The primary mission of the squadron is insertion, extraction, and resupply of unconventional warfare forces and equipment into hostile or enemy-controlled territory using airland or airdrop procedures.

[7] On 1 March 1935 the squadron moved by train with the Group to Barksdale Field, Louisiana at which time it became a part of General Headquarters Air Force and became a service test organization.

The 8th was the first USAAF squadron to receive the new aircraft, which was a low- and medium-altitude attack bomber designed to provide close air support to infantry forces.

An air echelon consisting of personnel from engineering, armament, communication, mess and operations sections would travel by boat from Townsville, on the northeastern coast of Queensland to Port Moresby.

[7] While at Charters Towers the squadron received some North American B-25C Mitchell medium bombers during the last week of March that had been ordered by the Netherlands East Indies Air Force before the war.

During the period from 21 April 21 to 5 May, constant changes in strength of enlisted personnel were being made as men whose health was suffering from the tropical climate there returned to Charters Towers and others were called up as the situation demanded.

Colonel Davies led the crews of twelve B-25s on an 800-mile round trip strike from Port Moresby against the Japanese at Gasmata Airfield on the southern coast of New Britain in the Solomon Islands.

The group continued low-level attacks against ground targets in support of the Papua Campaign in their A-20s, fought from 23 July 1942 to 23 January 1943, to clear the Japanese from its lodgments at Buna and Gona on the northeast coast of New Guinea.

The attacks paved the way for an airborne drop of American troops and an amphibious landing of Australian soldiers, who seized Nadzab and Lae in early September.

Since a direct landing assault was virtually impossible, the Americans decided on a strategy of taking Bougainville Island to the north and occupying the southern half of New Britain.

By firing the machine guns, the bomber crews forced the Japanese anti-aircraft gunners to run for cover, allowing time to drop the bombs with deadly accuracy.

Bombs were seen to fall directly among 20 to 25 twin-engine unidentified airplanes off the northwest end of Hollandia Airdrome, causing many of these planes to blow up or burn fiercely.

The 3d Bomb Group carried out strikes against Japanese shipping, struck airfields at low level and on 17 May, supported the landing at Wakde Island with six missions.

[7] Shipping at Manokwari Harbor and aircraft on Kamiri Airfield on Noemfoor Island were the targets for 12 planes on 19 May was one of the most outstanding missions ever flown by the 8th Bombardment Squadron as far as damage to the enemy is concerned.

[7] The 3d Bomb Group spent the rest of the year supporting ground operations as the American and Australian Armies cleaned out the last vestiges of Japanese in the New Guinea and Bismarck Archipelago areas and seized additional islands closer to the Philippines.

Army ground elements followed on the footsteps of the 8th air attacks in the Philippines and found the Japanese on the hills "dazed and killed by concussion and the remnants were easily annihilated.

Their first attack against North Korea was on 29 June when they bombed the main airfield in Pyongyang, making it the first United Nations strike at the Communist forces above the 38th parallel.

When the Chinese People's Volunteer Army attacked in the Spring of 1951, Far East Air Forces requested that the light bomber wings increase their nightly sortie rate.

With a few scant minutes remaining before the 22:00 deadline, a B-26 Night Intruder bearing the Liberty Squadron's yellow tail, opened its bomb bays and dropped the last load of explosives that detonated in North Korea.

As it happened, this move did not take place until 5 August, following the Gulf of Tonkin incident in which North Vietnamese gunboats clashed with United States Navy destroyers.

The first two B-57Bs to land collided with each other on the ground and blocked the runway at Bien Hoa, forcing the rest of the flight to divert to Tan Son Nhut Airport in Saigon.

The B-57s shared an open-air, three-sided hangar with the Vietnamese Air Force that flew Douglas A-1 Skyraider aircraft, and things got so crowded at Bien Hoa at that time that some of the B-57s had to be sent back to Clark.

The first such mission took place on that same day, when the government of Vietnam requested the use of the B-57s from Bien Hoa and North American F-100 Super Sabre aircraft from USAF bases in Thailand to assist in an attack against a large VC force between An Khe and Pleiku in the Central Highlands.

In order to make up losses incurred at Bien Hoa, some B-57Bs had to be transferred to Vietnam from the Kansas Air National Guard, and 12 B-57Es had to be withdrawn from target-towing duties and reconfigured as bombers.

[10] The squadron operated on rotating deployments from the 405th Fighter Wing at Clark, the B-57s carried out attack on trails used by communist trucks, storage and bivouac areas, bridges, buildings, and antiaircraft artillery sites.

[7] The unit reverted to its old name the 8th Special Operations Squadron on 1 March 1974 when it moved without personnel or equipment to Eglin Air Force Auxiliary Field No.

After long hours of flight, the aircrew members faced intense ground fire to airdrop United States Army Rangers on time, on target.

The 8th played a pivotal role in the success of coalition forces as they liberated Kuwait by dropping 11 15,000-pound BLU-82 bombs and 23 million leaflets and conducting numerous aerial refuelings of special operations helicopters.

In 2009, 8th crews deployed to Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras, where they delivered 40,000 pounds of critical food and medical supplies to remote Honduran villages.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Media related to 8th Special Operations Squadron at Wikimedia Commons