]
Inactivation
By 1953 USAF interest in the unconventional warfare mission had run its course. The primary reason for this reduction was funding. The Air Force was essentially operating a national-level special operations program for an agency outside the Department of Defense—the CIA—with dollars needed for higher priority strategic forces. With the rapid buildup of the Strategic Air Command to counter Soviet Cold War aggression and the resulting funding requirements, the lesser priority PSYWAR mission was curtailed.[3]
All three AR&CW were downgraded to Group status in 1953, but continued to perform classified missions until their final inactivation in 1956. The downsized groups were approximately one-half the size of the former wings and consisted of two squadrons—one flying squadron and one support squadron, as compared to six squadrons in each wing before the reorganization. In April 1953 the Air Staff directed ARCS to limit operations to Air Force only projects, thus ending support for such outside agencies as the CIA. Nine months later Department of the Air Force Letter 322 and Military Air Transport Service General Order 174 inactivated ARCS, effective 1 January 1954.[2][3]
General Order 37, Headquarters
Their missions were continued, on a smaller scale, by USAF successors under a variety of different designations. At Molesworth, the
In the Pacific, the 581st ACWG was taken over by the 322d Troop Carrier Squadron (Medium, Special) flying C-54s until its inactivation in 1958. Cold War tensions, however, remained strong during the 1950s even after the 1953 Korean Armistices.[2]
Air National Guard
The Air National Guard's introduction to the world of special operations began when MATS began phasing out its Air Resupply units. Despite the decision, there was still a need to maintain a limited number of crews and aircraft to support unconventional warfare missions. After lengthy deliberations, the Air Force decided in 1955 to establish four special air warfare units within the Air National Guard:
- 129th Air Resupply Group
- 130th Air Resupply Squadron
- 143d Air Resupply Squadron
- 135th Air Resupply Group
Equipped with hand-me-down equipment from the inactivated ARCS (minus the B-29s), these Air National Guard units trained in Air Commando tactics. During the early 1960s, these units were re-designated first as Air Commando units, then as Special Operations in 1968. After the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, these units were converted to other missions.
Tibet
After
The needed airlift capability was forthcoming from a select group of USAF officers selected for service outside of official Air Force channels. Detachment 2, 1045th Observation, Evaluation and Training Group (OE&TG) was established at
E Flight C-130s were flown from their home base at Naha to Kadena for removal of USAF markings and manning by CAT personnel then to
However, these missions taxed even the extreme range capability of the C-130. Shifting winds or mechanical problems frequently caused mission deviations, and a discreet relationship was had with the Government of Pakistan to allow C-130s to land in East Pakistan if necessary. When Tibet's leader, the Dalai Lama, fled Tibet, it was these Tibetan Guerrillas and US Advisers who aided his escape to India.[2]
With the downing of Gary Power's U-2 over the Soviet Union in May 1960, the Eisenhower Administration ordered all air commando missions into Tibet ended immediately, and mission was ended. Shortly afterwards, America's attention was being drawn towards another growing conflict in Southeast Asia, which would establish the Air Commandos on a permanent basis.[2]
Operation Pluto (Alabama ANG)
- see also: Bay of Pigs Invasion
In 1960, the
The
The plan was that a pre-invasion air strikes would destroy
On D-Day, 17 April, four of the B-26s were shot down in combat. With the loss of the Cuban-flown B-26, the CIA reluctantly authorized American volunteers to fly combat missions over the beachhead on D+2, 19 April. Five B-26 sorties were scheduled, four of them with American crews. Known as the Mad Dog Flight', Castro's T-33 jets and propeller-driven
From the 1960s
At the same time of the Bay of Pigs invasion by the CIA, at the direction of President
In the early 1960s, the United States entered the Vietnam War, and active-duty Air Commando units were formed. It was renamed Special Operations Wings in 1968.[7]
- 1st Air Commando Wing, 27 April 1962, Eglin AFB Auxiliary Field #9, Florida
- 315th Air Commando Wing, 21 February 1966, Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam
- 14th Air Commando Wing, 28 February 1966, Nha Trang AB, South Vietnam
- Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand
- 24th Air Commando Wing, 15 March 1968, Howard Air Force Base, Canal Zone
In 1990, the Air Force formed the Air Force Special Operations Command, elevating Air Force special operations to the Major Command level.
Units/bases
- Headquarters, Air Resupply and Communications Service
- Andrews AFB, Maryland
- , Libya, 22 September 1952 – 8 September 1953
- 580th Air Resupply Group
Wheelus Air Base, Libya, 8 September 1953 – 12 October 1956
- , Philippines, 18 July 1952 – 8 September 1953
- 581st Air Resupply GroupOkinawa, 8 September 1953 – 1 September 1956
- Great Falls AFB, Montana, 1 May – 14 August 1953
- 582nd Air Resupply Group
RAF Molesworth, England, 21 Funerary 1954 – 25 October 1956
- 1300th Air Base Wing (Training)
- Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, 1 November 1951-30 April 1953
Aircraft
- C-119 Flying Boxcar(1950–1953)
- B-29 Superfortress(1951–1953)
- SA-16 Albatross(1951–1953)
- Sikorsky H-19(1952–1953)
- C-54 Skymaster(1952)
- C-118 Liftmaster(1952–1953)
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
- ^ "1944 USAAF Serial Numbers".
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah "AIR COMMANDO! 1950-1975: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AT THE". airforcehistoryindex.org. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g Thigpen, Jerry L. (2001). The Praetorian STARShip: The Untold Story of the Combat Talon. Maxwell AFB, Ala.: Air University Press.
- ISBN 978-1-56098-807-6, page 53.
- ISBN 978-1-56098-807-6, pages 30-50.
- ^ Kombluth (1988), Bay of Pigs Declassified: The Secret CIA Report on the Invasion of Cuba (National Security Archive Documents)
- ^ Ravenstein, Charles A. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Office of Air Force History, 1984.