| Unit Name: | 39th Rescue Squadron |
| Dates: | 1952–1957; 1967–1972; 1992–1994; 1997–present |
| Role: | Search and rescue |
| Command Structure: | Air Force Reserve Command |
| Current Commander: | Lt Col David J Underwood |
| Garrison: | Patrick Space Force Base |
| Nickname: | Crown/King |
| Motto: | That Others May Live |
| Battles: | Korean War Vietnam War Operation Iraqi Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom[1] |
| Decorations: | Distinguished Unit Citation Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm |
| Identification Symbol Label: | 39th Rescue Squadron emblem (approved 12 March 1992) |
The 39th Rescue Squadron is an Air Force Reserve Command unit of the 920th Rescue Wing (920 RQW) at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida. Until December 2019, it operated the Lockheed HC-130P/N Combat King aircraft conducting search and rescue and combat search and rescue/personnel recovery missions.[2] The squadron is currently transitioning to the Lockheed Martin HC-130J Combat King II aircraft, which will provide significant increases in the squadron's capabilities.[2] An Air Force Reserve Command unit, the 39th Rescue Squadron is operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command (ACC) upon mobilization.
As an Air Force Reserve Command unit, the squadron mission is to rapidly deploy HC-130 aircraft and personnel to austere airfields and denied territory in order to execute all-weather personnel recovery operations. 39th flight crews routinely perform high and low altitude personnel and equipment airdrops, infiltration/exfiltration of personnel, helicopter air refueling, and forward area refueling point missions. When tasked, the squadron also conducts humanitarian assistance operations, disaster response, security cooperation/aviation advisory, emergency aeromedical evacuation, casualty evacuation, noncombatant evacuation operations.[3] During the Space Shuttle program, the 39th also provided DoD crewed space flight support for NASA.
The squadron was first activated in November 1952 as the 39th Air Rescue Squadron at Ashiya Air Base, Japan when the Air Rescue Service expanded the 3d Air Rescue Squadron into a group. The squadron assumed the mission, personnel and aircraft of Flight D, 3d Air Rescue Squadron, which was discontinued when the squadron activated. The 39th conducted search, rescue, and escort missions in Japan and Korea during and following the Korean War. It also flew missions included refueling rescue helicopters and performing airborne command, control, and communications functions during combat rescue operations.[1]
On 18 January 1967, the squadron was formed at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base with six Lockheed HC-130 Hercules transferred from the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron.[4]
On 8 June 1967 the squadron relocated from Udorn to Tuy Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam and began to receive HC-130Ps to replace their HC-130Hs.[5] The HC-130P was the first aircraft able to refuel helicopters and so provided a dramatic increase in range for helicopters, particularly those involved in combat search and rescue missions.[6] By mid-1969, the squadron was operating 11 HC-130Ps from Tuy Hoa.[7] On 16 September 1970 the squadron relocated from Tuy Hoa AB to Cam Ranh Air Base.[8]
In March 1972 the squadron moved from Cam Ranh to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base. On 1 April 1972, the 39th was dissolved and the aircraft and crews temporarily became part of Detachment 4 of the 3d Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group at Korat. On 8 July 1972, the detachment was replaced by the 56th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron and the .
On 10 October 1990, the squadron was reestablished as the 39th Air Rescue Squadron under the Air Rescue Service and activated at Misawa Air Base, Japan on 1 January 1992 as an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter squadron. On 1 February 1993, the squadron was redesignated as the 39th Rescue Squadron under the 432d Operations Group of the 432d Fighter Wing at Misawa.
The squadron was inactivated as a Regular Air Force unit in 1994 concurrent with inactivation of the 432d Fighter Wing.[9]
The 39th Rescue Squadron was reactivated in 1997 as an Air Force Reserve Command unit and assigned to the 920th Rescue Group (later the 920th Rescue Wing), at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, assuming operation of all Lockheed HC-130P/N aircraft and command of all HC-130 flight crews and associated support personnel previously assigned to the 301st Rescue Squadron. Since that time, the squadron has provided rescue support to NASA on the Eastern Range during the Space Shuttle program, participated in domestic humanitarian operations following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina along the U.S. Gulf Coast, and following the attacks on the United States of 11 September 2001, has made repeated combat deployments of its aircraft and aircrews to Iraq and Djibouti in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.
On December 16, 2019, the squadron retired their last HC-130 P/N Combat King aircraft. This fleet of aircraft will be replaced with new HC/MC-130J models in the spring of 2020.[10] The squadron's first HC-130J Combat King II arrived on April 2, 2020.[11]
Activated on 14 November 1952
Inactivated on 24 November 1957
Organized on 18 January 1967
Inactivated on 30 April 1972
Redesignated 39th Rescue Squadron on 1 February 1993
Inactivated on 1 August 1994