304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron

The 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 13th Air Expeditionary Group, based at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron
Squadron C-17 Globemaster III on the ice runway at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, 21 November 2011.
Active1943–1946; 1949–1951; 1952–1955; 1957–1974; 2003–2004; 2005–2006; 2007–present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleAirlift
Part ofAir Mobility Command
EngagementsMediterranean Theater of Operations
European Theater of Operations[1]
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation[1] Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Insignia
304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron emblem[note 1][1]

Mission

The 304th operates the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter in support of Joint Task Force-Support Forces Antarctica (JTF-SFA). The squadron provides the bulk of the air resupply between New Zealand and Antarctica. It also provides intercontinental transport of personnel and cargo to and from the United States.

The squadron consists of aircraft and personnel deployed to New Zealand from the 62d and 446th Airlift Wing at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

History

World War II

The squadron was first activated as the 304th Troop Carrier Squadron in September 1943 under I Troop Carrier Command and equipped with Douglas C-47 Skytrains. It trained in various parts of the eastern United States until early 1944. The squadron deployed to England and became part of IX Troop Carrier Command.

The unit prepared for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. It began operations by dropping paratroops of the 101st Airborne Division in Normandy on D-Day on 6 June 1944 and releasing gliders with reinforcements on the following day. The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation and a French citation for these missions. After the Normandy invasion the squadron ferried supplies in the United Kingdom.

After moving to France in September, the unit dropped paratroops of the 82nd Airborne Division near Nijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during 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.

When the Allies made the air assault across the Rhine River in March 1945, each aircraft of the squadron towed two gliders with troops of the 17th Airborne Division and released them near Wesel. 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 converted from C-47s to Curtiss C-46 Commandos and used the new aircraft to transport displaced persons from Germany to France and Belgium after V-E Day. It was inactivated in Germany in September 1946.

Reserve and mobilization for the Korean War

Postwar the squadron was activated in the air force reserve in 1949 at Fairfax Field, Kansas, operating Curtiss C-46 Commandos. It was called to active duty and activated during the Korean War in 1951. Its aircraft and personnel were used as fillers for active duty units, and the squadron was inactivated.

Reactivation in the reserve

The unit reformed in the reserve in 1952, moving to Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base near Kansas City in 1955. Conducted routine reserve training operating Douglas C-124 Globemaster IIs flying worldwide transport missions beginning in 1961. The squadron was called to active duty due to the Berlin Crisis of 1961, but returned to reserve service in the late summer of 1962.

304th Tactical Airlift Squadron C-130 Hercules[note 2]

The squadron converted to the Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft on 27 October 1971. It routinely flew airlift support missions to the Pacific region and Southeast Asia from 1964 until 1972. It was inactivated on 30 June 1974 when personnel and equipment was merged into the 303d Tactical Airlift Squadron.

Awards and decorations

Lineage
  • Constituted as the 304th Troop Carrier Squadron on 25 May 1943
Activated on 1 September 1943
Inactivated on 30 September 1946
  • Redesignated 304th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium' on 10 May 1949
Activated in the reserve on 27 June 1949
Ordered into active service on 10 March 1951
Inactivated on 12 March 1951
  • Activated in the reserve on 15 June 1952
Inactivated on 26 July 1955
  • Activated in the reserve on 16 November 1957
Redesignated 304th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 8 May 1961
Ordered into active service on 1 Oct 1961
Relieved from active duty on 27 August 1962[2]
Redesignated 304th Air Transport Squadron, Heavy on 1 December 1965
Redesignated 304th Military Airlift Squadron on 1 January 1966
Inactivated on 30 June 1974
  • Redesignated 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron and converted to provisional status on 27 March 2003
Activated on 15 August 2003
Inactivated on 1 March 2004
Activated on 15 August 2004
Inactivated on 28 February 2005
Activated 29 July 2005
Inactivated c. 28 February 2006
Activated 2007

Assignments
  • 442d Troop Carrier Group, 1 September 1943 – 30 September 1946
  • 442d Troop Carrier Group, 27 June 1949 – 12 March 1951
  • 442d Troop Carrier Group, 15 June 1952 – 26 July 1955
  • 442d Troop Carrier Group, 16 November 1957
  • 442d Troop Carrier Wing, 14 April 1959
  • 936th Troop Carrier Group (later 936th Air Transport Group, 936th Military Airlift Group, 936th Tactical Airlift Group), 17 January 1963 – 30 June 1974[2]
  • Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate at any time after 27 Mar 2003
500th Air Expeditionary Group, 15 August 2003 – 1 March 2004
Attached to 715th Air Mobility Operations Group, 15 August 2004 – 28 February 2005
500th Air Expeditionary Group, 29 July 2005 – c. 28 February 2006
Attached to: 13th Air Expeditionary Group, 1 October 2007

Stations

Aircraft

References

Notes
Explanatory notes
  1. Approved 6 August 1962.
  2. Aircraft is Lockheed C-130A-55-LM Hercules, serial 57-522 at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, Missouri in 1974.
Citations
  1. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 368-369
  2. Lineage information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 368-369.
  3. Station number in Anderson, p. 33.
  4. Station number in Anderson, p. 30.
  5. Station number in Johnson, p. 79.
  6. Station number in Johnson, p. 28.
  7. Station number in Johnson, p. 41.
  8. Station information through May 1963 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 368-369, except as noted.

Bibliography
  • Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  • Cantwell, Gerald T. (1997). Citizen Airmen: a History of the Air Force Reserve, 1946-1994 (PDF). Air Force Reserve Command. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  • Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
  • Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
  • Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
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