84th Airlift Flight

Activated in May 1943 under I Troop Carrier Command and equipped with Douglas C-47 Skytrains. Trained in various parts of the eastern United States until the end of 1943. Deployed to England and assigned to IX Troop Carrier Command, Ninth Air Force.

Prepared for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. During the Normandy campaign, the group released gliders over Cherbourg Naval Base and carried troops, weapons, ammunition, rations, and other supplies for the 82nd Airborne Division in Operation Neptune.

Deployed to Italy in July 1944 and participated in the Allied invasion of southern France in August 1944 dropping paratroops of the 1st Airborne Task Force.

During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the group released gliders carrying troops and equipment for the airborne attack in the occupied Netherlands. In December 1944, the group re-supplied the 101st Airborne Division in the Bastogne area of Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. After moving to France in February 1945, the unit released gliders in support of an American crossing of the Rhine River called Operation Varsity in March 1945.

Evacuated wounded personnel to rear-zone hospitals. After V-E Day, the group evacuated prisoners of war and displaced persons to relocation centers. Returned to the United States in August 1945, became a transport squadron for Continental Air Command until inactivation in November 1945.

Postwar the squadron was activated in the air force reserve in 1947 at Orchard Place Airport, Illinois, operating C-46 Commandos for Tactical Air Command Eighteenth Air Force.

Became part of Far East Air Forces in 1951 in Japan. Equipped with Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars and engaged in combat operations in the Korean Peninsula. Dropped 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) troops near Munsan-Ni, inactivated in June 1952 as part of a reorganization of airborne troop carrier units in Japan

Returned to reserve status, reactivated at O'Hare International Airport, Illinois in June 1952. Inactivated in November 1957 as a result of the closure of O'Hare to military air traffic.

The squadron was redesignated the 84th Airlift Flight and activated at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado to provide operational support airlift,[1] primarily for senior personnel of Air Force Space Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command. It was inactivated in June 2005 and its mission, personnel and Learjet C-21 aircraft were transferred to the 311th Airlift Squadron, which moved to Peterson on paper from Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.[2][3]

• 437th Troop Carrier Group, 1 May 1943 – 15 November 1945
• Second Air Force, 12 June 1947
• Tenth Air Force, 1 July 1948
• 437th Troop Carrier Group, 27 June 1949 – 10 June 1952
• 437th Troop Carrier Group, 15 June 1952 – 16 November 1957
• 21st Operations Group, 1 November 1993
• 458th Airlift Squadron, 1 Apr 1997 – 15 June 2005[1][3]

• Douglas C-47 Skytrain, 1943–1945, 1947-1949
• Curtiss C-46 Commando, 1949–1950, 1955-1957
• Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1951-1952
• Learjet C-21, 1993-2005[1][3]

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

• 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 yes: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 23, 2016. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
• Cantwell, Gerald T. (1997). Citizen Airmen: a History of the Air Force Reserve, 1946-1994. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program. ISBN 0-16049-269-6. Retrieved December 17, 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 September 29, 2015. Retrieved June 26, 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 December 17, 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. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. Retrieved December 17, 2016.