After Mao Tse-tung's communist victory in 1949 over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists in China, Mao turned his army west into Tibet during 1950.
  Tibet's independent tribes rebelled, becoming "bandits" to the Chinese communists.
In the years after the Korean War, the Chinese were still fighting against a Tibetan guerrilla army (Tibetan rebels, in fact were active until the late 1980s).
The communists had one indispensable advantage, as the rugged geography of Tibet made outside support from the west to the Tibetan guerrilla almost impossible.
 President Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted to send aid, however the United States lacked the expertise and equipment to conduct the long-range air commando clandestine logistics mission it needed just to get to Tibet.

The needed airlift capability was forthcoming from a select group of USAF officers selected for service outside of official Air Force channels.
 Detachment 2, 1045th Observation, Evaluation and Training Group (OE&TG) was established at Kadena AB, Okinawa in 1955.
 Det.
2's mission was to conduct high-altitude, high-risk, clandestine logistics support flights to Tibet.
It utilized a single C-118 Liftmaster marked as Civil Air Transport (CAT), a CIA aircraft owned by the United States Government.
By 1959, the plane completed more than 200 overflights from its base at Saigon, South Vietnam to Tibet.
 However, the extremely high altitudes the plane operated at just to get to Tibet precluded effective support, as weight and fuel limitations meant that the plane had to fly with a diminished cargo capacity.
  The loss of only one of the aircraft's four engines over Tibet's rugged mountains would make the loss of the aircraft and American crew inevitable, taking with it any hope of maintaining "Plausible deniability" of United States support to the rebels.
The new Lockheed C-130A Hercules was the obvious choice for the operation, however the only C-130s available in the Pacific were assigned to the USAF 315th Air Division, 21st Troop Carrier Squadron.
Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates, Jr. approved the establishment of "E Flight", 21st Troop Carrier Squadron, which was activated in March, 1959 at Naha Air Base, Okinawa.

E Flight C-130s were flown from their home base at Naha to Kadena for removal of USAF markings and manning by CAT personnel then to Takhli Airfield, Thailand for flying over the Himalayas to Tibet.
 To reduce their chance of Chinese detection, the CAT aircrews flew their C-130s to Northern Thailand through inadequately chartered mountainous terrain with no navaids except the navigator's celestial plotting skills.
  All missions to Tibet were also flown at night during ten-day "moon windows" which allowed at least some visual terrain recognition.
 Also flights were limited to the dry Monsoon season to eliminate the chance of becoming lost in the clouds.
  A routine mission would carry a number of cargo pallets rigged for parachute dropping along with personnel consisting of a US adviser and Tibetan Guerrillas trained by the United States which would parachute out along with the cargo.
 The Guerrillas were trained secretly at "Camp Hale", a secluded site located above 10,000 feet elevation near Leadville, Colorado and then flown out from Peterson AFB to Asia.

However, these missions taxed even the extreme range capability of the C-130.
  Shifting winds or mechanical problems frequently caused mission deviations, and a discreet relationship was had with the Government of Pakistan to allow C-130s to land in East Pakistan if necessary.
 When Tibet's leader, the Dalai Lama, fled Tibet, it was these Tibetan Guerrillas and US Advisers who aided his escape to India.

With the downing of Gary Power's U-2 over the Soviet Union in May 1960, the Eisenhower Administration ordered all air commando missions into Tibet ended immediately, and mission was ended.
 Shortly afterwards, America's attention was being drawn towards another growing conflict in Southeast Asia, which would establish the Air Commandos on a permanent basis.
After Mao Tse-tung's communist victory in 1949 over Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists in China, Mao turned his army west into Tibet during 1950.   Tibet's independent tribes rebelled, becoming "bandits" to the Chinese communists. In the years after the Korean War, the Chinese were still fighting against a Tibetan guerrilla army (Tibetan rebels, in fact were active until the late 1980s). The communists had one indispensable advantage, as the rugged geography of Tibet made outside support from the west to the Tibetan guerrilla almost impossible.  President Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted to send aid, however the United States lacked the expertise and equipment to conduct the long-range air commando clandestine logistics mission it needed just to get to Tibet.
The needed airlift capability was forthcoming from a select group of USAF officers selected for service outside of official Air Force channels.  Detachment 2, 1045th Observation, Evaluation and Training Group (OE&TG) was established at Kadena AB, Okinawa in 1955.  Det. 2's mission was to conduct high-altitude, high-risk, clandestine logistics support flights to Tibet. It utilized a single C-118 Liftmaster marked as Civil Air Transport (CAT), a CIA aircraft owned by the United States Government. By 1959, the plane completed more than 200 overflights from its base at Saigon, South Vietnam to Tibet.  However, the extremely high altitudes the plane operated at just to get to Tibet precluded effective support, as weight and fuel limitations meant that the plane had to fly with a diminished cargo capacity.   The loss of only one of the aircraft's four engines over Tibet's rugged mountains would make the loss of the aircraft and American crew inevitable, taking with it any hope of maintaining "Plausible deniability" of United States support to the rebels. The new Lockheed C-130A Hercules was the obvious choice for the operation, however the only C-130s available in the Pacific were assigned to the USAF 315th Air Division, 21st Troop Carrier Squadron. Secretary of Defense Thomas S. Gates, Jr. approved the establishment of "E Flight", 21st Troop Carrier Squadron, which was activated in March, 1959 at Naha Air Base, Okinawa.
E Flight C-130s were flown from their home base at Naha to Kadena for removal of USAF markings and manning by CAT personnel then to Takhli Airfield, Thailand for flying over the Himalayas to Tibet.  To reduce their chance of Chinese detection, the CAT aircrews flew their C-130s to Northern Thailand through inadequately chartered mountainous terrain with no navaids except the navigator's celestial plotting skills.   All missions to Tibet were also flown at night during ten-day "moon windows" which allowed at least some visual terrain recognition.  Also flights were limited to the dry Monsoon season to eliminate the chance of becoming lost in the clouds.   A routine mission would carry a number of cargo pallets rigged for parachute dropping along with personnel consisting of a US adviser and Tibetan Guerrillas trained by the United States which would parachute out along with the cargo.  The Guerrillas were trained secretly at "Camp Hale", a secluded site located above 10,000 feet elevation near Leadville, Colorado and then flown out from Peterson AFB to Asia.
However, these missions taxed even the extreme range capability of the C-130.   Shifting winds or mechanical problems frequently caused mission deviations, and a discreet relationship was had with the Government of Pakistan to allow C-130s to land in East Pakistan if necessary.  When Tibet's leader, the Dalai Lama, fled Tibet, it was these Tibetan Guerrillas and US Advisers who aided his escape to India.
With the downing of Gary Power's U-2 over the Soviet Union in May 1960, the Eisenhower Administration ordered all air commando missions into Tibet ended immediately, and mission was ended.  Shortly afterwards, America's attention was being drawn towards another growing conflict in Southeast Asia, which would establish the Air Commandos on a permanent basis.
Air Resupply And Communications Service