36th Airlift Squadron

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36th Airlift Squadron
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation[1]
Commanders
Notable
commanders		Norton A. Schwartz
Insignia
36th Airlift Squadron Emblem (approved 24 August 1995)[1]
36th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem (approved 18 July 1952)[2]

The 36th Airlift Squadron is an airlift squadron of the United States Air Force. It is part of the 374th Operations Group (374th Airlift Wing) at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

It is the only forward-based tactical airlift squadron in the

Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules mission-ready aircrew and aircraft to conduct theater airlift, special operations, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue, repatriation and humanitarian relief
missions.

History

World War II

Activated in February 1942 at

Ninth Air Force, headquartered in Cairo
.

Transported supplies and evacuated casualties in support of the

Mediterranean Theater of Operations until February 1944 until being reassigned back to 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

D-Day (6 June 1944) and releasing gliders
with reinforcements on the following day. The unit received a third Distinguished Unit 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 Operation Market Garden, 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.

Korean War

Returned to the United States in May 1945, becoming a domestic troop carrier squadron for Continental Air Forces. In the Korean War the squadron flew airborne assaults at Sukchon and Munsan-ni and aerial transportation between Japan and Korea. Returned to the United States in 1952, however redeployed back to Japan in 1954 and performed theater airlift missions. Inactivated in 1957[1] as part of the draw down of occupation forces in Japan.

Airlift from the United States

Reactivated in 1966 at

U.S. Air Forces in Europe
, sending aircraft to both England and West Germany.

In early 1975, the unit transferred from Tactical Air Command to

Operation Just Cause
in Panama from December 1989 to January 1990.

Pacific Operations

In 1989, the squadron transitioned from the C-130E to the

Lockheed C-141B Starlifter, flying that aircraft until 1993. In 1993, the squadron transitioned back to the C-130, this time the C-130H, and moved from McChord back to Japan, this time to Yokota Air Base
, where it continues to perform its current theater airlift mission.

The squadron took part in Operation Tomodachi, the response by the USAF to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, flying relief supplies to Sendai Airport, and in 2013 deployed aircraft to the Philippines for relief missions following Typhoon Haiyan.[3] It began re-equipping with the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules late in 2016.[4] It will receive 14 C-130Js in all.[5] The final C-130H departed Yokota for the last time on 16 October 2017.[6]

The squadron made its C-130J debut at Operation Christmas Drop 2017 continuing through Red Flag – Alaska in June 2018.[7]

Decorations and Campaigns

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 36th Transport Squadron on 2 February 1942
Activated on 14 February 1942
Redesignated 36th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942
Redesignated 36th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 23 June 1948
Redesignated 36th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 8 October 1949
Redesignated 36th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 28 January 1950
Inactivated on 18 June 1957
  • Redesignated 36th Troop Carrier Squadron, and activated on 15 November 1965 (not organized)
Organized on 1 April 1966
Redesignated 36th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 May 1967
Discontinued and inactivated, on 25 March 1968
  • Activated on 1 July 1968 (not organized)
Organized on 5 July 1968
Redesignated 36th Military Airlift Squadron on 1 October 1989
Redesignated 36th Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991[1]

Assignments

  • 316th Transport Group
    (later 316th Troop Carrier Group), 14 February 1942 – 18 June 1957
  • Tactical Air Command, 15 November 1965 (not organized)
  • 439th Military Airlift Group
    , 17 August 1967 – 17 September 1967)
  • Tactical Air Command, 1 July 1968 (not organized)
  • 316th Tactical Airlift Wing, 5 July 1968 (attached to 513th Tactical Airlift Wing, 24 February – 19 June 1969; 7310th Tactical Airlift Wing, 24 November 1969 – 31 December 1969;
    374th Tactical Airlift Wing
    , 14 May 1972 – c. 7 September 1972; 513th Tactical Airlift Wing, 5 March 1973 – 18 May 1973 and 15 January 1974 – 16 March 1974; 322d Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 July 1974 – 16 October 1974)
  • 62d Military Airlift Wing
    , 1 July 1975
  • 62d Operations Group
    , 1 December 1991
  • 374th Operations Group, 1 October 1993 – present[1]

Stations

Aircraft

  • Douglas C-47 Skytrain (1942–1946)
  • Fairchild C-82 Packet (1946–1950)
  • Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (1950–1957)
  • Lockheed C-130E Hercules (1966–1989)
  • Lockheed C-141B Starlifter (1989–1993)
  • Lockheed C-130H Hercules (1993–2017)
  • Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules
    (2017–present)

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Bailey, Carl E. (16 March 2015). "Factsheets 36 Airlift Squadron (PACAF)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  2. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 174
  3. ^ Clements 2016, pp. 52–54.
  4. ^ Clements 2016, pp. 56–57.
  5. ^ Shamim, Asif (31 May 2016). "First Yokota C-130J takes shape". c130.net. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  6. ^ Hudson, Donald (18 October 2017). "Thank you C-130H". yokota.af.mil. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
  7. ^ Torres, Juan (18 June 2018). "Yokota's C-130J Super Hercules makes its debut in Red Flag-Alaska". yokota.af.mil. Retrieved 28 June 2018.

Bibliography

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

External links

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