RED HORSE

Believe it or not, not everyone in the United States Air Force (USAF) flies airplanes

The Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer units, better known as RED HORSE never flew airplanes, but we lived our motto: CAN DO. WILL DO. HAVE DONE.

This is the RH pin that, in my day, was awarded and authorized to wear after combat training … Thereafter it was worn as a patch sewn onto the R breast pocket of fatigues.

I am a former SSGT Alan Maberry. I served two tours in Vietnam (1968 – 1969), (1970 – 1971) with the USAF’s combat engineers, RED HORSE (not to be confused with base engineers). RED HORSE is out of Hurlburt Field #9, FL, home of USAF special ops.

During RED HORSE combat training

RED HORSE was created in 1966 by orders of the SecDef Robert McNamara. Air Force “Prime BEEF” (“Base Engineer Emergency Force”) teams filled a need for short-term construction capabilities. However, the Air Force needed a stable and longer-term heavy- repair capability. McNamara ordered the organization of 400-man heavy repair squadrons (12 officers and 388 airmen) to provide a USAF combat engineer element for the escalating war .

The first RED HORSE units formed and deployed in Vietnam were the 554th, followed shortly by the 555th. The squadrons, totally self-sufficient with extensive combat training, were sent to Southeast Asia (SEA). There they were split into detachments to cover all of SEA to perform heavy construction, rocket damage repair and special objects for USAF Special Ops.

Barging in heavy equipment, Mekong Delta

A person had to be proficient in their construction AFSC (Air force Specialty Code) before being accepted into a RED HORSE unit for combat training. The reason for the combat training was we were totally self-sufficient, providing our own security which included extensive convoy duty. I personally served in detachments and convoyed in and through all four corps regions of Vietnam in my two tours.

This is ‘Charging Charlie’ … The patch worn on all RH head gear. Most squadrons would have their respective number on the dozer blade (823d, etc)

Not only has RED HORSE engineers served in every war and conflict our nation has had, they have been deployed to help with worldwide disaster relief, and have added Airborne and Air Assault to our capabilities. RED HORSE Engineers are a highly trained, highly motivated, hard charging, and an extremely proud unit. My old unit, 823rd RED HORSE, although mostly deployed to Afghanistan presently, still managed to send a detachment for Hurricane Sandy relief. RED HORSE has evolved into the primary combat engineer unit that now provides service to all branches of the military.

Extremely proud? You betcha! I’m one of those RED HORSE Engineers. The photos that are included in this article are from my service with the 823rd RED HORSE, but some of the convoy photos are from the RED HORSE Association’s photo gallery.

RH convoys, the only unit in the entire military with these big ass Mack trucks

(MORE PHOTOS FOLLOW THE UNIT LISTING)

Units

There are four active-duty, six Air Force Reserve Command, and five Air National Guard RED HORSE squadrons:^[5]

· 554th RED HORSE Squadron, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam
· 819th RED HORSE Squadron, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana
· 820th RED HORSE Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
· 823d RED HORSE Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida

The 1st Expeditionary RED HORSE Group (inactivated) was in the USCENTCOM area of responsibility (AOR). The 557th Expeditionary RED HORSE Squadron is now located in the USCENTCOM AOR, and is part of the 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineering Group that also consists of two Prime BEEF Squadrons.

Air Force Reserve:

307th RED HORSE Squadron, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana (associate unit to the 554 RHS, reflagged as the 556th RHS and relocated to Hurlburt Field, FL)
555th RED HORSE Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada (classic association with 820th RHS)
556th RED HORSE Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida (classic association with 823d RHS)
560th RED HORSE Squadron, Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina (active association with 94th Civil Engineer Squadron)
567th RED HORSE Squadron, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina (active association with 94th Civil Engineer Squadron)
583d RED HORSE Squadron, Beale Air Force Base, CA (formed with personnel made excess by the reduction of the 940 CES to a CE flight)

Air National Guard:

200th RED HORSE Squadron, Port Clinton, Ohio
- Detachment, Mansfield, Ohio
201st RED HORSE Squadron, Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania· 202d RED HORSE Squadron, Camp Blanding, Florida (combines with the 203d RHF to form a full squadron)
- Detachment, Willow Grove, Pennsylvania
203d RED HORSE Flight, Camp Pendleton, Virginia (combines with the 202d RHS to form a full squadron)
210th RED HORSE Squadron, Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico under the 150 SOW[1]
219th RED HORSE Squadron, Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana (associate unit to the 819th RHS)
254th RED HORSE Squadron, Andersen Air Force Base, Guam (associate unit to the 554th RHS)

The Air National Guard squadrons are split units with separate commanders. When mobilized (excluding the 219th and 254th), these units come together as one squadron.

Thanks for letting me share a little bit of my story.

Learn More about RED HORSE

To learn more about RED HORSE check out “Lead, Follow, or Get the Hell Out of the Way: The Life and Career of Brigadier General Tom Merridith, USAF (Ret) Father of “PRIME BEEF” and “RED HORSE.” The book details a lot of our formation, training and deployment to SEA.