JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, New Jersey –
On August 16, 2019, the 305th Operations Support Squadron hosted a Silver Carpet Day to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the 305th OSS heritage, which was united from two squadrons – the 305th Airdrome Squadron and the 305th OSS.
Silver Carpet Day was dedicated to commemorate the 305th OSS’s roots, celebrate the people and provide an opportunity for friends and family to learn about the mission.
305th OSS sections such as the Radar Approach Control, Airfield Management, Host Aviation Resource Management (HARM) office, Radar Airfield and Weather Systems (RAWS) Deployable Radar, Airfield and Weapons Systems (dRAWS), Combat Crew Communications, Weather flight and Aircrew Flight Equipment (AFE) created informative posters and answered questions from their respective booths, according to Master Sgt. Mandy Thorpe, 305th OSS Deployable Radar Airfield and Weather System NCOIC.
According to the lineage of the 305th OSS, the 305th Airdrome Squadron was constituted on April 2, 1943 and activated on April 5, 1943. In March 25, 1946, it was inactivated and disbanded on October 8, 1948. It was later reconstituted and consolidated on Aug. 29, 1991 with the 305th OSS, which was constituted on March 25, 1959 and activated on June 1, 1959. A few years later, it was discontinued and inactivated on Jan. 1, 1962. Re-designated, the 305th OSS was activated on Sept. 1, 1991.
One notable historical note of the 305th OSS came back in October 1944 during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.
According to Chief Warrant Officer Jim Farris, one of the founding members of the 305th Airdrome Squadron, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the Japanese Imperial Army began to bomb the aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Leyte, forcing many of the fighter and bomber aircraft to takeoff without anywhere to go. With the St Lo sinking and the Princeton burning, the orphaned and fuel limited aircraft was forced to conduct an emergency landing on the 305th’s dirt airstrip. The men of the 305th Airdrome Squadron began to build a runway on the beach, gathering deposits of coral to lay down a material base then covering it with steel matting. The 305th's engineers, air traffic controllers, and maintenance personnel received and refueled the aircraft, then returned them into battle.
“This was a mission that the members of the squadron were not prepared to do – but in the face of a crisis, they showed up, took initiative, and worked together to solve a complex problem,” said Lt. Col. James Kerley, 305th OSS commander. “Similarly, the men and women of the 305th OSS today have a propensity for action and a tendency for collaboration. Much like our predecessors, we face tough problems head on and work together to find solutions.”
Most recently, the 305th OSS has been recognized with some major achievements.
According to Kerley, the squadron completed “Operation Jersey Wrath” and also received the General Gordon A. Blake Award.
“[Operation Jersey Wrath] was JB MDL’s first squadron-developed and executed tri-service exercise of its kind,” Kerley said. “The men and women of the squadron drove collaboration with eight wings across AMC, AFRC, and ACC in an effort to get after Full Spectrum Readiness. This exercise synchronized operational training with 60 Mobility and Combat Air Force aircraft, including our first integration training with the F-35A aircraft.”
Furthermore, in 2018, a civilian pilot flying in Joint Base MDL’s airspace lost all electrical power while flying in the clouds, he contacted the Radar Approach Control Facility (RAPCON) using his cell phone, and was provided final approach guidance using a Precision Approach Radar while talking with the RAPCON team and Tower controllers using a very non-standard method of control.
As a result, the pilot and his passenger landed without injury and the whole team was recognized with the General Gordon A. Blake aircraft save award.
“The men and women of the 305th OSS are Reliable, Operationally focused, Credible and Knowledgeable and continue to be THE ROCK upon which JB MDL’s global reach and power stands, just as our predecessors were in New Guinea and the Philippines in 1944,” said Kerley.
The 305th OSS is known as the "The Rock of Ops” and are the Department of Defense's only tri-service Operations Support Squadron. As AMC’s largest OSS, the Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers, and Civilians of the 305th provide full spectrum aircrew and airfield operations support to more than 150 joint aircraft and over 1,300 total force aircrew. Despite the massive responsibility of supporting two airfields, five runways, DoD’s only Deployable Radar, and operating AMC's largest KC-10 Formal Training Unit, the 410 joint service personnel can always be entrusted with leading the way and executing the mission safely, on-time and with the utmost precision.