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62nd Airlift Squadron

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62d Airlift Squadron
62d Airlift Squadron Patch
Active27 November 1942 – 27 August 1946
17 October 1949 – present
CountryUnited States
BranchUnited States Air Force
TypeAirlift Training
Part ofAir Education and Training Command
19th Air Force
314th Airlift Wing
314th Operations Group
Garrison/HQLittle Rock Air Force Base
Nickname(s)Blue Barons
DecorationsDistinguished 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

  • Combat Operations. Airborne assaults on Sicily, Normandy, the Netherlands, and Germany, as well as aerial transportation in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) and European Theater of Operations (ETO), during World War II. Included airborne assaults on Sukchon/Sunchon, and Munsan-ni, as well as aerial transportation between Japan and Korea, during the Korean War. Airlift from the Philippines into Vietnam, Mar-May 1965. Flew combat missions in South Vietnam, 1966-1967. Conducted crewmember training for USAF and other military services; supported airlift missions, 1980-. Supported Operations Desert Storm/Desert Shield, 1990-1991; and Operation Southern Watch, 1996-1997.
  • Campaigns. World War II: Sicily; Naples-Foggia; Rome-Arno; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Central Europe. Korea: UN Defensive; UN Offensive; CCF Intervention; First UN Counteroffensive; CCF Spring Offensive; UN Summer-Fall Offensive; Second Korean Winter; Korea Summer-Fall, 1952; Third Korean Winter; Korea, Summer 1953. Vietnam: Vietnam Defensive.
  • Decorations. Distinguished Unit Citations: Sicily, 11 July 1943; France, [6-7] Jun 1944; Korea, 28 November-10 Dec 1950. Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards: 6 May 1953 – 10 September 1954; 11 January-14 Feb 1955; 1 January 1960 – 31 December 1961; 1 September 1962 – 15 April 1963; 1 December 1965 – 30 June 1967; 1 June 1969 – 31 May 1971; 1 January 1975 – 30 June 1976; 1 June 1985 – 31 May 1986; 1 July 1991 – 30 June 1993; 1 July 1993 – 30 June 1995; 1 July 1995 – 31 March 1997; 1 July 1997 – 30 June 1999; 1 July 1999 – 30 June 2001; 1 July 2001 – 30 June 2003; 1 July 2003 – 30 June 2004; 1 July 2005 – 30 June 2006; 1 July 2006 – 30 June 2007; 1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009. Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, 1 July 1951 – 27 July 1953.

Lineage

  • Constituted as 62d Troop Carrier Squadron on 27 November 1942
Activated on 5 December 1942
Inactivated on 27 August 1946
  • Re-designated as: 62d Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium, on 20 September 1949
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

Aircraft

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
  • AFHRA Factsheet 62 Airlift Squadron
  • 314th Operations Group Fact Sheet
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