7th Airlift Squadron

7th Airlift Squadron
7th Airlift Squadron
	McChord Air Force Base, Washington
Motto(s)	Always Willing – Always Able[citation needed]
Mascot(s)	Sword[citation needed]
Engagements	; European-African-Middle East Campaign World War II Tunisia; Sicily; Naples-Foggia; Rome-Arno; Southern France; North Apennines; Po Valley; ; Armed Forces Expeditionary Operation Just Cause (Panama), 1989–90;
Decorations	Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Insignia
7th Airlift Squadron emblem
7th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem (approved 9 August 1944)

The 7th Airlift Squadron is part of the

McChord Air Force Base, Washington. It operates Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircraft supporting the United States Air Force

global reach mission worldwide.

Mission

Train and equip C-17 aircrews for global air-land and airdrop operations.

History

World War II

The

Douglas C-33 transports, tasked with transporting supplies and equipment from the depots to field units at airfields in the Western United States.^[2]

After the

Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria.^[4]

In combat, performed resupply and evacuation missions across Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia during

Western Desert Campaign by moving essential munitions, supplies and other equipment from Palestine and Egypt to the front lines in Libya. It returned to Twelfth Air Force control in Algeria at the end of May.^[4]

During June 1943, the unit began training with gliders in preparation for

Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. It towed gliders to Syracuse, Sicily and dropped paratroopers at Catania during the operation. After moving to Sicily, the squadron airdropped supplies to escaped prisoners of war in Northern Italy in October. Operated from Sicily until December until moving to Italian mainland in December.^[4]

Supported the

Mediterranean Theater of Operations in July 1944, it carried paratroopers during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France in August 1944. The squadron then returned to operations over Italy and in the Balkans until end of combat in Europe, May 1945. In all the 4th earned nine Campaign streamers during operations in both the European and China-Burma-India theaters in the Second World War.^[4]

Cold War

The squadron returned to the United States in September 1946, being assigned to the troop carrier squadron training school at

Elmendorf Field during the winter of 1947–1948, returning to McChord Air Force Base in March 1948. In October 1949 it received the long-distance Douglas C-54 Skymaster.^[4]

On 1 June 1950, its parent

Dien Bien Phu in 1954.^[4]

By 1955 the

North American Air Defense Command set out to build a chain of radar stations on the northernmost reaches of the continent. This chain of radars, known as the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line), was to detect incoming Soviet missiles and bombers, and give our forces enough warning to launch a counterattack, and get the National Command Authorities to safety. Between 1955 and 1957, the squadron began to fly missions to the Alaskan arctic regions, carrying 13 million pounds of supplies and equipment to build the DEW Line. The resupply of the DEW Line stations kept the squadron occupied until 1969. Its Globemasters also flew airlift missions in South Vietnam as the growing American commitment required more troops, supplies and equipment. In December 1969, the squadron was inactivated along with its C-124 Globemasters transferring its personnel to the other squadrons of the 62d MAW.^[4]

The 7th was reactivated just over a year later at

Prisoners of War from Clark Air Base, Republic of The Philippines to Travis in Operation Homecoming. Over the next 6 weeks, 280 POWs were returned to Travis to be reunited with their families and to receive medical care.^[5]

During the fall of 1973, the squadron supported Operation Nickel Grass, the support of Israel during the Yom Kippur War in the Middle East. As Military Airlift Command (MAC)'s prime representative in this operation, the 7th flew C-141 missions to Israel and delivered over 22,000 tons of supplies and equipment.^[5]

To upgrade cargo carrying capacity, MAC initiated a major upgrade program for its C-141 fleet beginning in 1979. The project added an in-flight refueling system and 23 feet in length to the fuselage. The stretchedStarlifter was designated the C-141B. The squadron sent its first C-141A to the Lockheed Corporation for modification on 13 August 1979. It received its last "B" model on 10 May 1982.^[5]

In the 1980s and 1990s, the 7th provided

Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, as well as delivering thousands of tons of relief supplies to the former Soviet Union.^[5]

Modern era

In a 1993 realignment of assets as the C-141s at Travis were retiring, and the 60th was receiving former SAC McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender tankers, the squadron was transferred back to its previous unit, the 62d Airlift Wing at McChord AFB, Washington which consolidated Air Mobility Command's C-141 fleet.^[5]

At McChord, the 7th received its first

McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III in 1998, and began to retire its C-141s. It maintained a Starlifter flight until 2002 as the new Globemaster IIIs were received. One of the squadron's many firsts was the landing the first C-17 on the ice sheet near McMurdo Station in Antarctica in 1999, and landing the first C-17 in North Korea a few weeks later.^[4]

Recently, the 7th Airlift Squadron helped man another expeditionary airlift squadron along with the

Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan. The 7th helped initiate the new 2 EAS concept in C-17 operations.^[jargon

]

Lineage

Constituted as the 7th Transport Squadron on 1 October 1933

Activated on 14 October 1939

Redesignated 7th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942

Inactivated on 27 November 1945

Activated on 7 September 1946

Redesignated 7th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 23 June 1948

Redesignated 7th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 12 October 1949

Redesignated 7th Air Transport Squadron, Heavy on 1 January 1965

Redesignated 7th Military Airlift Squadron on 8 January 1966

Inactivated on 22 December 1969

Activated on 13 March 1971

Redesignated 7th Airlift Squadron on 1 November 1991.[1]

Assignments

10th Transport Group, 14 October 1939
62d Transport Group (later 62d Troop Carrier Group), 11 December 1940 – 14 November 1945
Unknown 15–27 Nov 1945
62d Troop Carrier Group, 7 September 1946 (attached to Yukon Sector, Alaskan Air Command, 15 September 1947 – 5 March 1948; 62d Troop Carrier Wing, after 8 January 1960)
62d Troop Carrier Wing (later 62d Air Transport wing, 62d Military Airlift Wing), 15 January 1960 – 22 December 1969
60th Military Airlift Wing, 13 March 1971
60th Military Airlift Group
, 6 March 1978
60th Military Airlift Wing, 15 February 1979
60th Operations Group, 1 November 1991
62d Operations Group, 1 October 1993 – present^[1]

Stations

Sacramento Air Depot (later McClellan Field), California, 14 October 1939
Kellogg Field
, Michigan, 29 May 1942
Florence Army Airfield
, South Carolina, 2 July-14 August 1942
RAF Greenham Common, England, 7 September 1942
RAF Keevil, England, 25 September-16 November 1942
Tafaraoui Airfield, Algeria, 27 December 1942

Operated from bases in Egypt and Palestine, 13 March-19 May 1943

Matemore Airfield
, Algeria, 21 May 1943
El Djem Airfield, Tunisia, 22 June 1943
Goubrine Airfield, Tunisia, 26 July 1943
Ponte Olivo Airfield, Sicily, 6 September 1943
Brindisi Airfield
, Italy, 12 February 1944
Ponte Olivo Airfield, Sicily, 29 March 1944
Guado Airfield
, Italy, 8 May 1944
Galera Airfield, Italy, 28 June 1944

Brindisi Airfield
, Italy, 22 October 1944
Tarquinia Airfield, Italy, 4 December 1944
Rosignano Airfield, Italy, 24 May 1945
Naples Airport
, Italy, 25 September-27 November 1945
Bergstrom Field, Texas, 7 September 1946
McChord Field (later McChord Air Force Base), Washington, 5 August 1947 (operated from
Elmendorf Field
, Alaska, 15 September 1947 – 5 March 1948)
Kelly Air Fotce Base, Texas, 9 May 1950 (operated from McChord Air Force Base, Washington after 27 July 1950)
McChord Air Force Base, Washington, 19 February 1951
Larson Air Force Base, Washington, 9 May 1952
McChord Air Force Base, Washington, 13 June 1960 – 22 December 1969
Travis Air Force Base, California, 13 March 1971
McChord Air Force Base, Washington, 1 October 1993 – present^[1]

Aircraft

Douglas C-33 (1939–1941)
Douglas C-39 (1939–1942)
Martin B-10 (1939–1940)
Douglas C-53 Skytrooper (1942)
Douglas C-47 Skytrain (1942–1945)
Curtiss C-46 Commando (1946–1947)

Fairchild C-82 Packet (1947–1949)
Douglas C-54 Skymaster (1949–1951)
Douglas C-124 Globemaster II (1951–1969)
Lockheed C-141 Starlifter (1971–2000)
Boeing C-17 Globemaster III (1999 – present)^[1]

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

^ Aircraft is Boeing C-17A Globemaster III, serial 98-54.
^ The date the emblem was redesigned to bring all elements within the disc is not known, but was prior to 1995. Endicott, p. 382 (image and description changed from "Over and through a light blue disc . . ." to "On a light blue disc . . ." The color of the sword hilt was altered after 1995. Compare Endicott, p. 382 with Bailey.

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bailey, Carl E. (8 January 2008). "7 Airlift Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 44-45
^ Clay 2011, p. 1375.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 62d Airlift Wing office of history Archived 23 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine^{[failed verification]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Wilderman^{[page needed]}
^ Kellogg, David (14 July 2006). "C-17 squadron returns from record-setting deployment". 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 18 November 2017.

Bibliography

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

Clay, Steven E. (2011). US Army Order of Battle 1919-1941 (PDF). Vol. 3. The Services: Air Service, Engineers, and Special Troops 1919-1941. Fort Leavenworth, KS: Combat Studies Institute Press.
OCLC 637712205
.

Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
LCCN 61060979
. Retrieved 17 December 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.
OCLC 72556
. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

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

Wilderman, Mark (2014). "America's First Choice: A Brief History of the 60th Air Mobility Wing and Travis Air Force Base" (PDF). 60th Air Mobility Wing Office of History. Retrieved 18 November 2017.

External links

7th Airlift Squadron Home Page

[1] Aircraft is Boeing C-17A Globemaster III, serial 98-54.

[3] The date the emblem was redesigned to bring all elements within the disc is not known, but was prior to 1995. Endicott, p. 382 (image and description changed from "Over and through a light blue disc . . ." to "On a light blue disc . . ." The color of the sword hilt was altered after 1995. Compare Endicott, p. 382 with Bailey.

[AFHRA-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Bailey, Carl E. (8 January 2008). "7 Airlift Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 18 November 2017.

[Maurer7TCS-4] Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 44-45

[FOOTNOTEClay20111375-5] Clay 2011, p. 1375.

[62AWhist-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h 62d Airlift Wing office of history Archived 23 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine^{[failed verification]}

[60AMW-7] Wilderman^{[page needed]}

[8] Kellogg, David (14 July 2006). "C-17 squadron returns from record-setting deployment". 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 18 November 2017.

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