It later flew resupply missions to resistance forces operating behind enemy lines in French Indochina.

The squadron activated on 2 March 1942 at Miami Municipal Airport as part of the Air Force Combat Command.

[citation needed] It flew anti-submarine missions using A-20 Havocs, B-25 Mitchells, and O-52 Owls, while undergoing observation training at these various bases in the southeastern states.

[citation needed] From Aiken, the squadron shipped cross-country to Camp Anza, California, arriving on 28 March 1944.

It spent an itinerant few weeks further training in India, moving through Kanchrapara and Ondal, to land in Chabua on 17 May.

After March 1945, the squadron carried mail and passengers to American liaison personnel in South China, and the 19th flew re-supply missions to resistance forces operating behind enemy lines in French Indochina.

The only suitable aircraft, the Cessna O-1 Bird Dog, was no longer being manufactured; the U.S. Army held the scanty inventory of existing O-1s.

[3] One of the squadron's added missions was flying support and forward air control for Project DELTA in their covert insertions into Laos.

They began this secretive mission in July 1963, and carried it out until the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron later took over the role.

[4] 19th TASS was also tasked with visual reconnaissance missions, psychological warfare, and logistics escort duties.

However, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara noted that the RVNAF seemed to have made no improvement within the past year.

When the RVNAF proved unequal to taking over the disbanded squadron's responsibilities, the 19th TASS was reactivated on 21 October 1964.

[6] In this incarnation, the squadron's principal mission was visual reconnaissance and forward air control of fighter-bombers, although it continued to train Vietnamese pilots and observers.

[1] The 19th TASS began flying actual forward air control sorties out of Bien Hoa on 11 November 1965, using the call sign "Sidewinder".

While serving as FACs and/or Air Liaison Officers, they used the radio net under various call signs, most of which were names of serpents.

[citation needed] Beginning in 1968, the 19th TASS extended its squadron inventory to include O-2 Skymasters and OV-10 Broncos.

[1] On 15 January 1971, 19th TASS absorbed the 22nd Tactical Air Support Squadron, leaving the 22nd an unmanned unequipped paper unit.

On 1 August 1989, the 19 TASS transferred to Suwon Air Base, South Korea and converted to the OA-10A aircraft.

The 19th TASS remained an active combat-ready unit flying the OA-10A aircraft until the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

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