Then activated for the Vietnam War on 30 June 1967, assigned to Tactical Air Command, later being redesignated the 21st Special Operations Squadron on 1 August 1968.

The 21st Special Operations Squadron's mission consisted of day or night, all-weather, low-level penetration of denied territory to provide infiltration, exfiltration, resupply, or fire support for elite air, ground, and naval forces.

[25] The 21st was reassigned to Thirteenth Air Force, on 30 June 1975 (though attached to the 656th Special Operations Wing) before inactivating on 22 September 1975 at U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, Thailand.

The initial Provide Comfort deployment was a scaled-down package made up of the lead elements of the USAF 39th Special Operations Wing.

General Jay Garner tasked Colonel James L. Jones to move the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit into northern Iraq on 20 April to secure the town of Zakho.

In 1998, an Air Force MH-53 Pave Low from the 21st Special Operations Squadron, RAF Mildenhall, England, flew out of San Vito, Italy in support of the Bosnian peacekeeping mission.

The 21st Special Operations Squadron participated in a combat search and rescue mission for the pilot of a downed F-117A stealth fighter during the air campaign against Serbia and the forces of Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milošević.

After more than 90 minutes of orbiting close to the border, the call came from the helicopter crews for the desperately needed fuel that would enable them to continue the rescue mission.

Eventually, as Balkan peacekeeping efforts began in earnest, unit tasking switched to Operation Deny Flight, with 352nd SOG and 16th SOW resources staying put.

And they maintained a sizable presence there as long as US General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons, French Dassault Mirage 2000s or British Panavia Tornadoes continue flying air-policing missions.

Within an hour after the campaign began, Serbian ground forces shot down a Mirage, capturing its injured pilot and weapon systems officer.

Unaware the Frenchmen were prisoners, special operations members flew nightly reconnaissance missions into Bosnia from Italy, hoping to locate and then rescue the men.

Seventy-five miles deep into hostile territory, the choppers, call signs Knife 44 and 47, slugged their way out while receiving help from a Hurlburt AC-130 Spectre, two Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt IIs, two Marine McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornets and a Navy Northrop Grumman EA-6B Prowler.

Dennis Turner and Randy Rutledge, Knife 44 side-gunners from Hurlburt's 20th Special Operation Squadron, were wounded by shrapnel during the fight but managed to return a furious fusillade of their own.

Mildenhall's 21st and 7th squadrons, using MH-53s and MC-130H Combat Talon IIs, also ferried troops into Sarajevo and Tuzla, and played a key role in Bosnia's 1996 elections by flying 54 United States delegates – including special envoy Richard Holbrooke – to eight polling sites scattered throughout the war-scarred country.

Its role is to support NATO troops deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina and aircrews monitoring a no-fly zone above that volatile country, where Serbian mobs attacked Army patrols in September 1997.

And though the base supposedly closed in October 1994, as part of the United States military drawdown, the Bosnian mission keeps San Vito's gates open.

[34] In March 2000, the squadron deployed a MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopter to Air Force Base Hoedspruit, South Africa to support Operation Atlas Response.

Operation Atlas Response was a multi-national humanitarian relief mission helping displaced people in central and southern Mozambique that had been devastated by floods.

A United States Air Force flight crew used the maiden voyage of one of its MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopters 12 March to deliver desperately needed clothing to flood victims in Mozambique.

A call came on the early evening of 21 May 2002 to rescue two injured passengers aboard a storm-damaged yacht, the Persuader, in rough seas approximately 450 miles off the southwest coast of England.

Answering that call was a combined Team Mildenhall effort resulting in hoisting the injured man and woman aboard an MH-53M Pave Low IV helicopter and transferring them to a civilian hospital.