819th RED HORSE Squadron (ACC)

The 819th was originally activated as the 819th Installations Squadron at Abilene, Texas (later Dyess AFB) on 15 June 1956. On 1 July 1960 it was redesignated as the 819th Civil Engineering Squadron. The unit was inactivated at Dyess on 25 June 1961. On 12 January 1966 the unit was redesignated the 819th Civl Engineering Squadron (Heavy Repair) and activated at Forbes AFB, KS. It was organized at Ban Sattahip Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand on 8 March 1966 and deployed to Phu Cat AB, South Vietnam in May 1966. It eventually completed much of the facility construction and a large percentage of the earth moving and paving required at Phu Cat. The unit placed more than 2 million square feet of AM-2 mat and erected more than 5,000 linear feet of aircraft revetment. The 819th deployed briefly to Tuy Hoa AB from January to April 1970 to help
close the base.

The 819th redeployed from Vietnam in April 1970 and was stationed at Westover AFB, MA, until
1973 when it moved to McConnell AFB, KS. In 1979, it was realigned from Tactical Air
Command (TAC) to United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) and was assigned to Royal Air
Force Wethersfield, United Kingdom. The unit was tasked with rapid runway repair
responsibilities for USAFE, along with its traditional heavy repair role. The 819th was inactivated
at RAF Wethersfield on 31 August 1990. Seven years later, on 1 June 1997, it was reactivated
under Air Combat Command (ACC) at Malmstrom AFB, MT, as the first-ever Air Force-Air
National Guard RED HORSE associate unit.

The unit’s first full-fledged mission after reaching full manning was in November 1998, when it
deployed with members of the 820th RHS to Central America to perform essential infrastructure
repair in the wake of Hurricane Mitch. The squadron has also been involved in construction
projects in Southwest Asia, including a major runway project at Masirah Island, Oman, in 2002-
2003 during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and major construction projects at several bases
in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. The 819th RHS is an Air Combat Command asset,
assigned to Eighth Air Force.

In the fall of 2001, the 819th took the lead in establishing an Airborne RED HORSE capability.
After training with the Army at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and working with AFCESA to
establish MARES (mobile airfield repair equipment set), in February 2003 the first Airborne RED
HORSE team stood up in Southwest Asia, led by the 819th ERHS.