181st Airlift Squadron

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181st Airlift Squadron
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Belgian Fourragère
Insignia
181st Airlift Squadron emblem
395th Fighter Squadron emblem
Tail stripeBlue stripe inscribed Texas between two stars
World War II fuselage codeA7

The 181st Airlift Squadron is a unit of the

Lockheed C-130J Hercules
.

It was first activated in June 1943 as The 395th Fighter Squadron, assigned to the

AAF Station Straubing
, Germany until was inactivated on 20 August 1946 and transferred its personnel and equipment to another unit, which was activated in its place.

The squadron was allotted to the

air refueling mission, which continued until 1978, and has been an airlift
unit since then.

History

World War II

Organization and training

The

Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics.[2]

The 395th trained with

Farmingdale Army Air Field, New York to complete its training. The squadron and group left Farmingdale for the Port of Embarkation, Camp Myles Standish on 20 December 1943 and boarded the SS Argentina to sail for Great Britain on 29 December, arriving at the Firth of Clyde on 7 January 1944.[3][4][2]

Combat in Europe

P-47 Taxiing at Cardonville Airfield

The squadron arrived at

D-Day, the group supported the landing forces in Normandy.[4]

Two weeks after the landings, it moved to

Third United States Army.[7]

By early September, fuel shortages were impacting both Third Army and XIX Tactical Air Command, slowing the Allied advance, and sometimes forcing fighter-bombers to land at forward bases to refuel.

Belgian Army for the period from D-Day through the end of September.[3]

The squadron continued its support of allied ground forces, participated in the assault against the

marshalling yards, roads and vehicles, armored columns, and gun positions. It was cited in the order of the day for a second time by the Belgian Army for this support and awarded the Belgian Fourragère.[3] The squadron continued operations with the Allied forces that pushed across the Rhine and into Germany until the end of the war.[4] The last combat mission flown by the 368th Group was a fighter sweep near Prague on 5 May 1945.[10] The squadron ended the war credited with the destruction of 35 enemy aircraft.[11]

Army of occupation

After

82d Fighter Squadron, which was simultaneously activated.[3][4][12][13]

Texas Air National Guard

The wartime 395th Fighter Squadron was redesignated the 181st Fighter Squadron and allotted to the

North American P-51D Mustangs
.

Air Defense

Four generations of Texas Air National Guard aircraft, about 1965

The mission of the squadron was to train for

Ellington Air Force Base and the 182d Fighter Squadron, at Brooks Air Force Base
, near San Antonio, trained in southeastern Texas and the Texas Hill Country.

With the breakout of the Korean War in October 1950, the 136th Fighter Group was one of the first Guard units to be federalized and went on active duty, along with the 111th and 182d Fighter Squadrons and moved to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. The 181st Fighter Squadron remained in the Texas Air National Guard and was assigned directly to its headquarters. The 181st was re-equipped with the Very Long Range F-51H Mustang, which had been developed to escort Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers in the Pacific Theater. The F-51H would allow the squadron to intercept any unidentified aircraft over any part of Texas. In September 1952, the squadron became the 181st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron

181st FIS F-86D Interceptors, 1958

With the 136th Fighter-Bomber Group's release from active duty in July 1952, the squadron was again assigned to it. It became the 181st Fighter-Bomber Squadron the following January. Despite this name change, the squadron remained focused on the air defense mission.

It wasn't until January 1955 that the squadron received its first jets,

Lockheed F-80C Shooting Stars
. In July it was redesignated the 181st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. On 1 July 1957 the
radar equipped and Mighty Mouse rocket armed North American F-86D Sabre
by the end of the year.

Air Refueling

181st Air Refueling Squadron KC-97L

In August 1961, the 181st became the 181st Air Refueling Squadron as

Hensley Field
, which relieved Love Field from supporting airliners and military aircraft from a field near the downtown area of a major city.

With the transfer of the interceptors and no previously qualified aircrew or maintenance personnel assigned, the 181st went through a year of transition to its new mission. The squadron achieved operational status in the KC-97 in eight months. The previous "normal" time for similar conversions was two years. In 1966 the squadron began a rotational deployment to

United States Air Forces Europe an air refueling capability. The Creek Party deployment rotations lasted until 1976, and over the decade the squadron saw millions of pounds of jet fuel off-loaded and millions of miles flown, all accident free. In 1976 the squadron's gaining command became Strategic Air Command
, the Air Force's single manager of refueling assets. However, the Air National Guard had begun retiring its KC-97s and by 1978 all had left the inventory.

Airlift mission

181st TAS C-130B 58-0734 about 1980

On 1 April 1978, the 181st became the 181st Tactical Airlift Squadron and its gaining command became

Lockheed C-130B Hercules transports. The new mission was airlift
of troops, military equipment, cargo and aeromedical support.

The squadron participated in numerous Cold War military exercises such as Team Spirit, Volant Oak, Red Flag, and Reforger. Other Joint Chief of Staff exercises included Ember Dawn IV in Alaska and Brave Shield in Europe. In 1979, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve assumed full responsibility for airlift operations in Panama.

In mid-December 1989, squadron aircraft,

Operation Just Cause, the replacement of Manuel Noriega
as the ruler of Panama. More than 100 combat sorties were flown, with no casualties or damage to aircraft.

In August 1986 the Wing received the new C-130H aircraft. By late January 1991, the squadron provided voluntarily and involuntarily activated, to participate in

Operation Desert Shield
and Operation Desert Storm. Aircraft and air crews from the squadron flew two-month-long tours of duty in Operation Volant Pine, a backfill of airlift aircraft to Europe by Air National Guard C-130s.

In 1997, wing members deployed supporting state and federal missions. During the period the unit supported Department of Defense missions deploying to Oman and Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Southern Watch, and in humanitarian airlift. On 1 October 1998 with the closure of Hensley Field, the squadron moved to the former Carswell Air Force Base, now designated as Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth.

As part of the Global War on Terrorism, the unit has deployed numerous times in support of

Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation New Horizons
, with an average of six deployments per unit member. When the squadron is the primary force provider for an expeditionary unit, that unit is designated the 181st Expeditionary Airlift Squadron.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 395th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine on 24 May 1943
Activated on 1 June 1943
Inactivated on 20 August 1946
  • Redesignated 181st Fighter Squadron, Single Engine and allotted to the
    National Guard
    on 21 August 1946
Extended federal recognition on 27 February 1947
  • Redesignated 181st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 16 September 1952
Redesignated 181st Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 1 January 1953
Redesignated 181st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 1 July 1955
Redesignated 181st Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 1 September 1961
Redesignated 181st Tactical Airlift Squadron on 8 April 1978
Redesignated 181st Airlift Squadron on 16 March 1992

Assignments

Stations

Aircraft

  • Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1946
  • North American P-51D (later F-51D) Mustang, 1947–1951
  • North American F-51H Mustang, 1951–1955
  • Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star
    , 1955–1957
  • North American F-86D Sabre, 1957–1961
  • Boeing KC-97L Stratotanker, 1961–1976
  • Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker
    , 1976–1978
  • Lockheed C-130B Hercules
    , 1978–1986
  • Lockheed C-130H Hercules, 1986–2021
  • Lockheed C-130J Hercules, 2021-

References

Notes

  1. ^ Watkins, p. 40
  2. ^ a b "Initial Group History" (PDF). 368th Fighter Group Association. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 465-466
  4. ^ a b c d e f Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 254-255
  5. ^ Maurer, Combat Groups, p. 311
  6. ^ Rust, p. 98
  7. ^ Rust, p. 99
  8. ^ Rust, p. 111
  9. ^ Rust, pp. 111-112
  10. ^ Rust, p. 173
  11. ^ Newton & Senning, p. 645
  12. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 287
  13. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, p. 143
  14. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 254-255
  15. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 33.
  16. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 46.
  17. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 13.
  18. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 17.
  19. ^ a b Station number in Johnson, p. 20.
  20. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 23.
  21. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 28.
  22. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 32.
  23. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 38.
  24. ^ Station number in Johnson, p. 39.
  25. ^ Station information through August 1946 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 486, except as noted.

Bibliography

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

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