for instrument and transitional training to prepare for the new B-66 bomber which is slated for delivery to the wing..." The first B-66 arrived at Hurlburt on March 16, 1956, after a flight from Norton AFB, California, piloted by 17th Bomb Wing commander Col. Howard F. Bronson, with Col. Norton W. Sanders, commanding officer of the 17th Bomb Group, as observer. The 17th Bomb Wing was equipped with the Douglas B-66B Destroyer and operated the jet light bomber at Hurlburt from 1956 until 1958, then the wing was moved to a base in England. The 17th was inactivated on June 25, 1958 due to budgetary cutbacks. With the reactivation of Hurlburt, housing was at a premium, and Lieutenant Colonel Robert S. Kramer, Assistant Army District Engineer at Mobile, Alabama, announced on April 5, 1956, that a contract had been awarded in the amount of $3,315,143.34 to the McDonough Construction Company of Georgia, Atlanta, Georgia, for the construction of 151 buildings of concrete block with brick facing. Residences would be single and duplex quarters with two, three, and four bedrooms. Construction began on the first 48 buildings (72 units) in mid-April, with initial completion expected by February 1957. Special operations On April 14, 1961 the Air Force Tactical Air Command (TAC) activated the 4400th Combat Crew Training Squadron at Hurlburt, to fly operations against guerrillas, either as an overt Air Force operation or in an undefined covert capacity. Known by its nickname "Jungle Jim", the unit was commanded by Colonel Benjamin H. King. The squadron was authorized 16 C-47s, eight B-26s and eight T-28 Trojans, plus the same number of aircraft in temporary storage. The T-28s were armed with caliber .50 machine guns, 2.75-in. rockets and a small quantity of bombs. These specialists flew missions in Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America and other places throughout the world. In early 1962, plans for the never executed Operation Northwoods called for decoy aircraft to land at this base. From the 1960s into the early 1970s, the base hosted a wide variety of aircraft types, including A-1E Skyraiders, AC-119G Shadow and AC-119K Stinger gunships, AC-47 Spooky gunships, AC-130A Spectre gunships, B-26K Counter-Invaders (including those deployed to the Congo), UC-123Ks with underwing jet pods, OV-10A Forward Air Control Broncos, Cessna O-2A Skymaster FAC and O-2B PSYOPS aircraft, QU-22B recon drones, and other long-serving C-47s in various support roles. Following the conclusion of the war in