780th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron

780th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron

A C-17 Globemaster III of the 780th taking off from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base
Active 1943–1945; 1953–1958; 2014–present
Role Airlift
Decorations Distinguished Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
780th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron emblem
780th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem (Approved 17 June 1955)[1]
780th Bombardment Squadron emblem [2]

The 780th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit. Its previous assignment was to the 317th Troop Carrier Wing, stationed at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France.

It was inactivated on 8 March 1958, but was reactivated in 2013 as an expeditionary squadron.

History

Squadron B-24H at Pantanella[3]

Activated as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber squadron in mid-1943, it trained under the Second Air Force. It deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) in March 1944, where it was assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force. It flew strategic bombardment combat missions over France, Germany, Italy, Austria and the Balkans until the German capitulation in May 1945.

The squadron was attached to Air Transport Command in June 1945. It used its B-24s as transports, flying personnel from Trinidad to Florida. The unit was inactivated in place in Trinidad during July 1945. Redesignated as a B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber squadron in the reserves later in 1945, it was not, however, activated due to budget restrictions.

465th Troop Carrier Group C-119Gs

The unit was reactivated in 1953 as a Tactical Air Command Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar Troop Carrier squadron under the Eighteenth Air Force. It primarily flew cargo transport missions, but also supported US Army airborne parachute units on maneuvers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The squadron was reassigned in 1953 as a troop carrier squadron, in France. It performed theater airlift and transport operations until 1958 when it was again inactivated due to budget restrictions.

The 780th was reactivated in 2013 to facilitate the U.S. and NATO withdrawal in Afghanistan.

Lineage

Activated on 1 August 1943
Redesignated 780th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 20 August 1943
Inactivated on 31 July 1945
Redesignated 780th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 22 December 1952
Activated on 1 February 1953
Inactivated on 8 March 1958
Activated c. February 2014

Assignments

Stations

Aircraft

References

Notes

  1. Maurer, pp. 752–753
  2. See Watkans, pp. 114–115
  3. Aircraft is Consolidated B-24H-15-CF Liberator serial 41-29347. The red markings on the engine cowlings identify the plane as assigned to the 780th Squadron. Watkins, pp. 114–115. This plane was lost on 28 July 1944, on a mission over Yugoslavia.

Bibliography

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

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