774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron

774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron

101st Airborne Division soldiers make their way to a squadron C-130 Hercules[note 1]
Active 1943–1945; 1953–1971; 1972–1993; unknown
Country United States
Branch  United States Air Force
Role Airlift
Part of 455th Expeditionary Operations Group
Engagements

  • World War II – EAME Theater

  • Vietnam War

  • Afghanistan Campaign
Decorations

  • Distinguished Unit Citation (2x)

  • Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (3x)
Insignia
774th Expeditionary Airlift Sq emblem (approved 7 December 1973)[1]
Patch with 774th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem
774th Bombardment Squadron emblem

The 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The squadron provides airlift to forces engaged in the War in Afghanistan.

During World War II, the 774th Bombardment Squadron was a B-17 Flying Fortress squadron, assigned to the 463d Bombardment Group of Fifteenth Air Force. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations.

History

World War II

Squadron B-17G Flying Fortress[note 2]

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.

Airlift operations

463d Troop Carrier Wing C-130[note 3]

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.[2]

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 Air Force Base, 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.

Redesignated 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, converted to provisional status in 2001 and allotted to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed.[1]

Lineage

Activated on 1 August 1943
Redesignated 774th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 29 September 1944
Inactivated on 25 September 1945
Activated on 16 January 1953
Redesignated: 774th Troop Carrier Squadron, Assault on 18 December 1961
Redesignated: 774th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 15 May 1965
Redesignated: 774th Troop Carrier Squadron on 1 January 1967
Redesignated: 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 August 1967
Inactivated on 15 June 1971
Activated on 1 June 1972
Inactivated on 1 October 1993
Inactivated on 18 March 2003
Activated on 4 October 2004[1]

Assignments

320th Expeditionary Operations Group, 20 April 2002 – 18 March 2003
376th Expeditionary Operations Group, 4 October 2004
455th Expeditionary Operations Group, 6 January 2006 – unknown[1]

Stations

Air echelon operated from Hunter Field, Georgia, 6 – 10 February 1944
Air echelon operated from Amendola Airfield, Italy, 14 – 27 March 1944, then joined ground echelon at Celone Airfield, Italy, 28 March 1944

Aircraft

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Aircraft is Lockheed C-130H Hercules serial 93-7313e at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Khost Province, Afghanistan. Taken on 23 September 2013. At the time the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron consisted mostly of deployed members of the Wyoming Air National Guard's 187th Airlift Squadron.
  2. ↑ Aircraft is B-17G serail 42-31684 "Joker". The plane flew with the 774th Bombardment Squadron from 9 May 1944 until it was downed by an enemy fighter over Blechhammer, while attacking the chemical plants there on 7 July.
  3. ↑ Aircraft is Lockheed C-130A-LM Hercules serial 55-31 taken in 1957.

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Haulman, Daniel L. (13 July 2016). "Factsheet 774 Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  2. ↑ "Lockheed C-130: The Four Horsemen Demonstrated the Power of the New Aircraft". HistoryNet. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2016.

Bibliography

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

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