41st Airlift Squadron | |
---|---|
Active | 1942–1949; 1952–1971; 1971–present |
Country | United States |
Branch | United States Air Force |
Role | Airlift |
Part of | Air Mobility Command |
Garrison/HQ | Little Rock Air Force Base |
Nickname(s) | Blackcats [1] |
Engagements | Southwest Pacific Theater Operation Just Cause Desert Storm Global War on Terror [2] |
Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Meritorious Unit Award Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm [2] |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Alfred G. Hansen |
Insignia | |
41st Airlift Squadron emblem (17 August 2007) [2] |
The 41st Airlift Squadron is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command's 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. It operates Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. [1]
The 41st AS became Air Mobility Command's first active-duty C-130J combat unit during 2007. [3]
The squadron was constituted as 41 Transport Squadron on 2 Feb 1942. Activated on 18 Feb 1942 at Duncan Field, Texas. Redesignated as: 41 Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942. [2] The 41st participated in airborne drops on Nadzab, Noemfoor, Tagaytay, Corregidor, and Aparri, as well as aerial transportation in South, Southwest, and Western Pacific, during World War II. [2]
While stationed at the Hollandia Airfield Complex, the squadron rebuilt a captured Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar fighter. [4]
Redesignated 41 Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy, on 30 June 1948 and participated in the Berlin Airlift in 1948. [2] The 41st was inactivated on 14 Sep 1949. [2]
Redesignated as 41 Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium, on 3 July 1952 and activated on 14 July 1952. The 41st transported United Nations troops to the Congo in 1960, Redesignated as: 41 Troop Carrier Squadron on 8 Dec 1965. Airlifted personnel and equipment to Southeast Asia from Ryukyu Islands from, 1965–1971. The 41 Troop Carrier Squadron was renamed 41 Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 August 1967. Supported airlift operations in Korea during Pueblo crisis in January 1968. [2]
The squadron was inactivated on 28 February 1971. Activated on 31 August 1971. It has supported U.S. Army training and performed rotational duty throughout Europe, since 1971. The 41st airlifted personnel, special forces and supplies during operations in Grenada in 1983, Panama from December 1989 – January 1990, and in Southwest Asia from, 11 August 1990 – 21 March 1991. [2] Redesignated as the 41st Airlift Squadron on 1 January 1992. [2]
The 'Blackcats' received their first on 13 March 2007, this marked the start of the squadron's replacement of their elderly C-130H Hercules transporters. [5]
On 26 July 2019, the 41st Airlift Squadron was awarded the 2018 General Joseph Smith Trophy for being the most outstanding airlift squadron in Air Mobility Command for 2018. The squadron led the largest wing exercises in a decade, delivered the most prevalent overseas airdrop in five years, and had the Air Force's lowest C-130J mishap rate for eight years. [6]
The 374th Airlift Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to Fifth Air Force. It is stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan. It is part of Pacific Air Forces. The 374th Airlift Wing is the only airlift wing in PACAF and provides airlift support to all Department of Defense agencies in the Pacific theater of operation. It also provides transport for people and equipment throughout the Kantō Plain and the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The 316th Wing is an active wing of the United States Air Force. It is the host wing at Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Maryland. As host wing, the 316 WG operates, administers and maintains the base. The 316th Wing was activated on June 11, 2020, becoming the host wing for JBA and taking on the Airmen and units of the 11th Wing.
The 40th Airlift Squadron is a United States Air Force unit based at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. It currently flies the Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules aircraft. Nicknamed the Screaming Eagles, it is a decorated airlift unit in the U.S. Air Force, with several Meritorious Unit Award, six Campaign Streamers, a Service Streamer, and an Armed Forces Expeditionary Streamer.
The 50th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the US Air Force, assigned to the 6th Operations Group, 6th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It operates the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The 317th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force unit, stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas. Assigned to Air Mobility Command (AMC) Eighteenth Air Force, the 317 AW operates as a tenant unit at Dyess AFB, an installation under the control of the 7th Bomb Wing of the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC).
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 1st, 2008.
The 403rd Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command. It is located at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi and employs a military manning authorization of more than 1,400 reservists, including some 250 full-time air reserve technicians. The 403rd Wing is a subordinate unit of the 22nd Air Force at Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
The 302d Airlift Wing is an Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to Twenty-Second Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, stationed at Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado.
The 314th Airlift Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force based at Little Rock Air Force Base in Little Rock, Arkansas. Its mission is to carry out Lockheed C-130 Hercules combat airlift training.
The 64th Flying Training Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, where it conducted pilot training for twenty-five years before it was inactivated in September 1997.
The 513th Air Control Group is an Air Reserve Component unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, and is stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
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 36th Airlift Squadron is an airlift squadron of the United States Air Force. It is part of the 374th Operations Group at Yokota Air Base, Japan.
The 37th Airlift Squadron is part of the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It operates Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules aircraft providing theater airlift.
The 357th Airlift Squadron is a Tactical Airlift unit of the United States Air Force assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command and part of the 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. It operates Lockheed C-130H Hercules aircraft providing global airlift. The 357th AS operates (8) C-130H2 aircraft that were built in the 1990s, which utilize Flight Engineers and Navigators, along with the crew complement of Pilots and Loadmasters.
The 18th Air Refueling Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 931st Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. It operates the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions. If mobilized the squadron would be gained by Air Mobility Command.
The 38th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 86th Operations Group at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, where it was inactivated on 15 September 2010.
The 94th Operations Group is the flying component of the 94th Airlift Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Reserve. The group is stationed at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia.
The 314th Operations Group is the flying component of the Air Education and Training Command 314th Airlift Wing, stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas.
The 317th Operations Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last stationed at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina as part of Air Mobility Command. It was activated in 1992 during the Air Force's Objective Wing reorganization, and inactivated the following year when all Air Force units at Pope were assigned to the 23d Wing.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.