World War II The first predecessor of the
squadron was the
25th Antisubmarine Squadron. The squadron was activated in May 1943 at
Jacksonville Army Air Field and assigned to the
26th Antisubmarine Wing, which had responsibility for
Army Air Forces (AAF) units conducting
antisubmarine warfare off the South Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. It conducted antisubmarine patrols and assisted the
United States Navy to protect friendly shipping off the southeastern coast of the United States from May through August 1943. However, a month after the squadron was activated, the AAF had agreed to turn over its coastal antisubmarine mission to the Navy, effective in August 1943. The squadron continued to operate its bombers, although
Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command became I Bomber Command under
First Air Force. In October 1943, the 25th moved to
Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico, becoming part of
Second Air Force, which was responsible for advanced
bomber training. At Clovis, the personnel and equipment of the squadron were assigned to other squadrons and the squadron was inactivated.
Vietnam War The squadron's second predecessor was the
25th Special Operations Squadron, which was activated at
Hurlburt Field, Florida on 31 August 1970. The squadron was initially equipped with a variety of
special operations aircraft, but lost most of them in 1971 and focused on photographic processing, interpretation, production, and distribution of reconnaissance information until it was inactivated in September 1974.
Consolidation In 1985 the two squadrons were consolidated as the
5th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, but remained inactive. The squadron was converted to provisional status in 2015 and allotted to
Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) to activate or inactivate as needed for expeditionary operations. PACAF has reportedly activated the squadron at
Kadena Air Base, equipped with
Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint STARS aircraft. ==Lineage==