606th Air Commando Squadron

606th Air Commando Squadron
Air Force:
Division:
Wing: 56th Air Commando Wing
Active:
Theater Southeast Asia
Motto:
Aircraft:

The history and relationship of the 606th Air Commando Squadron with the A-26A is a little confusing. In Jul 1966 eight B-26s were to Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force base as Operation Big Eagle, a TDY Detachment of the 603rd Air Commando Squadron. These first 8 planes were originally "attached" to the 606th, not assigned. The difference is that the 606th provided logistical and operational support to the unit, including fuel, armorers, ground crew, etc, the planes and their crews were not directly under the command of the 606th. In truth, the planes are all still assigned to the 603rd Air Commando Squadron, 1st Air Commando Wing at Hurlburt Field, FL. This is the reason why planes in Thailand first used the tail code "IF" in white letters - that letter code denotes the 603rd ACS and is also seen later in 1969 on planes coming from Hulrburt to Davis-Monthan. We see this same type of logistical attachment occur during WWII with the Project Squadron being attached to the 386th Bombardment Group. If the planes had been assigned to the 606th, they would have bore the black "TC" tail code of the 606th.

The Big Eagle project was a success, and in January 1967 the 5 surviving planes of the Big Eagle project were permanently merged with the 606th Special Operations Squadron. They flew Hunter-Killer operations with the T-28s using tactics similar to the 211th Squadron and the 605th Air Commando Squadron. Despite being folded into the the 606th, it appears as those these 5 planes retained the "IF" tail codes of the 603rd for some reason. Two additional planes were lost on 22 Feb 1967. In August, the remaining 3 planes were transferred to the 609th Special Operations Squadron.

Planes

Of the 8 original Big Eagle B-26s that went to Vietnam in Jul 1966, 5 of them survived and were transferred to the 606th Air Commando Squadron in January 1967. Of those 5, 2 more were lost while assigned to the 606th, and the remaining 3 were transferred to the 609th in Aug 1967.

The 606th also had T-28 Trojans and other support and observation planes. Later the unit flew A-1 Skyraiders.

Serial Number	Date Assigned	Date Left	Comments
64-17642	31 May 1967	Aug 1967	Transferred to 609th.
64-17665	Jan 1967	Aug 1967	Big Eagle. Transferred to 609th.
64-17667	Jan 1967	Aug 1967	Big Eagle. Transferred to 609th. Shot down 23 Mar 1969.
64-17668	Jan 1967	22 Feb 1967	Big Eagle. Shot down 22 Feb 1967.
64-17669	Jan 1967	22 Feb 1967	Big Eagle. Destroyed 22 Feb 1967 when 64-17668 exploded in flight beside it.
64-17676	Jan 1967	Aug 1967	Big Eagle. Transferred to 609th. On display at Wright-Patterson.