609th Special Operations Squadron

609th Air Commando Squadron
Air Force:
Division:
Wing: 56th Air Commando Wing
Active: 22 Aug 1967- 1 Dec 1969
Theater Southeast Asia
Motto:
Aircraft: Douglas B-26K

The 609th Special Operations Squadron was organized as the 609th Air Commando Squadron at Nakhon Phanom RTAFB, Thailand on 15 September 1967. It was assigned to the 56th Air Commando Wing. The squadron flew the Douglas A-26 Invader, a twin engine attack bomber of WWII vintage. The first aircraft for the unit were transferred from the 603rd Air Commando Squadron - Detachment 1, which was attached to the 606th Air Commando Squadron. The 606th itself never flew B-26Ks, they flew Trojans. The primary mission of the 609th was night interdiction of truck traffic along the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Its call sign for these missions was "Nimrod", inherited from the 606th and other squadrons that had flown that mission, and "The Nimrods" soon became the squadron's nickname. The squadron's A-26 aircraft carried tail letters "TA".

On 1 August 1968, all Air Commando Wings were redesignated as Special Operations Units, and the 56th Air Commando Wing became the 56th Special Operations Wing, with the 609th Air Commando Squadron becoming the 609th Special Operations Squadron.

The night interdiction tasks of the 609th were gradually taken over by squadrons flying Lockheed AC-130 gunships, and the A-26 aircraft were phased out of active service by November 1969. By the time the last four surviving A-26s were withdrawn at the unit stand down, the squadron had flown 7,159 combat missions, and been credited with destroying 4,268 enemy supply trucks.

The 609th was inactivated on 1 December 1969. The squadron's losses had been heavy, and it was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for gallantry.

The remains of two squadron pilots, Maj. James E. Sizemore and Maj. Howard V. Andre, shot down over Laos in 1969, were recovered in 2013 and buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Planes

Serial Number	Date Assigned	Date Left	Comments
64-17640	7 Jun 1965	15 Apr 1968	Left the base in Mar 1966 and Oct 1967 for maintenance at McLellan AFB and OnMark. Glass nose.
64-17647	8 Oct 1965	3 Apr 1968	Went to McLellan AFB in Jun 1966 for modifications.
64-17648	9 Sep 1964	19 Jul 1967	Sent back to OnMark, then over to Vietnam. Glass nose.
64-17651	20 Sep 1964	27 Jul 1967	Sent to OnMark, then over to Vietnam.
64-17653	13 Oct 1964	25 Mar 1968	Sent to McLellan Mar 1968, then to Vietnam.
64-17655	2 Nov 1964	18 Apr 1968	Sent to 1st Air Commando Wing, Eglin AFB. Glass nose.
64-17657	11 Nov 1964	18 Jan 1968	Sent to McLellan AFB Jan 1968, then to 1st Air Commando Wing, Eglin AFB.
64-17659	28 Nov 1964	18 Aug 1965	Destroyed in accident, dropped from inventory.
64-17661	4 Dec 1964	2 Aug 1967	Sent to OnMark, then over to Vietnam.
64-17663	22 Dec 1964	23 Apr 1965	Destroyed in accident, dropped from inventory.