The 18th Special Operations Test and Evaluation Squadron (18 SOTES) is an active unit of the United States Air Force, based at Hurlburt Field, Florida. The squadron performs field testing for Air Force Special Operations Command, evaluating aircraft, equipment, and tactics in realistic battlespace environments to provide decision-makers with accurate, timely, and complete assessments of mission capability. From concept development to system fielding, the unit's mission improves the survivability and combat capability of special operations forces worldwide.
The second predecessor of the squadron was activated in 1969 as the USAF 18th Special Operations Squadron. After training in the United States with Fairchild AC-119K Stingers, it deployed to South Vietnam and then to Thailand as a gunship unit. It earned a Presidential Unit Citation and four Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with Combat "V" Device before inactivating in 1972. The two squadrons were consolidated into a single unit in 1985. The squadron was activated as the 18th Test Squadron in 1991, and has served in the test role ever since, except for a brief inactive period in 1994.
The 18th SOTES is composed of approximately 96 people. The squadron consists of seven flights: fixed wing, vertical lift, operations analysis, combat applications, special missions, instrumentation and mission support.
The detachment at Edwards Air Force Base is responsible for operational test and evaluation and tactics development and evaluation of the MV/CV-22 Osprey and supports Headquarters Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center in conducting joint tests with the Navy and Marine Corps.
The 18th began training with Consolidated B-24 Liberators for overseas combat operations on 5 January 1944. Its ground echelon moved to the port of embarkation on 1 April 1944,[5][8] while the air echelon began its overseas movement on 31 May 1944, taking the southern ferry route, from Florida to Trinidad, Brazil, West Africa and Marrakesh arriving at RAF Valley, Wales.[8] The squadron arrived at its permanent station, RAF Mendlesham, England, in April 1944 and entered combat on 23 May 1944.[5][8]
The squadron helped to prepare for Operation Overlord, the invasion of Normandy, by bombing airfields in France and Germany, and supported the June landings by attacking coastal defenses and communications. It supported ground forces at Saint-Lô in late July and struck V-1 flying bomb launch sites, gun emplacements, and supply lines throughout the summer of 1944.[5]
The mixture of B-24s and B-17s in the 3d Bombardment Division presented a number of operational problems, and in early 1944 plans had begun at VIII Bomber Command headquarters to standardize the division with the Flying Fortress.[9] The 34th Group flew its last B-24 mission on 24 August 1944.[8] It transferred its Liberators for overhaul and eventual transfer to units of the 2d Bombardment Division,[10] and began converting to B-17s. It flew its first mission with the new planes on 17 September 1944.[5][8] The squadron engaged primarily in bombardment of strategic objectives from October 1944 to February 1945. Targets included marshaling yards in Ludwigshafen, Hamm, Osnabrück, and Darmstadt; oil centers in Bielefeld, Merseburg, Hamburg, and Misburg; factories in Berlin, Dalteln, and Hanover; and airfields in Münster, Neumünster, and Frankfurt.[5]
During this period the squadron also supported ground forces during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. In March 1945, with few enemy industrial targets remaining and with Allied armies advancing across Germany, the 18th turned almost solely to interdicting enemy communications and supporting Allied ground forces.[5] The 18th flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945.[8]
After V-E Day the squadron flew missions carrying food to flooded areas of the Netherlands and transported prisoners of war from German camps to Allied centers. The squadron redeployed to the United States in June and July 1945.[5] The first elements of the air echelon departed 19 June 1945. The ground echelon sailed aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth from Southampton on 6 August 1945. Upon arrival in the states, unit personnel were given 30 days leave.[8] The squadron reassembled at Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 28 August 1945.[5]
Vietnam War
AC-119 Stinger
The second predecessor of the squadron was activated as the 18th Special Operations Squadron on 25 January 1969 at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, and deployed to Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam, the 18th SOS flew the Fairchild AC-119K Stingergunship. The squadron's primary mission was the interdiction of enemy supply lines, close air support, and air base defense. Following the transfer of the aircraft to the Republic of Vietnam Air Force, the 18th was inactivated 31 December 1972.
Test and evaluation
On 1 October 1983, the Special Missions Operations Test and Evaluation Center (SMOTEC) was activated at Hurlburt Field by order of the Secretary of the Air Force as a direct reporting unit of Headquarters Military Airlift Command at Scott Air Force Base.[11] SMOTEC was formed through the consolidation of the test and evaluation function previously assigned to the 1550th Aircrew Training and Test Wing, located at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, which was responsible for combat rescue and related test. It was also responsible for the informal test and evaluation staffs of the 2d Air Division and the 1st Special Operations Wing, at Hurlburt Field. Though testing was reassigned to SMOTEC in October 1983, most of the testing continued at Kirtland for the remainder of that year.[4]
SMOTEC explored new special operations capabilities and developed better equipment and tactics to support Air Force special operations forces. It provided AFSOC with the centralized expertise for development and operational testing of new systems and tactics, proposed changes in doctrine, and recommended new requirements. The unit's colocation with the 1st Special Operations Wing made it ideally suited to perform the mission of improving the worldwide Air Force aim of special operations forces.
SMOTEC remained a direct reporting unit to Headquarters AFSOC until 31 March 1994. On 1 April 1994, it was inactivated and its assets, personnel, and equipment were "reflagged" as the 18th Flight Test Squadron, also a direct reporting unit to AFSOC.
Lineage
18th Bombardment Squadron
Constituted as the 18th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 November 1940
Activated on 15 January 1941
Redesignated 18th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 20 August 1943
Inactivated on 28 August 1945
Consolidated with the 18th Special Operations Squadron on 19 September 1985 as the 18th Special Operations Squadron[1]
18th Special Operations Test and Evaluation Squadron
Constituted as the 18th Special Operations Squadron on 16 January 1969
Activated on 25 January 1969
Inactivated on 31 December 1972
Consolidated with the 18th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 19 September 1985 (remained inactive)
Redesignated 18th Test Squadron on 1 July 1991
Activated on 15 July 1991
Redesignated 18th Flight Test Squadron on 23 March 1994
Inactivated on 1 April 1994
Activated on 1 April 1994
Redesignated 18th Special Operations Test and Evaluation Squadron on 26 July 2019[1]
Assignments
34th Bombardment Group, 15 January 1941 – 28 August 1945
^The plane is Douglas-Tulsa built Consolidated B-24H-15-DT Serial 41-28851. This aircraft was damaged during a mission on 24 August 1944 and made an emergency landing in Sweden (MACR 8461). The aircraft was interned until the end of the war then repaired and flown back to the UK in 1945.
^The aircraft is Lockheed/Vega built Boeing B-17G-65-VE Serial 44-8457
Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN978-0-87938-638-2.
Sanchez, Raquel (12 February 2013). "AFSOC stands up Air Warfare Center". Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs. Retrieved 27 September 2017.
