abstract
| - The 5th Special Operations Wing (5th SOW) was a special warfare aviation battalion of UNSC Reconnaissance Aviation Expeditionary Force (UNSC Army Special Operations Aviation), UNSC Special Operations Command (UNSCSOCOM), attached to UNSC Special Operations Command Centauri (UNSCSOCCEN) and attached to the Sol Theater of Operations, specifically the colony world of Earth. 5th SOW elements would provide support for UNSC special operations forces during the Second Battle of Earth, supplementing UNSC Naval Special Warfare, UNSC Army Ranger Corps, and other special forces. During the Battle of Cambridge, SOAR forces under the 5th Wing would be responsible for the insertion of NAVSPECWAR Six's Flurry Troop into Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later, SOAR would insert Ranger 38/6 C of the Ranger Corps, sustaining heavy casualties in the process. Finally, the prolonged, savage battle would conclude with the extraction of UNSC special forces and civilians from the devastated, overrun city by SOAR aviators backed by UNSC Special Warfare Group SPARTAN (SPECWAR SPARTAN) and the UNSC Marine Orbital Incursion Group (MARORBGRU) forces. During the operation, the 5th Special Operations Wing would sustain heavy casualties, with numerous SOAR-piloted D25 Heron helicopters and AV-14 Hornet gunships shot down by Covenant forces as SOAR struggled to insert and extract UNSC special forces from the area. However, it was only through SOAR that the UNSC operation would be won, although at a bloody cost. Later, a detachment of the 5th Special Operations Wing would deploy to the UNSC Meridian Rays and provide support for Operation: ICEBREAKER on Hekate, Alpha Orionis System. Much later, the 5th Special Operations Wing would be deployed to Midgard in support of Task Force 51.
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