62d Airlift Squadron

62d Airlift Squadron
62d Airlift Squadron Patch
Active	27 November 1942 – 27 August 1946 17 October 1949 – 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
Nickname(s)	Blue Barons
Decorations	Distinguished 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

315th Troop Carrier Group

Attached to 89th Troop Carrier Group, 5 December 1942

314th Troop Carrier Group, 15 March 1943
Third Air Force, Aug-27 August 1946
314th Troop Carrier Group, 17 October 1949
314th Troop Carrier Wing, 8 October 1957

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

839th Air Division, 1 December 1965

Attached to: Troop Carrier Wing Provisional, 4413, 1 December 1965 – 30 June 1966

64th Troop Carrier (later, 64th Tactical Airlift) Wing, 1 July 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

314th Tactical Airlift Wing, 31 May 1971
34th Tactical Airlift Training Group, 1 November 1978
314th Operations Group, 1 December 1991 – present

Stations

Sedalia Army Air Field, Missouri, 5 December 1942
Del Valle Army Airbase, Texas, 12 December 1942
Pope Field, North Carolina, 12 January 1943
Lawson Field, Georgia, 25 February-3 May 1943
Berguent Airfield, French Morocco, 29 May 1943
Kairouan Airfield, Tunisia, 24 June 1943
Castelvetrano Airfield, Sicily, 3 September 1943 – 15 February 1944
RAF Saltby (AAF-538), England, 24 February 1944
Poix Airfield (B-44), France, Mar 1945
Villacoublay Airfield (A-42), France, 15 October 1945 – 15 February 1946
Bolling Field, DC, 15 February 1946
Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina, Aug-27 August 1946

Smyrna AFB, Tennessee, 17 October 1949 – 27 August 1950
Ashiya AB, Japan, 4 September 1950 – 15 November 1954
Sewart AFB, Tennessee, 15 November 1954

Deployed at: Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, 6 June-Aug 1961

Deployed at: Clark AB, Philippines, 19 May-29 Jul 1962, 5 August-Oct 1964, and Mar-May 1965

Deployed at: RAF Mildenhall, England, 15 December 1967-c. 28 March 1968, 1 July-2 Oct 1968, and 16 November 1969 – 11 January 1970

Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, 9 March 1970 – present

Deployed at: RAF Mildenhall, England, 3 July-30 Aug 1970; Rhein-Main AB, Germany, 2 April-31 May 1971

Aircraft

C-47 Skytrain (1943–1946)
C-82 Packet (1949–1950)
C-119 Flying Boxcar (1950–1957)
C-130 Hercules (1956 – present)

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of 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

External links

United States Air Force

Leadership

Structure

Commands	Reserve Air National Guard Field Operating Agencies Installations

Direct Reporting Units	District of Washington Operational Test and Evaluation Center USAF Academy

Major Commands	Air Combat Air Education and Training Air Mobility Global Strike Materiel Reserve Space Special Operations Europe & Africa Pacific

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Personnel and
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Portal

Air Education and Training Command (AETC)

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Wings	12th Flying Training 14th Flying Training 17th Training 33d Fighter 37th Training 42d Air Base 47th Flying Training 56th Fighter 58th Special Operations 59th Medical 71st Flying Training 80th Flying Training 81st Training 82d Training 97th Air Mobility 314th Airlift 502d Air Base

Groups	336th Training Group 381st Training Group

Links to related articles

USAAF Ninth Air Force in World War II

Stations

Palestine (Mand)	Lydda Muqueibile Ramat David St Jean

Egypt	Abu Sueir Ismailia El Amiriya Daba Deversoir Fayid Kabrit * Landing Ground 174 Payne Sidi Haneish

Libya	Baheira Belandah Benina Castel Benito Berca Darragh El Adem El Assa Gambut Hamraiet Lete Martuba Tmed El Chel Tobruk Tripoli Sidi Azeiz

Tunisia	Ben Gardane Bou Grara Chekira Hani Hazbub Hergla El Djem El Haouaria Kairouan Medenine Menzel Heurr Sfax Soltane

United Kingdom	Aldermaston Andover Andrews Field Ashford Balderton Barkston Heath Beaulieu Birch Bisterne Boreham Bottesford Boxted Charmy Down Chalgrove Chilbolton Chipping Ongar Christchurch Cottesmore Earls Colne Exeter Folkingham Fulbeck Gosfield Great Dunmow Greenham Common Grove High Halden Headcorn Holmsley South Hurn Ibsley Kingsnorth Langar Lashenden Little Walden Lymington Matching Membury Merryfield Middle Wallop North Witham Ramsbury Raydon Rivenhall Saltby Scorton Staplehurst Spanhoe Stansted Stoney Cross Thruxton Upottery Warmwell Welford Weston Zoyland Wethersfield Winkton Woodchurch Wormingford

Europe	Advanced Landing Grounds (ALGs) in France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Germany too numerous.

Units

Commands

Wings

Bombardment	97th Bombardment 98th Bombardment 99th Bombardment

Fighter	8th Fighter 9th Fighter 70th Fighter 71st Fighter 84th Fighter 100th Fighter 303d Fighter

Troop carrier	50th Troop Carrier 52d Troop Carrier 53d Troop Carrier

Groups

Bombardment	12th Bombardment 98th Bombardment 322d Bombardment 323d Bombardment 340th Bombardment 344th Bombardment 376th Bombardment 386th Bombardment 387th Bombardment 391st Bombardment 394th Bombardment 397th Bombardment 409th Bombardment 410th Bombardment 416th Bombardment

Fighter	36th Fighter 48th Fighter 50th Fighter 57th Fighter 79th Fighter 324th Fighter 354th Fighter 358th Fighter 365th Fighter 362d Fighter 363d Fighter 366th Fighter 367th Fighter 368th Fighter 370th Fighter 371st Fighter 373d Fighter 404th Fighter 405th Fighter 406th Fighter 474th Fighter

Troop carrier	61st Troop Carrier 64th Troop Carrier 313th Troop Carrier 314th Troop Carrier 315th Troop Carrier 316th Troop Carrier 349th Troop Carrier 434th Troop Carrier 435th Troop Carrier 436th Troop Carrier 437th Troop Carrier 438th Troop Carrier 439th Troop Carrier 440th Troop Carrier 441st Troop Carrier 442d Troop Carrier IX Troop Carrier Pathfinder (Provisional)

Reconnaissance	10th Reconnaissance 67th Reconnaissance 69th Reconnaissance

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Liaison	14th Liaison 47th Liaison

Night fighter	422d Night Fighter 425th Night Fighter

United States Army Air Forces

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