48th Airlift Squadron

48th Airlift Squadron

48th Airlift Squadron Patch
Active 30 May 1942 – 15 November 1945
30 September 1946 – 18 September 1949
1 February 1953 – 8 June 1955
20 August 1964 – 25 June 1967
15 November 1971 – 1 September 1973
1 December 2003 - 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
Decorations Distinguished Unit Citation

The 48th Airlift Squadron (48 AS) is part of the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It operates C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, conducting pilot and loadmaster training for airlift and airdrop operations.

History

Activated in early 1942 under Air Transport (Later I Troop Carrier) Command as a C-47 transport squadron; trained in the southeastern United States. Deployed to North Africa as part of the Operation Torch landings; being assigned to Oujda Airfield; French Morocco. Performed troop carrier and transport airlift of supplies to ground forces advancing though Algeria into Tunisia under Twelfth Air Force. Also evacuated wounded personnel to rear areas. Carried airborne paratroopers and performed airborne assault missions over Sicily and Italy as part of the invasion forces.

Reassigned to IX Troop Carrier Command in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) in February 1944 as part of the pre-invasion buildup of forces in England. Performed combat airborne assault missions as part of D-Day; Operation Market-Garden and Operation Varsity 1944–1945. Also performed supply and evacuation missions in France and the Low Countries; participated in the Western Allied invasion of Germany; 1945. Continued combat airlift and supply missions until the German capitulation in May 1945.

Squadron continued to operate from Achiet, France during 1945, performing transportation of personnel and supplies within Europe; demobilized in place during August, and inactivated as a paper unit in September 1945.

Reactivated as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe, 1946. Assigned to transport duties as part of the European Air Transport Service, 1946–1947 as part of the army of occupation. Inactivated in Austria in June 1947. Immediately reactivated as a Tactical Air Command troop carrier squadron in 1947; being assigned to Texas and equipped with C-46s. Deployed to Germany in 1948 to support Berlin Airlift; operated from British Zone of Occupation, with C-54s. Inactivated in West Germany in September 1949.

Reactivated under Eighteenth Air Force in 1953 as a Tactical Air Command C-119 Flying Boxcar troop carrier squadron. Performed routine airlift of supplies and personnel; including Army Airborne parachute drops until being inactivated due to funding restrictions in 1955; Reactivated as a C-130 Hercules Troop Carrier (later Tactical Airlift) squadron under TAC in 1964.

The 48th provided airlift for airborne forces from 1965 to 1967. It deployed aircraft and crews to France and England, October 1965-March 1967 and to Panama Canal Zone, March–June 1967. It provided intra-theater airlift and support of U.S. Army airborne forces from 1971 to 1973.

In 2003, the 48th Airlift was reactivated as the first active duty C-130J Super Hercules Formal Training Unit.

Operations and Decorations

Lineage

Activated on 15 Jun 1942
Re-designated as: 48th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 Jul 1942
Inactivated on 15 Nov 1945
Re-designated as: 48th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 30 Jul 1948
Re-designated as: 48th Troop Carrier Squadron, Special on 1 Feb 1949
Inactivated on 18 Sep 1949
Activated on 1 Feb 1953
Inactivated on 8 Jun 1955
Organized on 1 Jan 1965
Re-designated as: 48th Troop Carrier Squadron on 1 Mar 1966
Discontinued, and inactivated, on 25 Jun 1967
Activated on 15 Nov 1971
Inactivated on 1 Sep 1973
Activated on 1 Dec 2003.

Assignments

Stations

Air echelon operated from Ponte Olivo Airfield, Sicily, 27 Jul-11 Aug 1943
  • Sciacca Airdrome, Sicily, 6 Sep 1943
  • Trapani/Milo Airfield, Sicily, 6 Oct 1943–18 Feb 1944
  • RAF Folkingham (AAF-484), England, 3 Mar 1944
  • Achiet Airfield (B-54), France, 6 Mar-3 Aug 1945

Operated from Rhein-Main AB, Germany, c. 1 Jul-8 Nov 1948

Aircraft

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

External links

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