45th Airlift Squadron

45th Airlift Squadron
Patch of the 45th Airlift Squadron
Active	30 May 1942 - 26 December 1945 1 July 1994 - 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	Keesler Air Force Base
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

The 45th Airlift Squadron (45 AS) is part of the 314th Airlift Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates C-21 aircraft training pilots for executive airlift.

History

Activated in June 1942 under First Air Force, being formed at Patterson Field, Ohio. Trained at various stationd in the southeast and Texas with C-47 Skytrain transports. Deployed to Egypt in November 1942 as part of President Roosevelt's decision to aid the Royal Air Force Western Desert Air Force, assigned to the newly-established Ninth Air Force, headquartered in Cairo. Provided supplies and equipment to the British Eighth Army, operating from desert airfields in Egypt and Libya. Reassigned in May 1943 to the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in Algeria, supporting Fifth Army forces in the Tunisian Campaign. Participated in Operation Husky, the airborne invasion of Sicily in August 1943. Remained in the MTO until Feburary 1944 until being reassigned back to Ninth Air Force in England, IX Troop Carrier Command to participate in the buildup of forces prior to the Allied landings in France during D-Day in June 1944.

Engaged in combat 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 Holland. In December, it participated in the Battle of the Bulge by releasing gliders with supplies for the 101st Airborne Division near Bastogne.

Returned to the United States in May, 1945, becoming a domestic troop carrier squadron for Continental Air Forces, inactivating in December 1945.

Since 1994 it has trained pilots in operational support airlift mission.

Lineage

• Constituted as 45th Transport Squadron on 30 May 1942

Activated on 15 Jun 1942

Re-designated as: 45th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 Jul 1942

Inactivated on 26 Dec 1945

• Re-designated as: 45th Airlift Flight on 1 Apr 1993

Activated on 1 May 1993

Inactivated on 1 Oct 1993

• Re-designated as: 45th Airlift Squadron on 21 Mar 1994

Activated on 1 Jul 1994

Re-designated as: 45th Airlift Flight on 1 Oct 1999

Re-designated as: 45th Airlift Squadron on 9 Jul 2001

Assignments

• 316th Transport (later, 316th Troop Carrier) Group, 15 Jun 1942
• I Troop Carrier Command, May-26 Dec 1945

Attached to VI Air Service Area Command, 9 Sep-c. 20 Dec 1945

• 2d Operations Group, 1 May-1 Oct 1993
• 81st Training Group, 1 Jul 1994
• 314th Operations Group, 1 Oct 1999-Present

Stations

• Patterson Field, Ohio, 15 Jun 1942
• Bowman Field, Kentucky, 20 Jun 1942
• Lawson Field, Georgia, 9 Aug 1942
• Del Valle Army Airbase, Texas, 29 Sep-10 Nov 1942
• Egypt (undetermined locations), 25 Nov 1942
• Libya (undetermined locations), Mar 1943
• Nouvion Airfield, Algeria, 24 May 1943
• Guercif Airfield, French Morocco, 28 May 1943
• Enfidaville Airfield, Tunisia, 21 Jun 1943
• Mazzara Airfield, Sicily, 1 Sep 1943

• Borizzo Airfield, Sicily, 18 Oct 1943-12 Feb 1944
• RAF Cottesmore (AAF-489), England, 15 Feb 1944-May 1945
• Pope Field, North Carolina, May 1945
• Baer Field, Indiana, 20 Jun-15 Aug 1945
• Kipapa Airfield, Hawaii Territory, 9 Sep 1945
• Wheeler Field, Hawaii Territory, 29 Sep-20 Dec 1945
• Camp Anza, California, 26 Dec 1945
• Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, 1 May-1 Oct 1993
• Keesler AFB, Mississippi, 1 Jul 1994-Present

Aircraft

• C-47 Skytrain (1942–1945)
• C-46 Commando (1945)
• C-12 Huron (1994–1999)
• C-21 (1994 – Present)

Operations

• World War II

References

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

• Mauer, Mauer (1969), Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, Air Force Historical Studies Office, Maxwell AFB, Alabama. ISBN 0-89201-097-5
• AFHRA 45th Airlift Squadron Factsheet