774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron

World War II

Squadron B-17G Flying Fortress^{[note 2]}

Established in mid-1943 as a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombardment squadron; assigned to Second Air Force for training. Attached in late 1943 and early 1944 to the Army Air Force School of Applied Tactics. Deployed to Mediterranean Theater of Operations 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.

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

463d Troop Carrier Wing C-130^{[note 3]}

Reactivated as a Tactical Air Command Troop Carrier squadron in June 1953, assigned Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars. Engaged in transport of equipment and supplies; including support of Army Airborne parachute units throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. Equipped with new Lockheed 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.^[3]

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.

Reactivated at Dyess Air Force Base, 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.

Redesignated 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, converted to provisional status in 2001 and allotted to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed.^[1]

Assignments

• 463d Bombardment Group, 1 August 1943 – 25 September 1945
• 463d Troop Carrier Group, 16 January 1953
• 463d Troop Carrier Wing, 25 September 1957
• 840th Air Division, 23 November 1965
• 463d Troop Carrier Wing (later 463d Tactical Airlift Wing), 7 February 1966 – 15 June 1971
• 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

376th Expeditionary Operations Group, 4 October 2004

455th Expeditionary Operations Group, 6 January 2006 – unknown^[1]

Stations

Aircraft

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943–1945
• Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1953–1957
• Lockheed C-130 Hercules, 1956–1962; 1963–1971; 1972–1993^[1]

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved December 17, 2016.
• 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. Retrieved December 17, 2016.

Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved December 17, 2016.