606th Air Commando Squadron

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

Many, many sources indicated that the 606th Air Commando Squadron fielded A-26A Invaders prior to the formation of the 609th Air Commando Squadron. Technically, this is not correct. The 606th Air Commando Squadron was an elite hunter-killer unit that operated out of Nakhon Phanom Air Base while the A-26As first arrived in 1966. However, the A-26As assigned to the base were "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. But the 606th was responsible for reporting the plane's Inventory Status, which is why the planes list the 606th on the Aerospace Inventory Reports as the reporting unit. 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.

In everyday practical operations these first A-26As that arrived in Thailand flew side-by-side with the aircrews of the 606th ACS, often flying in coordinated hunter-killer missions with them. However, they were officially "603rd ACS - Detachment 1", part of "Operation Big Eagle." As such, any mentions of A-26As and the 606th ACS should really be the 603-1 ACS.

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
64-17665	Jan 1967	Aug 1967	Transferred to 609th.
64-17667	Jan 1967	Aug 1967	Transferred to 609th. Shot down 23 Mar 1969.
64-17668	Jan 1967	22 Feb 1967	Shot down 22 Feb 1967.
64-17669	Jan 1967	22 Feb 1967	Destroyed 22 Feb 1967 when 64-17668 exploded in flight beside it.
64-17676	Jan 1967	Aug 1967	Transferred to 609th. On display at Wright-Patterson.