774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron | |
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Emblem of the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron |
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Active | 1943--present |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Type | Airlift |
The 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group, stationed at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.
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The squadron provides airlift to forces engaged in the Global War on Terrorism.
Established in mid-1943 as a B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment squadron; assigned to Second Air Force for training. Attached in late 1943 and early 1944 to Air University Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics. Deployed to Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) in February 1944, squadron taking the South Atlantic Transport Route though the Caribbean and South America; transiting the Atlantic Ocean via Brazil and Dakar, French West Africa, being assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in March 1944 at several airfields in Southern Italy.
Engaged in long-range strategic bombardment of enemy military, industrial and transport targets, including oil refineries and production oilfields in Italy; France; Southern Germany; Austria and the Balkans. Continued strategic bombardment until German capitulation in May 1945. Demobilized in place in Italy during the summer of 1945; inactivated in September 1945.
Reactivated as a Tactical Air Command Troop Carrier squadron in June 1953, assigned C-119 Flying Boxcars. Engaged in transport of equipment and supplies; including support of Army Airborne parachute units throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. Equipped with new C-130A Hercules in 1956, the squadron also operated a TAC-sponsored flight demonstration team during the late 1950s and early 1960s known as "The Four Horsemen," utilizing four C-130A aircraft.[1]
Deployed to Pacific Air Forces in 1966, being stationed in the Philippines. Engaged in airlift missions between the Philippines and South Vietnam, airlifting supplies and equipment to airfields in the combat areas; evacuating wounded personnel to hospitals at Clark Air Base. Remained in the Western Pacific until 1971 when inactivated as part of the drawdown of United States forces in the region.
Reactivated at Dyess AFB, Texas as a theater airlift squadron in June 1972, initially under Tactical Air Command, later Military Airlift Command and lastly Air Mobility Command. Deployed frequently to Europe or the Pacific, performing intra-theater airlift missions with C-130s. Inactivated in October 1993 as part of the drawdown of the USAF after the end of the Cold War.
Reactivated as a provisional expeditionary airlift squadron in 2001 as a result of the 9/11 attacks and subsequent Global War on Terrorism.
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This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.