World War II Activated in late 1942 under
I Troop Carrier Command and equipped with
Douglas C-47 Skytrains. Trained in various parts of the eastern United States. Deployed to French Morocco in May 1943 and assigned to
Twelfth Air Force to support combat operations in the
North African Campaign. Remained with Twelfth Air Force, moving to Tunisia and Sicily providing transport and resupply operations as well as casualty evacuation of wounded personnel in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO). Reassigned to
IX Troop Carrier Command in England during early 1944 as part of the build-up of Allied forces prior to the D-Day invasion of France. Began
operations by dropping
82nd Airborne Division paratroops into
Normandy on
D-Day (6 June 1944) and releasing
gliders with reinforcements on the following day. 62d TCS assigned C-47's during the D-Day operations utilized the
E5 fuselage code. 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. 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 dropped paratroops near
Nijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during 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. Moved to Belgium in early 1945, and participated in the Western Allied invasion of Germany, participating in the air assault across the
Rhine River in March 1945, each aircraft towed two gliders with troops of the
17th Airborne Division and released them near
Wesel.
Post-War After V-E Day, became part of the
United States Air Forces in Europe, at
Villacoublay Airfield and was part of the European Air Transport System, supporting the occupation forces in Germany as well as carrying supplies and personnel between various stations in Western Europe. Inactivated in early 1946 while stationed in France.
Tactical Air Command Reactivated as part of
Tactical Air Command (TAC) in 1949 with
Fairchild C-82 Packets and various gliders as an assault squadron.
Korean War Deployed to Japan for combat operations in 1950 for the
Korean War. Furnished airlift between Japan and Korea and airdropped paratroops and supplies at Sukchon/Sunchon and Munsan-ni. was part of airborne assaults on
Sukchon and
Munsan-ni.
Return to United States Returned to the United States in 1954, was equipped by TAC as one of the first
Lockheed C-130 Hercules squadrons when the aircraft came into operational service. The squadron flew airlift from the Philippines into Vietnam, March–May 1965.
Flying Training As the world's largest C-130 Formal Training Unit, the 62nd has conducted initial and advanced Department of Defense and Allied forces Lockheed C-130E/H/J flightcrew training continuously since 1971.
COVID-19 Pandemic Operations In a command initiative to protect Air Force personnel from infection, in 2020 the squadron took on a new task: airlifting Air Education and Training Command students to training locations throughout the U.S. Normally such students take commercial flights.
Campaigns and Decorations • Campaigns. World War II: Sicily; Naples-Foggia; Rome-Arno; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Central Europe. Korea: UN Defensive; UN Offensive; CCF Intervention; First UN Counteroffensive; CCF Spring Offensive; UN Summer-Fall Offensive; Second Korean Winter; Korea Summer-Fall, 1952; Third Korean Winter; Korea, Summer 1953. Vietnam: Vietnam Defensive. • Decorations.
Distinguished Unit Citations: Sicily, 11 July 1943; France, [6–7] Jun 1944; Korea, 28 November-10 Dec 1950.
Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards: 6 May 1953 – 10 September 1954; 11 January-14 Feb 1955; 1 January 1960 – 31 December 1961; 1 September 1962 – 15 April 1963; 1 December 1965 – 30 June 1967; 1 June 1969 – 31 May 1971; 1 January 1975 – 30 June 1976; 1 June 1985 – 31 May 1986; 1 July 1991 – 30 June 1993; 1 July 1993 – 30 June 1995; 1 July 1995 – 31 March 1997; 1 July 1997 – 30 June 1999; 1 July 1999 – 30 June 2001; 1 July 2001 – 30 June 2003; 1 July 2003 – 30 June 2004; 1 July 2005 – 30 June 2006; 1 July 2006 – 30 June 2007; 1 July 2008 – 30 June 2009.
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, 1 July 1951 – 27 July 1953. ==Lineage==