The 776th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force squadron activated after 11 September 2001, being engaged in the Global War on Terrorism. Its current status is not publicly known.
The 776th deployed to southern Italy in February 1944, where it became part of Fifteenth Air Force's 55th Bombardment Wing. The air echelon trained for a few weeks in Tunisia before joining the remainder of the group in Italy and entering combat in April.[6]
The group engaged in long range strategic bombing missions to enemy military, industrial and transportation targets in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia, bombing railroad marshaling yards, oil refineries, airdrome installations, heavy industry, and other strategic objectives.[6]
The squadron sometimes engaged in air support and air interdiction operations. It supported Allied forces during Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, in August 1944. It hit railroad centers to assist the advance of the Red Army in southeastern Europe in March 1945. It bombed enemy supply lines to assist Operation Grapeshot, the advance of the US Fifth and British Eighth Army in northern Italy in April 1945.[6]
After V-E Day, the squadron was assigned to the Green Project, the movement of troops from Europe to the United States via the South Atlantic Transport Route. B-24s were modified with sealed bomb bays, removal of all defensive armament and internal fuselage equipped with seating to carry approximately 30 personnel. It was assigned to Air Transport Command (ATC) at Waller Field, Trinidad. The group moved personnel from Natal, Brazil and Atkinson Field, British Guiana to Morrison Field, Florida. It provided air transport until the end of July when the unit was inactivated[1][6] and its personnel assigned to elements of the South Atlantic and Caribbean Wings of ATC.
The unit provided tactical airlift of troops and cargo, participated in joint airborne training with Army forces, and took part in tactical exercises in the United States and overseas. The squadron provided aeromedical airlift and flew humanitarian missions as required.[1][8]
Assault operations and early Vietnam support
464th Provider dropping Vietnamese paratroopers
In November 1957, the 464th Troop Carrier Wing converted to the dual deputy organization. The wing's 464th Troop Carrier Group was inactivated, and the squadron was assigned directly to the wing.[8] The squadron, meanwhile, began trading its C-119s for Fairchild C-123 Providers before the end of the year.[1]
Starting in 1962, the Air Force had been providing airlift support in Vietnam with Providers under Project Mule Train. The operation had grown to the size of three squadrons by the summer of 1963, mostly supported by deployed aircraft and crews from the 464th Wing. When the Air Force decided to replace deployed units with regular units, deployed crews and airplanes at Tan Son Nhut Airport were assigned to the 776th, which was reassigned to the 315th Troop Carrier Group there. Seven days later, these crews and their aircraft became the newly-activated 310th Troop Carrier Squadron, and the 776th was returned to the control of the 464th Wing. However, on the day of its return, it became a medium troop carrier squadron and began transitioning into the Lockheed C-130 Hercules.[1][9][10]
C-130 Hercules operations
In 1964, the Simba rebellion began in the Congo and rebels gained control of large areas of the eastern part of the country, including Stanleyville and the United States consulate there, taking several State Department employees and others captive. The United States set up a Joint Task Force, which included four C-130s of the 464th Wing to rescue State Department employees in Stanleyville. The Wing's commitment increased to 14 aircraft with the development of an expanded rescue plan called Operation Dragon Rouge. These aircraft, some from the 776th Squadron, were on rotation duty with the 322d Air Division at Evreux Air Base, France and were conveniently located to airlift Belgian forces.[11] The wing dropped Belgian paratroops into Stanleyville, and after the runways were cleared, landed additional troops at Simi-Simi Airport. Once the city was secured, the C-130s began shuttling refugees out of the city, under fire as they departed, and with 100 passengers on each plane. Five aircraft were damaged as 2,000 refugees were evacuated.[lower-alpha 3] An additional 500–1000 were evacuated from Paulis in a follow-on operation,[lower-alpha 4] although not all hostages could be rescued and a number were executed by the Simba rebels.[12] The 464th Wing received the Mackay Trophy for this operation.[8]
In March 1965, the squadron participated in Operation Steep Hill XIII to protect Alabama citizens during the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery.[1][13] In April 1965, the United States decided to deploy troops to the Dominican Republic following the start of a civil war there. on 30 April, the wing airlanded the 3rd Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division at San Isidro Air Base.[14] The 46 aircraft dispatched to San Isidro so overcrowded the field that many were unable to unload and some had to be diverted to Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico.[15][lower-alpha 5] The following day, "an air bridge was established between Pope and San Isidro . . . with a transport . . . landing on an average . . . once every five minutes."[16][lower-alpha 6] In late May, the operation in the Dominican Republic came under the aegis of the Organization of American States and American planes flew in the first Latin American troops.[17]
In 1973 it participated in the Battle of An Loc, Republic of Vietnam (Easter Airlift). Squadron detachments operated From Tan Son Nhut, U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, and Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base, Thailand. On 28 January 1973 a crew from the squadron and a crew from the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron flew into Hanoi to bring a North Vietnamese delegation back to Tan Son Nhut Airport near Saigon.[19] In November 1973, the 374th Wing and the squadron moved to Clark Air Base in the Philippines.[1][20]
As Saigon fell in April 1975, the squadron airlifted Vietnamese orphans from the city during Operation Baby Lift.[1] On 29 April 1975 a C-130 with a crew from the 776th was hit by rocket/mortar fire, causing the aircraft to catch fire while taxiing to pick up passengers for evacuation. This event essentially ended the fixed wing air evacuation. The crew evacuated the aircraft and joined the only other plane at the airport, flown by a 21st Tactical Airlift Squadron aircrew. This departing flight was the last fixed wing aircraft to leave carrying refugees out of Tan Son Nhut as Saigon was being overrun by the North Vietnamese.[citation needed] The squadron was inactivated in July 1975.[1]
The United States Air Force's 463rd Airlift Group was a theater airlift unit last stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It was inactivated on October 1, 2008.
The 309th Maintenance Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force last based at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. On July 12, 2012 it was inactivated and its function became part of the Ogden Air Logistics Complex.
The 464th Tactical Airlift Wing was a theater airlift unit of the United States Air Force during the Cold War. It served in the United States under Tactical Air Command between 1953 and 1971. Its predecessor was the United States Army Air Forces 464th Bombardment Group of World War II.
The 309th Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last based at Chièvres Air Base, Belgium and assigned to the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It operated a single C-37 aircraft providing executive airlift for NATO.
The 67th Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 433d Troop Carrier Group, based at Rhein-Main Air Base, West Germany. It was inactivated on July 14, 1952.
The 315th Operations Group is a United States Air Force Reserve unit assigned to the 315th Airlift Wing. The unit is stationed at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina. The 315th Group controls all operational McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III flying squadrons of the 315th Airlift Wing. It was activated in 1992, when Air Force Reserve Command implemented the Objective Wing organization.
The 332d Airlift Flight is an inactive United States Air Force unit. it was first organized in India in 1944 as the 11th Combat Cargo Squadron. As the 332d Troop Carrier Squadron it remained in China through 1947. The squadron was activated again for the Berlin Airlift from 1948 to 1949.
The 433rd Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force Reserve 433rd Airlift Wing. It is stationed at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.
The 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force squadron, which served for various periods between August 1943 and May 2011.
The 778th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force squadron activated after 3 May 2002, being engaged in the Global War on Terrorism. Its current status is undetermined.
The 779th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron was a provisional United States Air Force unit. Its most recent activation was in 2018 for Operation Inherent Resolve. The squadron was based at Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, and was filled by rotating Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command C-130 wings. The last two units that made up the 779th were the Delaware Air National Guard's 166th Airlift Wing and Air Force Reserve Command's 908th Airlift Wing. The squadron was redesignated as the 61st Expeditionary Airlift Squadron on November 2, 2021. It has also been activated for contingency operations at Ramstein Air Base.
The 464th Troop Carrier Group was a theater airlift unit of the United States Air Force during the Cold War. It served in the United States under Tactical Air Command between 1953 and 1957. The group operated Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar and Fairchild C-123 Provider aircraft as the flying element of the 464th Troop Carrier Wing until being inactivated when the wing was reorganized.
The 772nd Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit, assigned to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed. Its most recent known deployment was with the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan prior to the United States withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The United States Air Force's 463rd Operations Group was a tactical airlift unit last stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. It was inactivated on 1 October 1993.
The 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. The squadron provides airlift to forces engaged in the War in Afghanistan.
The 775th Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 1st Air Commando Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida in July 1964.
The 355th Tactical Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with 906th Tactical Airlift Group stationed at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base, Ohio. It was inactivated on 1 July 1982.
The 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit, assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed. It engaged in combat operations in Southwest Asia.
The 347th Tactical Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force squadron that was last assigned to the 516th Tactical Airlift Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas where it was inactivated in June 1972.
The 330th Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last active briefly as the 330th Airlift Flight, a personnel airlift unit, in 1993. The squadron was first activated in 1944 as the 9th Combat Cargo Squadron. The squadron was activated in India and served in combat in India and Burma. In October 1945, the squadron was redesignated the 330th Troop Carrier Squadron and moved to Shanghai, China, where it inactivated in April 1946.
References
Notes
Explanatory notes
↑ Approved 9 July 1959. Description: On a white disc edged Air Force blue, a white cloud formation issuing from base, edged Air Force blue; issuing from cloud and radiating to chief, three Air Force golden yellow lighting flashes edged gold brown, two in dexter, one in sinister; all surmounted buy a red lion rampant, outlines and details black, wearing an Air Force golden yellow crown, outlines and details golden brown.
↑ Aircraft is Fairchild C-123B-FA Provider, Serial 56-4367. This plane belly-landed at Tau Tieng after being hit by small arms fire on 26 November 1966. The photo identification states it was taken during a training exercise in April 1966, but the lack of camouflage, command emblem on the tail and identification as an aircraft of the 464th Wing all indicate it was taken much earlier.
↑ Haulman gives the number of evacuees at 1200. Haulman, p. 58.
↑ Haulman's total rescued from Paulis is 520, although it is not clear that the wing participated in more than 270 of these rescues. Haulman, p. 58.
↑ The original destination of the force had been Ramey, with an airdrop north of San Isidro. These plans were changed after the force was already in the air. Greenberg, p. 38.
↑ This included other troop carrier units. President Lyndon Johnson had directed that all USAF forces not supporting the war in Southeast Asia be made available to support the operation. Greenberg, p. 44.
Futrell, Robert F.; Blumenson, Martin (1980). The Advisory Years to 1965(PDF). The United States Air Force in Southeast Asia. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. LCCN80-24547. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
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