62d Airlift Squadron

62d Airlift Squadron

62d Airlift Squadron Patch
Active 27 November 1942 – 27 August 1946
17 October 1949 – present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
Type Airlift Training
Part of Air Education and Training Command
19th Air Force
314th Airlift Wing
314th Operations Group
Garrison/HQ Little Rock Air Force Base
Nickname(s) Blue Barons
Decorations Distinguished Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation

The 62d Airlift Squadron (62 AS) is part of the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It operates C-130 Hercules aircraft and provides advanced training to pilots, copilots, navigators, flight engineers, and loadmasters for airlift and airdrop operations.

History

Activated in late 1942 under I Troop Carrier Command and equipped with C-47 Skytrains. Trained in various parts of the eastern United States. Deployed to French Morocco in May 1943 and assigned to Twelfth Air Force to support combat operations in the North African Campaign. Remained with Twelfth Air Force, moving to Tunisia and Sicily providing transport and resupply operations as well as casualty evacuation of wounded personnel in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO). Reassigned to IX Troop Carrier Command, Ninth Air Force in England during early 1944 as part of the build-up of Allied forces prior to the D-Day invasion of France.

Began operations by dropping paratroops into Normandy on D-Day (6 June 1944) and releasing gliders with reinforcements on the following day. The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation and a French citation for these missions.

After the Normandy invasion the squadron ferried supplies in the United Kingdom. The squadron also hauled food, clothing, medicine, gasoline, ordnance equipment, and other supplies to the front lines and evacuated patients to rear zone hospitals. It dropped paratroops near Nijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during the airborne attack on the Netherlands. In December, it participated in the Battle of the Bulge by releasing gliders with supplies for the 101st Airborne Division near Bastogne.

Moved to Belgium in early 1945, and participated in the Western Allied invasion of Germany, participating in the air assault across the Rhine River in March 1945, each aircraft towed two gliders with troops of the 17th Airborne Division and released them near Wesel.

After V-E Day, became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe, being assigned to AAF Station Frankfurt and was part of the USAFE European Air Transport System (EATS), supporting the occupation forces in Germany as well as carrying supplies and personnel between various stations in Western Europe. Demobilized in early 1946 while stationed in France, unit inactivated later that year as an administrative unit.

Reactivated as part of Tactical Air Command Eighteenth Air Force in 1949 with C-82 Packets and various gliders as an assault squadron. Deployed to Japan for combat operations in 1950 for the Korean War. Furnished airlift between Japan and Korea and airdropped paratroops and supplies at Sukchon/Sunchon and Munsan-ni. was part of airborne assaults on Sukchon and Munsan-ni.

Returned to the United States in 1954, was equipped by TAC as one of the first C-130 Hercules squadrons when the aircraft came into operational service. The squadron flew airlift from the Philippines into Vietnam, March–May 1965. It has conducted C-130 Training since 1971.

Operations and Decorations

Lineage

Activated on 5 December 1942
Inactivated on 27 August 1946
Activated on 17 October 1949
Re-designated as: 62d Troop Carrier Squadron on 1 March 1966
Re-designated as: 62d Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 May 1967
Re-designated as: 62d Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991.

Assignments

Attached to 89th Troop Carrier Group, 5 December 1942
Attached to: 322d Air Division, 6 June-Aug 1961
Attached to: Det 3, 315th Air Division, 19 May-29 Jul 1962 and 5 August-Oct 1964
Attached to: 315th Air Division, Mar-May 1965
Attached to: Troop Carrier Wing Provisional, 4413, 1 December 1965 – 30 June 1966
Attached to: 513th Tactical Airlift Wing, 15 December 1967 – 8 April 1968, 29 June-2 Oct 1968, 16 November 1969 – 11 January 1970, and 3 July-30 Aug 1970
Attached to: 322d Tactical Airlift Wing, 10 April-12 Jun 1971

Stations

  • Smyrna AFB, Tennessee, 17 October 1949 – 27 August 1950
  • Ashiya AB, Japan, 4 September 1950 – 15 November 1954
  • Sewart AFB, Tennessee, 15 November 1954
Deployed at: Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, 6 June-Aug 1961
Deployed at: Clark AB, Philippines, 19 May-29 Jul 1962, 5 August-Oct 1964, and Mar-May 1965
Deployed at: RAF Mildenhall, England, 15 December 1967-c. 28 March 1968, 1 July-2 Oct 1968, and 16 November 1969 – 11 January 1970
Deployed at: RAF Mildenhall, England, 3 July-30 Aug 1970; Rhein-Main AB, Germany, 2 April-31 May 1971

Aircraft

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

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