56th Special Operations Wing

  August 1968 to June 1975

  United States of America

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TYPE: USAF unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Nakhon Phanom AB, Thailand

FORMER NAME: 56^th Air Commando Wing

SUBSEQUENT NAME: 56^th Tactical Fighter Wing

The 56^th Air Commando Wing was based at Nakhon Phanom AB, Thailand from April 1967. It was composed of an Air Commando Squadron operating a mixed fleet of Helio Couriers, C-123 Providers, A-26 Invaders and T-28 Trojans, and of a Fighter Squadron flying the A-1 Skyraider. The Wing later grew to include additional squadrons including a helicopter one, with some operations conducted from South Vietnam as well. It was assigned to the 13^th Air Force, but was attached to the 7^th Air Force in Saigon for operational control.

The Wing immediately entered combat in Southeast Asia, flying specialized missions that included interdiction, psychological warfare, close air support, search and rescue, forward air control, training Royal Thai Air Force and Royal Lao Air Force personnel, and helicopter escort for clandestine insertion and extraction of personnel in Laos and North Vietnam. It provided close air support during the Battle of Lima Site 85 in Laos between January and March 1968. From February 1968, it flew similar missions in support of the Siege of Khe Sanh, just across the border in South Vietnam.

In the middle of 1968, the Wing was redesignated 56^th Special Operations Wing and its various air commando, fighter and helicopter squadrons became special operations squadrons. Wing elements participated in Operation Ivory Coast, the Son Tay Prison raid on 21 November 1970. The Wing continued combat operations until 1973, ending combat operations in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in mid-January 1973. While no longer assigned combat units, the 56^th assisted in Operation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 12 April 1975 and Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon on 29 & 30 April 1975.

February 1970* to April 1973*

The 56^th was assigned several Commandos coming from the joint CIA - Ministry of External Affairs of India mission in Tibet. They had been replaced there by Antonov An2 biplanes and Mil Mi4 helicopters. The condition of these Commandos, along with their age, probably precluded any future operational use, and it is likely that none of them ever got ferried out of India to joint in the Wing's Southeast Asia operations.

• Curtiss C-46D-10-CU Commando: 44-77537, 44-77548, 44-77588, 44-77626, 44-77690, 44-77709, 44-77722, 44-77853, 44-77873, 44-77878
• Curtiss C-46D-15-CU Commando: 44-77982, 44-77991, 44-77995, 44-77996, 44-78043, 44-78052
• Curtiss TC-46D-15-CU Commando: 44-77981
• Curtiss C-46D-20-CU Commando: 44-78488, 44-78517