581st Air Resupply Squadron Morale

Constituted as 581 Air Resupply and Communications Squadron on 23 Jul 1951. Redesignated 581 Air Resupply Squadron on 8 Sep 1953-18 Sep 1956.

Provided airlift support with C-119s to Far East Command’s Korean operations throughout 1952-1953 through infiltration, resupply, and exfiltration of guerrilla-type personnel and the aerial delivery of psychological warfare (PSYWAR) leaflets and other similar materials. Beginning in 1953, the C-119s were employed in Southeast Asia in support of French operations in Indochina by delivering supplies, including ammunition, vehicles, and barbed wire, to Haiphong Airfield in ever increasing quantities. Because the US presence in Indochina could not be publicly escalated, plans were developed to utilize 581st personnel in a discrete support role by flying refurbished C-119s, under French markings. Instructors from the 581st were also tasked to train CIA-employed Civil Air Transport civilian aircrews in the C-119.