Antisubmarine warfare The first predecessor of the
squadron was activated at
Langley Field, Virginia in October 1942 as the
523d Bombardment Squadron, one of the original squadrons of the
378th Bombardment Group. One month later, it was redesignated the
2d Antisubmarine Squadron. The squadron was initially equipped with a number of different types of
bombers, but by the end of the year had standardized on the
Consolidated B-24 Liberator. In January 1943, it moved to
RAF St Eval,
Cornwall, being the first of four antisubmarine squadrons to arrive there to participate in the
Battle of the Atlantic. From St Eval it began flying antisubmarine patrols around England. Although the squadron remained assigned to the 25th Wing, at St Eval, it was attached to the provisional 1st Antisubmarine Group. The unit most frequently attacked enemy subs 700 miles off the coast of Spain, in what was termed, the "Coffin Corner." This was an area in which the subs surfaced to recharge their batteries. It was also possible to attack them in this location before they joined up into wolfpacks. The 2d Squadron earned a
Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat contributions in the Battle of the Atlantic against German
submarines.
Airlift operations in the Mediterranean Theater The
327th Ferrying Squadron, which was activated at
Capodichino Air Base, Italy on 31 May 1944 is the second forerunner of the squadron. The 327th flew cargo, passengers, and mail to destinations in Italy, Sardinia, Corsica, North Africa, and southern France. It moved to the United States in late September 1945 and was inactivated in October. As a result, the Special Aerial Spray Flight of the
309th Air Commando Squadron expanded to a full squadron at
Tan Son Nhut Airport, being replaced by the
12th Air Commando Squadron on 15 October 1966. Sixteen days later, the squadron suffered its first loss when an aircraft was shot down in the
Iron Triangle. The expansion to squadron strength led to the expansion of the unit's defoliation mission to area targets, such as
War Zone C,
War Zone D and the
Mekong Delta, in addition to clearing
lines of communication. Due to crowding at Tan Son Nhut, also
Saigon's commercial airport, the squadron moved to
Bien Hoa Air Base in December. DMZ operations were flown from the operating location the squadron maintained at
Da Nang Air Base. The squadron participated in Operation Pink Rose in late 1966 and early 1967. Pink Rose was an attempt to burn forested areas. In this operation, the unit applied two treatments to the target areas with defoliants.
Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses then dropped
incendiary bombs to ignite fires in the area. Results were disappointing and no further efforts were made to use forest fire as a method of stripping jungle canopies. In addition to defoliation, the 12th also flew
crop destruction missions. Crop destruction missions were flown with planes displaying South Vietnamese markings, and a
Republic of Vietnam Air Force member flew on board the lead aircraft. These missions were intended to reduce the amount of food available to
Viet Cong forces and to increase the cost of food procurement.
Seventh Air Force also found that the missions caused the Viet Cong to divert forces from combat and devote them to raising food. In contrast, a study by the
RAND Corporation questioned the effectiveness of these missions, and concluded they increased hostility toward Americans. In January 1968, the squadron flew 589 sorties on target, the most it would fly during the war. However, on 31 January, its base at Bien Hoa was subjected to intense rocket and
mortar attack as part of the
Tet Offensive, halting operations. On 2 February, the squadron resumed operations, including emergency
airlift missions. Six days later,
Military Assistance Command Vietnam directed that the spray tanks be removed from the squadron's aircraft and its planes be devoted to airlift. No operations were flown on 28 February, when another rocket attack destroyed four buildings housing squadron aircrew and heavily damaged another. The squadron flew 2866 airlift sorties during the Tet Offensive before returning to the defoliation mission in mid-March. Later in 1968, the unit added
Nha Trang Air Base and
Phu Cat Air Base to Da Nang as staging areas for defoliation operations as missions clearing friendly lines of communication again took precedence over the area targets of the previous two years. Targets also shifted away from the heavily populated
III Corps zone. In May, the squadron received its first UC-123K, equipped with two additional
General Electric J85 engines, which greatly reduced the planes' vulnerability to loss of an engine. This conversion was completed by April 1969. By this time, the squadron had lost six UC-123Bs on combat missions. During February 1969, in anticipation of a repeat of the previous year's offensive, the squadron deployed to
Phan Rang Air Base, returning to Bien Hoa in early March. As the
Nixon administration implemented its plan for American withdrawal from Vietnam, pressure to reduce the squadron's operations increased. Squadron sorties were to be reduced by 30% by July 1970 and in view of the reduction, eleven Providers were transferred to other units in the
315th Special Operations Wing in November. The squadron also lost Nha Trang as a staging base when it was transferred to the South Vietnamese air force. In April 1970, the squadron was notified that the
Joint Chiefs of Staff had decided that
Agent Orange was no longer to be used. On 9 May, the 12th exhausted its supply of
Agent White and flew its last defoliation mission. From 11 May to 6 July, the squadron flew leaflet and flare missions over Cambodia. The reduced insecticide and crop destruction missions no longer required a separate squadron, so the unit moved to Phan Rang, where its personnel and equipment were absorbed by Flight A of the
310th Special Operations Squadron. It became non-operational at the end of July and was inactivated in September 1970. In its four years of operations, the 12th was awarded four
Presidential Unit Citations, an
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with
Combat "V" Device and several
Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm.
Airborne command and control In September 1985, the 2d Antisubmarine Squadron and 327th Ferrying Squadron were reconstituted and consolidated with the
12th Special Operations Squadron, and the consolidated unit designated the
12th Airborne Command and Control Squadron. However, the squadron remained inactive until January 1996, when it was activated to fly
Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS aircraft as part of the
93d Operations Group for air control and target attack radar system. In 2002, the JSTARS mission was transferred to the
Georgia Air National Guard and the squadron was transferred to the Guard as part of the
116th Operations Group. This arrangement was reversed in 2011, and the squadron returned to the regular Air Force in 2011. Following the retirement of the E-8C, the 12th ACCS was inactivated on 12 April 2024. ==Lineage==