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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox military unit
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron
|unit_name= 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron
|image= [[File:774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron - Lockheed C-130H Hercules 93-7313.jpg|300px]]
|image= 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron - Lockheed C-130H Hercules 93-7313.jpg
|image_size = 300
|caption=[[101st Airborne Division]] soldiers make their way to a squadron [[C-130 Hercules]]<ref group=note> 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]].</ref>
|caption=[[101st Airborne Division]] soldiers make their way to a squadron [[C-130 Hercules]]{{efn|Aircraft is Lockheed C-130H Hercules, serial 93-7313 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]].}}
|dates= 1943-1945; 1953-1971; 1972-1993; unknown
|dates= 1943–1945; 1953–1971; 1972–1993; unknown
|country={{flag|United States|23px}}
|country={{USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|branch={{air force|USA}}
|type=
|type=
|role=[[Airlift]]
|role=[[Airlift]]
|size=
|size=
|command_structure=[[455th Expeditionary Operations Group]]
|command_structure=[[Air Combat Command]]
|current_commander=
|current_commander=
|garrison=
|garrison=
|nickname=Weasel Squadron<ref name=ContinuesOperations>{{cite web |url= https://www.afcent.af.mil/Units/455th-Air-Expeditionary-Wing/News/Display/Article/1406344/774-eas-continues-tactical-airlift-operations-in-afghanistan/ |last1=Cox|first1=SSG Divine|title=774 EAS continues tactical airlift operations in Afghanistan|date=December 30, 2017|publisher=455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs|access-date=July 1, 2019}}</ref>
|ceremonial_chief=
|colonel_of_the_regiment=
|nickname=
|patron=
|motto=
|motto=
|colors=
|colors=
|march=
|march=
|mascot=
|mascot=
|battles=[[Mediterranean Theater of Operations]]<br/>[[Vietnam War]]<br/>[[War in Afghanistan (2001-2021)]]
|battles=
* [[File:European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal streamer.png|150px]]<BR>World War II - EAME Theater
* [[File:Streamer VS.PNG|150px]]<BR>Vietnam War
* [[File:Streamer AFGCS.PNG|150px]]<BR>Afghanistan Campaign
|notable_commanders=
|notable_commanders=
|anniversaries=
|anniversaries=
|decorations=[[Distinguished Unit Citation]]<br/>[[Air Force Meritorious Unit Award]]<br/>[[Air Force Outstanding Unit Award]] with [[Combat "V" Device]]<br/>Air Force Outstanding Unit Award<br/>[[Vietnamese Gallantry Cross|Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm]]<br/>[[Philippine Presidential Unit Citation]]
|decorations=
* [[File:Streamer PUC Army.PNG|150px]]<BR>Distinguished Unit Citation (2x)
* [[File:US Air Force Outstanding Unit Award - Stremer.jpg|150px]]<BR>Air Force Outstanding Unit Award (3x)
|battle_honours=
|battle_honours=
<!-- Insignia -->
<!-- Insignia -->
|identification_symbol=[[File:774 Expeditionary Airlift Sq emblem.png|165px]]
|identification_symbol=[[File:774 Expeditionary Airlift Sq emblem.png|150px]]
|identification_symbol_label=774th Expeditionary Airlift Sq emblem <small>(approved 7 December 1973)</small><ref name=774EASfacts>{{cite web |url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/862024/774-expeditionary-airlift-squadron-acc/ |last1=Haulman|first1=Daniel L.|title=Factsheet 774 Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (ACC)|date=July 13, 2016|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|deadurl=no |accessdate=October 19, 2016}}</ref>
|identification_symbol_label=774th Expeditionary Airlift Sq emblem{{efn|Approved 7 December 1973.}}<ref name=774EASfacts>{{cite web |url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/862024/774-expeditionary-airlift-squadron-acc/ |last1=Haulman|first1=Daniel L.|title=Factsheet 774 Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (ACC)|date=May 18, 2018|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=August 28, 2018}}</ref>
|identification_symbol_2=[[File:774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron - Emblem.png|165px]]
|identification_symbol_2=[[File:774th Troop Carrier Squadron - TAC - Emblem.png|150px]]
|identification_symbol_2_label=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron morale patch
|identification_symbol_2_label=Patch with 774th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem <small>(later version)</small>
|identification_symbol_3=[[File:774th Bombardment Squadron - Emblem.png|165px]]
|identification_symbol_3=[[File:774 Troop Carrier Sq emblem.png|150px]]
|identification_symbol_3_label=774th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem{{efn|Approved 14 September 1953. Description: Quarterly [[Sable (heraldry)|sable]] and [[argent]] in the [[Quartering (heraldry)|first quarter]] three aircraft silhouettes one and two of the second [color mentioned], in the second and third quarters a silhouette of a four-leaf clover [[vert (heraldry)|vert]] in the fourth quarter [[bend (heraldry)#Bendwise|in bend]] two open parachutes one dropping a soldier and the other materiel of the second.}}<ref>Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 748-749</ref>
|identification_symbol_3_label=774th Bombardment Squadron emblem
|identification_symbol_4=[[File:774th Bombardment Squadron - Emblem.png|150px]]
|identification_symbol_4_label=774th Bombardment Squadron emblem<ref>Watkins, p. 110</ref>
}}
}}


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]].
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. During the 2010s, the squadron provided airlift during the [[War in Afghanistan (2001-2021)]].


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 Citation]]s.
The [[squadron (aviation)|squadron]] was first activated as the '''774th Bombardment Squadron''' during [[World War II]]. After training in the United States with [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]] heavy bombers, it deployed to the [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations]], where it participated in the [[strategic bombing during World War II#U.S. bombing in Europe|strategic bombing campaign against Germany]], earning two [[Distinguished Unit Citation]]s before inactivating in Italy.

The squadron was redesignated the '''774th Troop Carrier Squadron''' and activated in January 1953, when it assumed the mission, personnel and aircraft of a [[military reserve force|reserve]] unit that had been called to active duty for the [[Korean War]] and was being released from active duty. The squadron provided [[airlift]] during a number of contingency operations, and in 1968, moved to the Philippines, from which its crews and planes rotated to Vietnam to provide airlift support during the [[Vietnam War]]. The squadron was reactivated the United States, where it continued airlift operations until inactivating in 1986. It was converted to provisional status as the '''774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron''' in 2001 and assigned to [[Air Combat Command]] to activate or inactivate as needed.


==History==
==History==
===World War II===
===World War II===
====Training in the United States====
[[File:B-17G 42-31684 Joker-774th Bomb Squadron.jpg|thumb|left|Squadron B-17G Flying Fortress<ref group=note>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.</ref>]]
The [[squadron (aviation)|squadron]] was first activated as the '''774th Bombardment Squadron''' at [[Geiger Field]], Washington on 1 August 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the [[463d Bombardment Group]].<ref name=774EASfacts/><ref name=Maurer463BG>Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 338-339</ref> The 774th moved to [[Rapid City Army Air Base]], South Dakota, where it received its initial [[cadre (military)|cadre]]. On 1 September, the key personnel of the squadron and 463d Group moved to [[Orlando Army Air Base]], where they participated in advanced tactical training with the [[Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics]]. A model crew from the squadron moved to [[Montbrook Army Air Field]] to participate in simulated missions with a [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]]. The cadre returned to Rapid City at the end of the month, where the ground echelon of the squadron was filled out and ground school begun.<ref name=463rdHistory>{{cite web |url= http://www.463rd.org/history.htm |title=463rd Bombardment Group (H).5th Wing/15th Air Force "The Swoose Group" 1943-1945: Group History|date=27 December 1961|publisher=463rd Society|access-date=June 24, 2019}}</ref>
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 (United States Air Force)|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]].

The squadron moved to [[MacDill Field]], Florida, in November and began flight training with the Flying Fortress, although its air echelon was not fully manned until early December. on 2 February, the squadron's ground echelon departed Florida for the port of embarkation at [[Camp Patrick Henry]], Virginia, for shipment to the [[Mediterranean Theater of Operations]], while the air echelon ferried their B-17s via the southern ferry route.<ref name=774EASfacts/><ref name=463rdHistory/>

====Combat in the Mediterranean Theater====
[[File:B-17G 42-31684 Joker-774th Bomb Squadron.jpg|thumb|left|Squadron B-17G Flying Fortress{{efn|Aircraft is Boeing B-17G-25-BO Flying Fortress, serial 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 1944. The aircrew bailed out without major injury to any. {{cite web |url= http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1942_2.html |last1=Baugher|first1=Joe |title=1942 USAF Serial Numbers|date=June 9, 2023|publisher=Joe Baugher|access-date=June 29, 2023}} Missing Air Crew Report 6864.}}]]
The squadron arrived in Italy in March 1944 and flew its first combat mission from [[Celone Airfield]] on 30 March against an airfield at [[Imotski]], Yugoslavia.<ref name=463rdHistory/> It engaged primarily in the [[strategic bombing during World War II#U.S. bombing in Europe|strategic bombing campaign against Germany]]. It attacked targets like [[marshalling yards]], [[oil refineries]] and aircraft factories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia.. The squadron was awarded a [[Distinguished Unit Citation]] (DUC) for a mission against oil refineries in [[Ploesti]], Romania, on 18 May 1944.<ref name=Maurer463BG/> Clouds that obscured the target resulted in [[Fifteenth Air Force]] recalling the mission, but the squadron and the rest of the 463d Group did not receive the recall message and was the only unit to continue on,<ref name=463rdHistory/> causing major destruction to the target. Although crippled by intense [[interceptor aircraft|fighter]] attacks, they also inflicted severe damage on the opposing [[air defense]]s. On 24 May 1945, the 463d Group led the [[5th Air Division|5th Bombardment Wing]] in an attack against a [[Daimler-Benz]] [[tank]] factory at [[Berlin]], Germany. The squadron made a successful attack despite three separate attacks by enemy air defenses, including attacks by [[Messerschmitt Me 262|German jet fighters]].<ref name=463rdHistory/> This action earned the squadron its second DUC.<ref name=Maurer463BG/>

The squadron was occasionally diverted from its strategic mission to perform [[air support]] and [[air interdiction]] missions. In May and June 1944, it bombed bridges to support the campaign for the [[liberation of Rome]]. In August 1944, it struck bridges, [[artillery battery|gun positions]] and other targets to support [[Operation Dragoon]], the invasion of southern France. It hit [[military airbase]]s, bridges and other tactical targets to support [[partisan (military)|partisan]] forces and the [[Red Army]] advance in the Balkans. During the last months of the war the squadron operated primarily to support [[Operation Grapeshot]], the spring 1945 offensive in Northern Italy.<ref name=Maurer463BG/>


The squadron flew its final combat mission on 26 April 1945.<ref name=463rdHistory/> After [[V-E Day]] the squadron transported personnel (primarily soldiers of [[United States Fifth Army|Fifth Army]]) from Italy to [[Casablanca]] for return to the United States. By early September, the unit had been substantially reduced by transfers to other units and returns of personnel to the United States and it was inactivated in Italy with the end of [[Project Green]] in September 1945.<ref name=774EASfacts/><ref name=463rdHistory/>
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===
===Airlift operations===
====Activation and move to Ardmore====
Reactivated as a [[Tactical Air Command]] Troop Carrier squadron in June 1953, assigned [[C-119 Flying Boxcar]]s. 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.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.historynet.com/lockheed-c-130-the-four-horsemen-demonstrated-the-power-of-the-new-aircraft.htm |last1=|first1=|title=Lockheed C-130: The Four Horsemen Demonstrated the Power of the New Aircraft|date=June 12, 2006|publisher=HistoryNet|deadurl=no |accessdate=October 19, 2016}}</ref>
[[File:C-119 Boxcar (2).jpg|thumb|C-119 as flown by the squadron]]
The squadron was redesignated the '''774th Troop Carrier Squadron''' and activated at [[Memphis Municipal Airport]], Tennessee on 16 January 1953. At Memphis, it absorbed the mission, personnel and [[Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar]]s of the [[347th Troop Carrier Squadron]], a [[military reserve force|reserve]] unit that had been mobilized for the [[Korean War]] and was being returned to the reserves. In August, the squadron departed the civilian airfield at Memphis for the newly reopened [[Ardmore Air Force Base]], Oklahoma.<ref name=774EASfacts/>


[[File:463d Troop Carrier Wing Lockheed C-130A-LM Hercules 55-031 1957.jpg|thumb|463d Troop Carrier Wing C-130A{{efn|Aircraft is Lockheed C-130A-LM Hercules, serial 55-031, Photo taken in 1957. This plane was modified to C-130D configuration and later transferred to the [[Mexican Air Force]]. {{cite web |url= http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1955.html |last1=Baugher|first1=Joe |title=1955 USAF Serial Numbers|date=May 16, 2023|publisher=Joe Baugher|access-date=June 26, 2023}}}}]]
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.
The squadron [[airlift]]ed equipment and supplies and supported [[United States Army|Army]] airborne exercises. The squadron became one of the first to equip with the new [[Lockheed C-130A Hercules]] in 1956. The squadron also operated a [[Tactical Air Command]] (TAC)-sponsored flight demonstration team during the late 1950s and early 1960s known as "The Four Horsemen," utilizing four C-130A aircraft.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.historynet.com/lockheed-c-130-the-four-horsemen-demonstrated-the-power-of-the-new-aircraft.htm |title=Lockheed C-130: The Four Horsemen Demonstrated the Power of the New Aircraft|date=June 12, 2006|publisher=HistoryNet|access-date=19 October 2016}}</ref> In September 1957, [[Tactical Air Command]] (TAC) converted the 463d Wing to the dual deputy system.{{efn|Under this plan flying squadrons reported to the wing deputy commander for operations and maintenance squadrons reported to the wing deputy commander for maintenance.}} The 463d Group was inactivated, and the squadron was assigned directly to the [[463d Troop Carrier Wing]].<ref name=774EASfacts/>


In July 1958, president [[Camille Chamoun]] of Lebanon was facing an insurgency against his government and requested military assistance from the United States, which implemented [[Operation Blue Bat]]. The squadron, along with other elements of the 463d Wing, flew command elements of [[Nineteenth Air Force]] and other personnel and equipment of the [[Composite Air Strike Force]] to locations in the Middle East.<ref>Byrd, p. 16</ref> The following month, the squadron provided airlift for the [[1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis]].<ref name=774EASfacts/>
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]].


====Operations from Sewart and Langley====
Redesignated '''774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, converted to provisional status in 2001 and allotted to [[Air Combat Command]] to activate or inactivate as needed.<ref name=774EASfacts/>
Although Ardmore had only been open for six years, the Air Force decided to close the base again. The inactivation of the [[513th Troop Carrier Wing]], a [[Fairchild C-123 Provider]] unit at [[Sewart Air Force Base]], Tennessee,<ref>Ravenstein, pp. 279-281</ref> provided room for the 774th and the other operational units of the 463d Wing to move there. The squadron moved to Sewart in November 1958,<ref name=774EASfacts/> and soon began replacing its C-130As with C-130B models. While at Sewart, the squadron provided airlift support during the [[Berlin Crisis of 1961]].<ref name=774EASfacts/> The squadron was again called on to provide emergency airlift support during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] in October and November 1962, transporting TAC support forces and materiel to Florida, Army units to stations in the southeastern United States and Marine reinforcements to [[Guantánamo Bay]].<ref>Russell, p. 40</ref>

In July 1962, TAC established a Combat Crew Training School at Sewart. Starting with a single squadron, by the spring of 1963, the school had expanded to a full wing, the [[4442d Combat Crew Training Wing]]. As a result of the expansion of the C-130 training unit, the 463d Wing reduced its operations at Sewart and the squadron became nonoperational on 27 December, remaining a paper unit until 1 April 1963, when it was again assigned personnel and equipment at [[Langley Air Force Base]], Virginia. From Langley, the squadron deployed crews and planes to support the US response during the [[Gulf of Tonkin Incident]] in the late summer of 1964.<ref name=Ravenstein463TAW>Ravenstein, pp. 256-258</ref> In late April 1965, the squadron participated in [[Operation Power Pack]]. Following a military coup in the Dominican Republic, Nineteenth Air Force formed an airlift task force to airlift the [[82nd Airborne Division]]. On 28 and 29 April, the squadron flew C-130s to [[Pope Air Force Base]] to join the task force to transport elements of the 82nd Division to [[San Isidro Air Base]]. By September, peacekeeping functions had been transferred to Latin American counties' forces and the squadron helped return American forces to the United States.<ref>Warnock, ''Operation Power Pack'', pp. 63-73</ref>

====Vietnam War====
[[File:C-130 Hercules taking off from Khe Sanh 1968.jpg|thumb|C-130 Hercules taking off from Khe Sanh 1968]]
While participating in Power Pack, the squadron was also deploying forces to airlift men and material to Southeast Asia. In November 1965, the 463d Wing moved to [[Mactan Island Airfield]], in the Philippines to provide this support full time, and the squadron moved with it.<ref name=774EASfacts/><ref name=Ravenstein463TAW/>
The squadron deployed crews and planes operating combat airlift missions in Vietnam under the operational control of the [[315th Air Division]].{{efn|After October 1966, [[834th Air Division]] assumed operational control over airlift in Vietnam. Ravenstein, p. 258.}} The squadron also flew [[aeromedical evacuation]] missions. In August 1967, the squadron became the '''774th Tactical Airlift Squadron''', and in July 1968, the 463d Wing moved from Mactan to [[Clark Air Base]]. The 463d began reducing its operations in June 1971{{efnThe wing's [[772d Tactical Airlift Squadron]] inactivated in June, and the [[773d Tactical Airlift Squadron]] in October. Ravenstein, pp. 256-258.}} and was inactivated at the end of the year.<ref name=Ravenstein463TAW/> The 774th was reassigned to the host at Clark, the [[405th Fighter Wing]], until inactivating in September 1972.<ref name=774EASfacts/>

====Operations from Dyess====
On 1 August 1973, the squadron was reactivated at [[Dyess Air Force Base]]. The squadron deployed as a unit frequently to Europe, where it came under the operational control of the [[513th Tactical Airlift Wing]] or the [[313th Tactical Airlift Group]] in England or the [[322d Tactical Airlift Wing]] or [[435th Tactical Airlift Wing]] in Germany. The squadron flew humanitarian missions and participated in [[military exercise|exercises]]. In October 1986, the squadron was inactivated.<ref name=774EASfacts/>

===Expeditionary operations===
The squadron was redesignated '''774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron''', converted to provisional status in 2001, and assigned to [[Air Combat Command]] to activate or inactivate as needed. It has been activated twice to provide theater airlift for [[United States Central Command]]. The squadron was active in Kuwait from 2002 to 2003. It was activated again in Kyrgyzstan in 2004, and moved to its present station at [[Bagram Air Base]], Afghanistan in January 2006.<ref name=774EASfacts/> In Afghanistan, it performs airlift and airdrop missions. More unusually, it transports fuel to advanced bases using the wet wing tanks of the squadron's C-130J aircraft to transport the fuel.<ref name=ContinuesOperations/>


==Lineage==
==Lineage==
Line 70: Line 95:
: Redesignated: '''774th Troop Carrier Squadron''' on 1 January 1967
: Redesignated: '''774th Troop Carrier Squadron''' on 1 January 1967
: Redesignated: '''774th Tactical Airlift Squadron''' on 1 August 1967
: Redesignated: '''774th Tactical Airlift Squadron''' on 1 August 1967
: Inactivated on 15 June 1971
: Inactivated on 15 September 1972
: Activated on 1 June 1972
* Activated on 1 August 1973
: Inactivated on 1 October 1986
* Redesignated '''774th Airlift Squadron''' on 1 November 1991
: Inactivated on 1 October 1993
* Redesignated '''774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron''' and converted to provisional status, on 4 December 2001
* Redesignated '''774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron''' and converted to provisional status, on 4 December 2001
* Activated on 20 April 2002
* Activated on 20 April 2002
: Inactivated on 18 March 2003
: Inactivated on 18 March 2003
: Activated on 4 October 2004<ref name=774EASfacts/>
* Activated on 4 October 2004<ref name=774EASfacts/>
: Inactivated on unknown date prior to United States withdrawal from Afghanistan


===Assignments===
===Assignments===
* [[463d Bombardment Group]], 1 August 1943 – 25 September 1945
* 463d Bombardment Group, 1 August 1943 – 25 September 1945
* 463d Troop Carrier Group, 16 January 1953
* 463d Troop Carrier Group, 16 January 1953
* [[463d Troop Carrier Wing]], 25 September 1957
* [[463d Troop Carrier Wing]] (later 463d Tactical Airlift Wing), 25 September 1957 (attached to [[315th Air Division]], 21 March–19 June 1961, [[322d Air Division]], c. 15 March–20 July 1962, January–April 1964)
* 405th Fighter Wing, 31 December 1971 – 15 September 1972
* [[840th Air Division]], 23 November 1965
* 463d Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 August 1973 – 1 October 1986 (attached to 322d Tactical Airlift Wing, 6 October–16 December 1973; 513th Tactical Airlift Wing, 3 September–16 November 1974, 3 May–7 July 1976; 435th Tactical Airlift Wing, 4 August–15 Oct 1975, 3 June–7 August 1977; 313th Tactical Airlift Group, 3 March–5 May 1978, 28 September–5 December 1979, 3 February–7 April 1981, 5 April–15 June 1982, 4 August–7 October 1983, 3 December 1984 – 9 February 1985, and 9 April–11 June 1986)
* 463d Troop Carrier Wing (later 463d Tactical Airlift Wing), 7 February 1966 – 15 June 1971
* Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate at any time after 4 December 2001
* 463d Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 June 1972 (attached to: [[513th Tactical Airlift Wing]], 5 September – 15 November 1974, [[322d Tactical Airlift Wing]], 12 October – 15 December 1973)
* [[463d Operations Group]], 1 November 1991 – 1 October 1993
* [[Air Combat Command]] to activate or inactivate at any time after 4 December 2001
:: [[320th Expeditionary Operations Group]], 20 April 2002 – 18 March 2003
:: [[320th Expeditionary Operations Group]], 20 April 2002 – 18 March 2003
:: [[376th Expeditionary Operations Group]], 4 October 2004
:: [[376th Expeditionary Operations Group]], 4 October 2004
:: [[455th Expeditionary Operations Group]], 6 Jan 2006 – unknown<ref name=774EASfacts/>
:: [[455th Expeditionary Operations Group]], 6 January 2006 – unknown<ref name=774EASfacts/>


===Stations===
===Stations===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
{{Col-begin}}
* Geiger Field, Washington, 1 August 1943
{{Col-break|width=50%}}
* [[Geiger Field]], Washington, 1 August 1943
* [[Rapid City Army Air Base]], South Dakota, August 1943
* [[Rapid City Army Air Base]], South Dakota, August 1943
* [[MacDill Field]], Florida, 4 November 1943
* MacDill Field, Florida, 4 November 1943
* [[Lakeland Army Air Field]], Florida, 3 January 1944
* [[Drane Field]], Florida, 3 January 1944
* [[Camp Patrick Henry]], Virginia (ground echelon), 2 – 12 February 1944
* Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, 3–12 February 1944
: Air echelon operated from [[Hunter Field]], Georgia, 6 – 10 February 1944
* [[Bari]], Italy, 10 March 1944
* [[Morrison Field]], Florida, 11 – 14 February 1944
* Celone Airfield, Italy, 15 March 1944 – 25 September 1945
* Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, 16 January 1953
* [[Naples]], Italy (ground echelon), 10 March 1944
* Ardmore Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 17 August 1953
* [[Celone Airfield]], Italy (ground echelon), 11 March 1944
* Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, 15 November 1958 (deployed to Clark Air Base, Philippines, 21 March–19 June 1961, [[Évreux-Fauville Air Base]], France, c. 15 March–20 July 1962)
: Air echelon operated from [[Amendola Airfield]], Italy, 14 – 27 March 1944, then joined ground echelon at Celone Airfield, Italy, 28 March 1944
* Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, 5 July 1963 – 15 November 1965 (deployed at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, January–April 1964)
{{Col-break|width=50%}}
* [[Pomigliano Airfield]], Italy, 26 May 1945
* Mactan Isle Airfield, Philippines, 23 November 1965
* Celone Airfield, Italy, 3 – 25 September 1945
* Clark Air Base, Philippines, 15 July 1968 – 15 June 1971
* Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, 1 June 1972 – 1 October 1993
* [[Memphis Municipal Airport]], Tennessee, 16 January 1953
:: Deployed to [[Rhein Main Air Base]], Germany, 6 October–16 December 1973, 4 August–15 October 1975, 3 June–7 August 1977; [[RAF Mildenhall]], England, 3 September–16 November 1974, 3 May–7 July 1976, England, 3 March–5 May 1978, 28 September–5 December 1979, 3 February–7 April 1981, 5 April–15 June 1982, 4 August–7 October 1983, 3 December 1984 – 9 February 1985, 9 April–11 June 1986)
* [[Ardmore Air Force Base]], Oklahoma, 17 August 1953
* [[Sewart Air Force Base]], Tennessee, 15 November 1958
* [[Langley Air Force Base]], Virginia, 5 July 1963 – 7 February 1966
* Mactan Isle Airfield, Philippines, 12 February 1966
* [[Clark Air Base]], Philippines, 15 July 1968 – 15 June 1971
* [[Dyess Air Force Base]], Texas, 1 June 1972 – 1 October 1993 (deployed at: [[RAF Mildenhall]], England, 5 September – 15 November 1974; [[Rhein Main Air Base]], West Germany, 12 October – 15 December 1973; [[RAF Sculthorpe]], England, 4 August – 13 October 1988)
* [[Ali Al Salem Air Base]], Kuwait, 20 April 2002 – 18 March 2003
* [[Ali Al Salem Air Base]], Kuwait, 20 April 2002 – 18 March 2003
* [[Transit Center at Manas|Bishkek Manas]], Kyrgyzstan, 4 October 2004
* [[Transit Center at Manas]], Kyrgyzstan, 4 October 2004
* [[Bagram Air Field]], Afghanistan, 6 Jan 2006 – unknown<ref name=774EASfacts/>
* Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, 6 January 2006 – unknown<ref name=774EASfacts/>
{{Col-end}}
{{div col end}}


===Aircraft===
===Aircraft===
* [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress]], 1943–1945
* Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943–1945
* [[Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar]], 1953–1957
* Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1953–1957
* [[Lockheed C-130 Hercules]], 1956–1962; 1963–1971; 1972–1993<ref name=774EASfacts/>
* Lockheed C-130 Hercules, 1956–1962; 1963–1971; 1972–1993; 2004–unknown<ref name=774EASfacts/>

===Awards and campaigns===
{{unit awards table
|award_image1=AF PUC
|award_name1=[[Distinguished Unit Citation]]
|award_date1=18 May 1944
|award_notes1=Ploesti, Romania, 774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image2=AF PUC
|award_name2=Distinguished Unit Citation
|award_date2=24 March 1945
|award_notes2=Berlin, Germany, 774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image3=AF MUA
|award_name3=[[Air Force Meritorious Unit Award]]
|award_date3=1 October 2005-1 September 2006
|award_notes3=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image4=AF MUA
|award_name4=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date4=1 October 2006-30 September 2007
|award_notes4=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image5=AF MUA
|award_name5=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date5=1 October 2007-30 September 2008
|award_notes5=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image6=AF MUA
|award_name6=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date6=1 October 2008-30 September 2009
|award_notes6=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image7=AF MUA
|award_name7=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date7=1 October 2009-30 September 2010
|award_notes7=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image8=AF MUA
|award_name8=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date8=1 October 2009-30 September 2010
|award_notes8=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image9=AF MUA
|award_name9=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date9=1 October 2010-30 September 2011
|award_notes9=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image10=AF MUA
|award_name10=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date10=1 October 2011-30 September 2012
|award_notes10=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image11=AF MUA
|award_name11=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date11=1 October 2012-30 September 2013
|award_notes11=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image12=AF MUA
|award_name12=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date12=1 July 2013-30 June 2014
|award_notes12=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image13=AF MUA
|award_name13=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date13=1 October 2014-30 September 2015
|award_notes13=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image14=AF MUA
|award_name14=Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
|award_date14=1 October 2014-31 March 2017
|award_notes14=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image15=AF OUA w/ v
|award_name15=[[Air Force Outstanding Unit Award]] with [[Combat "V" Device]]
|award_date15=1 January 1967-31 May 1968
|award_notes15=774th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron)<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image16=AF OUA w/ v
|award_name16=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device
|award_date16=1 June 1968-30 June 1969
|award_notes16=774th Tactical Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image17=AF OUA w/ v
|award_name17=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device
|award_date17=1 July 1970-31 May 1971
|award_notes17=774th Tactical Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image18=AF OUA w/ v
|award_name18=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device
|award_date18=1 March 2002-31 May 2003
|award_notes18=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image19=AF OUA w/ v
|award_name19=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device
|award_date19=1 July 2004-31 May 2005
|award_notes19=774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image20=AF OUA
|award_name20=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
|award_date20=15 December 1960-1 April 1961
|award_notes20=774th Troop Carrier Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image21=AF OUA
|award_name21=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
|award_date21=1 July 1964-15 June 1966
|award_notes21=774th Troop Carrier Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image22=AF OUA
|award_name22=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
|award_date22=1 May 1977-15 July 1978
|award_notes22=774th Tactical Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image23=AF OUA
|award_name23=Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
|award_date23=16 July 1978-30 June 1979
|award_notes23=774th Tactical Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image24=VGC
|award_name24=[[Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)|Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm]]
|award_date24=1 January 1967-31 May 1971
|award_notes24=774th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron)<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|award_image25=PPUC
|award_name25=[[Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation]]
|award_date25=21 July-15 August 1972
|award_notes25=774th Tactical Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
}}

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#efefef;"
! Campaign Streamer
! Campaign
! Dates
! Notes
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Air Offensive, Europe||11 March 1944 – 5 June 1944||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Air Combat, EAME Theater||11 March 1944 – 11 May 1945||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Rome-Arno||11 March–9 September 1944||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Central Europe||22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Normandy||6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Northern France||25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Southern France||15 August 1944 – 14 September 1944||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||North Apennines||10 September 1944 – 4 April 1945||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Rhineland||15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer EAMEC.PNG|200px]]||Po Valley||3 April 1945 – 8 May 1945||774th Bombardment Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|-
|[[Image:Streamer gwotE.PNG|200px]]||Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal||||774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron<ref name=774EASfacts/>
|}


==See also==
==See also==

{{Portal|United States Air Force|Military of the United States|World War II}}
* [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations]]
* [[Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Units of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations]]
* [[List of C-130 Hercules operators]]
{{-}}


==References==
==References==
===Notes===
===Notes===
; Explanatory notes
{{Reflist|group=note}}
{{Notelist}}


===Citations===
; Citations
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist|40em}}


===Bibliography===
===Bibliography===
{{AFHRA}}
{{AFHRA}}
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|origyear=1969|url= http://www.afhso.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-101202-002.pdf|edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402|pages= }}
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|access-date= December 17, 2016|edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher= Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
* {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |edition= reprint|access-date= December 17, 2016|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
* {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977|url=https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave|access-date=December 17, 2016|year=1984|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-12-9|url-access=registration}}
* {{cite book|editor=Warnock, A. Timothy|title=Short of War: Major USAF Contingency Operations 1947-1997|url=https://archive.org/details/shortofwarmajoru0000unse|access-date=December 17, 2015|year=2000|publisher=Air University Press|location=Maxwell AFB, AL|isbn=978-0-16050411-2|url-access=registration}}
:: {{cite book|last=Byrd|first=Daniel A.|editor=Warnock, A. Timothy|title=Short of War: Major USAF Contingency Operations 1947-1997|chapter=Lebanon Crisis: Operation BLUE BAT}}
::{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Edward T.|editor=Warnock, A. Timothy|title=Short of War: Major USAF Contingency Operations 1947-1997|chapter=Cuban Missile Crisis}}
:: {{cite book|last=Warnock|first=A. Timothy|editor=Warnock, A. Timothy|title=Short of War: Major USAF Contingency Operations 1947-1997|chapter=Dominican Crisis: Operation POWER PACK}}
* {{cite book|last=Watkins|first=Robert A.|title=Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II|volume=IV, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations|year=2009|publisher=Shiffer Publishing, Ltd.|location=Atglen,PA|isbn=978-0-7643-3401-6}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://www.bagram.afcent.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=14751 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Factsheet]
* [http://www.bagram.afcent.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=14751 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Factsheet]
* {{cite web |url= http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/apr/23/no-headline---c-130_timeline_dyess/?print=1 |last1=|first1=|title=C-130 Dyess timeline|date=April 23, 2011|publisher=Abeline Reporter News|deadurl=no |accessdate=January 29, 2014}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/apr/23/no-headline---c-130_timeline_dyess/?print=1 |title=C-130 Dyess timeline |date=April 23, 2011 |publisher=[[Abilene Reporter-News]] |url-status=dead |access-date=January 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812041123/http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/apr/23/no-headline---c-130_timeline_dyess/?print=1 |archive-date=August 12, 2011}}
* {{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjZMWI77b84 |last1=|first1=|title=Hercules and the Four Horsemen|date=1960|publisher=Lockheed Martin |deadurl=no |accessdate=October 19, 2016}} (YouTube video of Four Horsemen demonstration team)
* {{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjZMWI77b84 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130808111939/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjZMWI77b84 |archive-date=2013-08-08 |url-status=dead|title=Hercules and the Four Horsemen|date=1960|publisher=Lockheed Martin |access-date=October 19, 2016}} (YouTube video of Four Horsemen demonstration team)

{{USAF Air Combat Command}}
{{Military Airlift Command}}
{{Tactical Air Command}}
{{USAF Pacific Air Forces}}
{{USAAF 15th Air Force World War II}}
{{USAAF 3d Air Force World War II}}
{{USAAF 2d Air Force World War II}}


[[Category:Airlift squadrons of the United States Air Force]]
[[Category:Airlift squadrons of the United States Air Force]]
[[Category:Air expeditionary squadrons of the United States Air Force]]

Latest revision as of 14:26, 26 November 2024

774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron
101st Airborne Division soldiers make their way to a squadron C-130 Hercules[a]
Active1943–1945; 1953–1971; 1972–1993; unknown
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleAirlift
Part ofAir Combat Command
Nickname(s)Weasel Squadron[1]
EngagementsMediterranean Theater of Operations
Vietnam War
War in Afghanistan (2001-2021)
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
Insignia
774th Expeditionary Airlift Sq emblem[b][2]
Patch with 774th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem (later version)
774th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem[c][3]
774th Bombardment Squadron emblem[4]

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. During the 2010s, the squadron provided airlift during the War in Afghanistan (2001-2021).

The squadron was first activated as the 774th Bombardment Squadron during World War II. After training in the United States with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers, it deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations before inactivating in Italy.

The squadron was redesignated the 774th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated in January 1953, when it assumed the mission, personnel and aircraft of a reserve unit that had been called to active duty for the Korean War and was being released from active duty. The squadron provided airlift during a number of contingency operations, and in 1968, moved to the Philippines, from which its crews and planes rotated to Vietnam to provide airlift support during the Vietnam War. The squadron was reactivated the United States, where it continued airlift operations until inactivating in 1986. It was converted to provisional status as the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in 2001 and assigned to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed.

History

[edit]

World War II

[edit]

Training in the United States

[edit]

The squadron was first activated as the 774th Bombardment Squadron at Geiger Field, Washington on 1 August 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the 463d Bombardment Group.[2][5] The 774th moved to Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, where it received its initial cadre. On 1 September, the key personnel of the squadron and 463d Group moved to Orlando Army Air Base, where they participated in advanced tactical training with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics. A model crew from the squadron moved to Montbrook Army Air Field to participate in simulated missions with a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The cadre returned to Rapid City at the end of the month, where the ground echelon of the squadron was filled out and ground school begun.[6]

The squadron moved to MacDill Field, Florida, in November and began flight training with the Flying Fortress, although its air echelon was not fully manned until early December. on 2 February, the squadron's ground echelon departed Florida for the port of embarkation at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, for shipment to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, while the air echelon ferried their B-17s via the southern ferry route.[2][6]

Combat in the Mediterranean Theater

[edit]
Squadron B-17G Flying Fortress[d]

The squadron arrived in Italy in March 1944 and flew its first combat mission from Celone Airfield on 30 March against an airfield at Imotski, Yugoslavia.[6] It engaged primarily in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. It attacked targets like marshalling yards, oil refineries and aircraft factories in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Romania and Yugoslavia.. The squadron was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for a mission against oil refineries in Ploesti, Romania, on 18 May 1944.[5] Clouds that obscured the target resulted in Fifteenth Air Force recalling the mission, but the squadron and the rest of the 463d Group did not receive the recall message and was the only unit to continue on,[6] causing major destruction to the target. Although crippled by intense fighter attacks, they also inflicted severe damage on the opposing air defenses. On 24 May 1945, the 463d Group led the 5th Bombardment Wing in an attack against a Daimler-Benz tank factory at Berlin, Germany. The squadron made a successful attack despite three separate attacks by enemy air defenses, including attacks by German jet fighters.[6] This action earned the squadron its second DUC.[5]

The squadron was occasionally diverted from its strategic mission to perform air support and air interdiction missions. In May and June 1944, it bombed bridges to support the campaign for the liberation of Rome. In August 1944, it struck bridges, gun positions and other targets to support Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. It hit military airbases, bridges and other tactical targets to support partisan forces and the Red Army advance in the Balkans. During the last months of the war the squadron operated primarily to support Operation Grapeshot, the spring 1945 offensive in Northern Italy.[5]

The squadron flew its final combat mission on 26 April 1945.[6] After V-E Day the squadron transported personnel (primarily soldiers of Fifth Army) from Italy to Casablanca for return to the United States. By early September, the unit had been substantially reduced by transfers to other units and returns of personnel to the United States and it was inactivated in Italy with the end of Project Green in September 1945.[2][6]

Airlift operations

[edit]

Activation and move to Ardmore

[edit]
C-119 as flown by the squadron

The squadron was redesignated the 774th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated at Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee on 16 January 1953. At Memphis, it absorbed the mission, personnel and Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars of the 347th Troop Carrier Squadron, a reserve unit that had been mobilized for the Korean War and was being returned to the reserves. In August, the squadron departed the civilian airfield at Memphis for the newly reopened Ardmore Air Force Base, Oklahoma.[2]

463d Troop Carrier Wing C-130A[e]

The squadron airlifted equipment and supplies and supported Army airborne exercises. The squadron became one of the first to equip with the new Lockheed C-130A Hercules in 1956. The squadron also operated a Tactical Air Command (TAC)-sponsored flight demonstration team during the late 1950s and early 1960s known as "The Four Horsemen," utilizing four C-130A aircraft.[7] In September 1957, Tactical Air Command (TAC) converted the 463d Wing to the dual deputy system.[f] The 463d Group was inactivated, and the squadron was assigned directly to the 463d Troop Carrier Wing.[2]

In July 1958, president Camille Chamoun of Lebanon was facing an insurgency against his government and requested military assistance from the United States, which implemented Operation Blue Bat. The squadron, along with other elements of the 463d Wing, flew command elements of Nineteenth Air Force and other personnel and equipment of the Composite Air Strike Force to locations in the Middle East.[8] The following month, the squadron provided airlift for the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis.[2]

Operations from Sewart and Langley

[edit]

Although Ardmore had only been open for six years, the Air Force decided to close the base again. The inactivation of the 513th Troop Carrier Wing, a Fairchild C-123 Provider unit at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee,[9] provided room for the 774th and the other operational units of the 463d Wing to move there. The squadron moved to Sewart in November 1958,[2] and soon began replacing its C-130As with C-130B models. While at Sewart, the squadron provided airlift support during the Berlin Crisis of 1961.[2] The squadron was again called on to provide emergency airlift support during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October and November 1962, transporting TAC support forces and materiel to Florida, Army units to stations in the southeastern United States and Marine reinforcements to Guantánamo Bay.[10]

In July 1962, TAC established a Combat Crew Training School at Sewart. Starting with a single squadron, by the spring of 1963, the school had expanded to a full wing, the 4442d Combat Crew Training Wing. As a result of the expansion of the C-130 training unit, the 463d Wing reduced its operations at Sewart and the squadron became nonoperational on 27 December, remaining a paper unit until 1 April 1963, when it was again assigned personnel and equipment at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. From Langley, the squadron deployed crews and planes to support the US response during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in the late summer of 1964.[11] In late April 1965, the squadron participated in Operation Power Pack. Following a military coup in the Dominican Republic, Nineteenth Air Force formed an airlift task force to airlift the 82nd Airborne Division. On 28 and 29 April, the squadron flew C-130s to Pope Air Force Base to join the task force to transport elements of the 82nd Division to San Isidro Air Base. By September, peacekeeping functions had been transferred to Latin American counties' forces and the squadron helped return American forces to the United States.[12]

Vietnam War

[edit]
C-130 Hercules taking off from Khe Sanh 1968

While participating in Power Pack, the squadron was also deploying forces to airlift men and material to Southeast Asia. In November 1965, the 463d Wing moved to Mactan Island Airfield, in the Philippines to provide this support full time, and the squadron moved with it.[2][11]

The squadron deployed crews and planes operating combat airlift missions in Vietnam under the operational control of the 315th Air Division.[g] The squadron also flew aeromedical evacuation missions. In August 1967, the squadron became the 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron, and in July 1968, the 463d Wing moved from Mactan to Clark Air Base. The 463d began reducing its operations in June 1971{{efnThe wing's 772d Tactical Airlift Squadron inactivated in June, and the 773d Tactical Airlift Squadron in October. Ravenstein, pp. 256-258.}} and was inactivated at the end of the year.[11] The 774th was reassigned to the host at Clark, the 405th Fighter Wing, until inactivating in September 1972.[2]

Operations from Dyess

[edit]

On 1 August 1973, the squadron was reactivated at Dyess Air Force Base. The squadron deployed as a unit frequently to Europe, where it came under the operational control of the 513th Tactical Airlift Wing or the 313th Tactical Airlift Group in England or the 322d Tactical Airlift Wing or 435th Tactical Airlift Wing in Germany. The squadron flew humanitarian missions and participated in exercises. In October 1986, the squadron was inactivated.[2]

Expeditionary operations

[edit]

The squadron was redesignated 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, converted to provisional status in 2001, and assigned to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed. It has been activated twice to provide theater airlift for United States Central Command. The squadron was active in Kuwait from 2002 to 2003. It was activated again in Kyrgyzstan in 2004, and moved to its present station at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan in January 2006.[2] In Afghanistan, it performs airlift and airdrop missions. More unusually, it transports fuel to advanced bases using the wet wing tanks of the squadron's C-130J aircraft to transport the fuel.[1]

Lineage

[edit]
  • Constituted as the 774th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 19 May 1943
Activated on 1 August 1943
Redesignated 774th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 29 September 1944
Inactivated on 25 September 1945
  • Redesignated 774th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 1 December 1952
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 September 1972
  • Activated on 1 August 1973
Inactivated on 1 October 1986
  • Redesignated 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron and converted to provisional status, on 4 December 2001
  • Activated on 20 April 2002
Inactivated on 18 March 2003
  • Activated on 4 October 2004[2]
Inactivated on unknown date prior to United States withdrawal from Afghanistan

Assignments

[edit]
  • 463d Bombardment Group, 1 August 1943 – 25 September 1945
  • 463d Troop Carrier Group, 16 January 1953
  • 463d Troop Carrier Wing (later 463d Tactical Airlift Wing), 25 September 1957 (attached to 315th Air Division, 21 March–19 June 1961, 322d Air Division, c. 15 March–20 July 1962, January–April 1964)
  • 405th Fighter Wing, 31 December 1971 – 15 September 1972
  • 463d Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 August 1973 – 1 October 1986 (attached to 322d Tactical Airlift Wing, 6 October–16 December 1973; 513th Tactical Airlift Wing, 3 September–16 November 1974, 3 May–7 July 1976; 435th Tactical Airlift Wing, 4 August–15 Oct 1975, 3 June–7 August 1977; 313th Tactical Airlift Group, 3 March–5 May 1978, 28 September–5 December 1979, 3 February–7 April 1981, 5 April–15 June 1982, 4 August–7 October 1983, 3 December 1984 – 9 February 1985, and 9 April–11 June 1986)
  • Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate at any time after 4 December 2001
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[2]

Stations

[edit]
  • Geiger Field, Washington, 1 August 1943
  • Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, August 1943
  • MacDill Field, Florida, 4 November 1943
  • Drane Field, Florida, 3 January 1944
  • Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, 3–12 February 1944
  • Bari, Italy, 10 March 1944
  • Celone Airfield, Italy, 15 March 1944 – 25 September 1945
  • Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, 16 January 1953
  • Ardmore Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 17 August 1953
  • Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, 15 November 1958 (deployed to Clark Air Base, Philippines, 21 March–19 June 1961, Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, c. 15 March–20 July 1962)
  • Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, 5 July 1963 – 15 November 1965 (deployed at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, January–April 1964)
  • Mactan Isle Airfield, Philippines, 23 November 1965
  • Clark Air Base, Philippines, 15 July 1968 – 15 June 1971
  • Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, 1 June 1972 – 1 October 1993
Deployed to Rhein Main Air Base, Germany, 6 October–16 December 1973, 4 August–15 October 1975, 3 June–7 August 1977; RAF Mildenhall, England, 3 September–16 November 1974, 3 May–7 July 1976, England, 3 March–5 May 1978, 28 September–5 December 1979, 3 February–7 April 1981, 5 April–15 June 1982, 4 August–7 October 1983, 3 December 1984 – 9 February 1985, 9 April–11 June 1986)

Aircraft

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  • Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943–1945
  • Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1953–1957
  • Lockheed C-130 Hercules, 1956–1962; 1963–1971; 1972–1993; 2004–unknown[2]

Awards and campaigns

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Award streamer Award Dates Notes
Distinguished Unit Citation 18 May 1944 Ploesti, Romania, 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Distinguished Unit Citation 24 March 1945 Berlin, Germany, 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2005-1 September 2006 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2006-30 September 2007 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2007-30 September 2008 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2008-30 September 2009 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2009-30 September 2010 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2009-30 September 2010 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2010-30 September 2011 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2011-30 September 2012 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2012-30 September 2013 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 July 2013-30 June 2014 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2014-30 September 2015 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Meritorious Unit Award 1 October 2014-31 March 2017 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device 1 January 1967-31 May 1968 774th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron)[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device 1 June 1968-30 June 1969 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device 1 July 1970-31 May 1971 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device 1 March 2002-31 May 2003 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device 1 July 2004-31 May 2005 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 15 December 1960-1 April 1961 774th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 July 1964-15 June 1966 774th Troop Carrier Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 May 1977-15 July 1978 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron[2]
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award 16 July 1978-30 June 1979 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron[2]
Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm 1 January 1967-31 May 1971 774th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron)[2]
Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation 21 July-15 August 1972 774th Tactical Airlift Squadron[2]
Campaign Streamer Campaign Dates Notes
Air Offensive, Europe 11 March 1944 – 5 June 1944 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Air Combat, EAME Theater 11 March 1944 – 11 May 1945 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Rome-Arno 11 March–9 September 1944 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Central Europe 22 March 1944 – 21 May 1945 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Normandy 6 June 1944 – 24 July 1944 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Northern France 25 July 1944 – 14 September 1944 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Southern France 15 August 1944 – 14 September 1944 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
North Apennines 10 September 1944 – 4 April 1945 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Rhineland 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Po Valley 3 April 1945 – 8 May 1945 774th Bombardment Squadron[2]
Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron[2]

See also

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References

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Notes

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Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Aircraft is Lockheed C-130H Hercules, serial 93-7313 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. ^ Approved 7 December 1973.
  3. ^ Approved 14 September 1953. Description: Quarterly sable and argent in the first quarter three aircraft silhouettes one and two of the second [color mentioned], in the second and third quarters a silhouette of a four-leaf clover vert in the fourth quarter in bend two open parachutes one dropping a soldier and the other materiel of the second.
  4. ^ Aircraft is Boeing B-17G-25-BO Flying Fortress, serial 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 1944. The aircrew bailed out without major injury to any. Baugher, Joe (9 June 2023). "1942 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 29 June 2023. Missing Air Crew Report 6864.
  5. ^ Aircraft is Lockheed C-130A-LM Hercules, serial 55-031, Photo taken in 1957. This plane was modified to C-130D configuration and later transferred to the Mexican Air Force. Baugher, Joe (16 May 2023). "1955 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  6. ^ Under this plan flying squadrons reported to the wing deputy commander for operations and maintenance squadrons reported to the wing deputy commander for maintenance.
  7. ^ After October 1966, 834th Air Division assumed operational control over airlift in Vietnam. Ravenstein, p. 258.
Citations
  1. ^ a b Cox, SSG Divine (30 December 2017). "774 EAS continues tactical airlift operations in Afghanistan". 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba Haulman, Daniel L. (18 May 2018). "Factsheet 774 Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  3. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 748-749
  4. ^ Watkins, p. 110
  5. ^ a b c d Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 338-339
  6. ^ a b c d e f g "463rd Bombardment Group (H).5th Wing/15th Air Force "The Swoose Group" 1943-1945: Group History". 463rd Society. 27 December 1961. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Lockheed C-130: The Four Horsemen Demonstrated the Power of the New Aircraft". HistoryNet. 12 June 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  8. ^ Byrd, p. 16
  9. ^ Ravenstein, pp. 279-281
  10. ^ Russell, p. 40
  11. ^ a b c Ravenstein, pp. 256-258
  12. ^ Warnock, Operation Power Pack, pp. 63-73

Bibliography

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

Byrd, Daniel A. "Lebanon Crisis: Operation BLUE BAT". In Warnock, A. Timothy (ed.). Short of War: Major USAF Contingency Operations 1947-1997.
Russell, Edward T. "Cuban Missile Crisis". In Warnock, A. Timothy (ed.). Short of War: Major USAF Contingency Operations 1947-1997.
Warnock, A. Timothy. "Dominican Crisis: Operation POWER PACK". In Warnock, A. Timothy (ed.). Short of War: Major USAF Contingency Operations 1947-1997.
  • Watkins, Robert A. (2009). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II. Vol. IV, European-African-Middle Eastern Theater of Operations. Atglen,PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 978-0-7643-3401-6.
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