773rd Airlift Squadron

World War II Training in the United States The squadron was first activated as the 773rd Bombardment Squadron at Geiger Field, Washington on 1 August 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the 463d Bombardment Group. The 773rd moved to Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, where it received its initial cadre. On 1 September, the key personnel of the squadron and 463rd Group moved to Orlando Army Air Base, where they participated in advanced tactical training with the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics. A model crew from the squadron moved to Montbrook Army Air Field to participate in simulated missions with a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The cadre returned to Rapid City at the end of the month, where the ground echelon of the squadron was filled out and ground school begun. The squadron moved to MacDill Field, Florida in November and began flight training with the Flying Fortress, although its air echelon was not fully manned until early December. on 2 February, the squadron's ground echelon departed Florida for the port of embarkation at Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia, for shipment to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, while the air echelon ferried their B-17s via the southern ferry route. The following month, the squadron provided airlift for the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis. provided room for the 773rd and the other operational units of the 463rd Wing to move there. The squadron moved to Sewart in November 1958, In July 1962, TAC established a Combat Crew Training School at Sewart. Starting with a single squadron, by the spring of 1963, the school had expanded to a full wing, the 4442nd Combat Crew Training Wing. As a result of the expansion of the C-130 training unit, the 463rd Wing, including the squadron, moved to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia in July 1963. From Langley, the squadron deployed crews and planes to support the US response during the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in the late summer of 1964. In late April 1965, the squadron participated in Operation Power Pack. Following a military coup in the Dominican Republic, Nineteenth Air Force formed an airlift task force to airlift the 82nd Airborne Division. On 28 and 29 April, the squadron flew C-130s to Pope Air Force Base to join the task force to transport elements of the 82nd Division to San Isidro Air Base. By September, peacekeeping functions had been transferred to Latin American counties' forces and the squadron helped return American forces to the United States. Vietnam War While participating in Power Pack, the squadron was also deploying forces to airlift men and material to Southeast Asia. In November 1965, the 463rd Wing moved to Mactan Island Airfield, in the Philippines to provide this support full time, although the squadron moved to Clark Air Base. The squadron deployed as a unit frequently to Europe, where it came under the operational control of the 513th Tactical Airlift Wing in England or the 322d Tactical Airlift Wing in Germany, and later the 313th Tactical Airlift Group. It also deployed less frequently to the Pacific where it was controlled by the 374th Tactical Airlift Wing. The squadron flew humanitarian missions and participated in exercises. In November 1991, the squadron was assigned to the 463rd Operations Group and redesignated the 773rd Airlift Squadron with the implementation of the Objective Wing organization at Dyess. The squadron was inactivated and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 40th Airlift Squadron on 1 October 1993, when all operational units at Dyess became part of the 7th Wing. Reserve operations On 1 April 1995, the Air Force reactivated the 773rd at Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Station, as part of the 910th Airlift Wing. ==Lineage==

• Constituted as the 773rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 19 May 1943 : Activated on 1 August 1943 : Redesignated 773rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy c. 29 September 1944 : Inactivated on 25 September 1945 • Redesignated 773rd Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 1 December 1952 : Activated on 16 January 1953 : Redesignated: 773rd Troop Carrier Squadron, Assault on 18 December 1961 : Redesignated: 773rd Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 15 May 1965 : Redesignated: 773rd Troop Carrier Squadron on 1 January 1967 : Redesignated: 773rd Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 August 1967 : Inactivated on 31 October 1971 • Activated on 1 June 1972 : Redesignated 773rd Airlift Squadron on 1 November 1991 : Inactivated on 1 October 1993 • Activated in the reserve on 1 April 1995 : Inactivated on 31 March 2014 Assignments • 463rd Bombardment Group, 1 August 1943 – 25 September 1945 • 463rd Troop Carrier Group, 16 January 1953 (attached to 463rd Troop Carrier Wing, 15 November 1954 – 19 May 1955) • 463rd Troop Carrier Wing (later 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing), 25 September 1957 – 31 October 1971 (attached to 315th Air Division, 3 January–6 March 1961) • 463rd Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 June 1972 (attached to 513th Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 June – 8 July 1972; 16 September – 31 October 1972; 3 July – 16 September 1973; 5 May – 17 July 1974; 3 May – 16 July 1975; 3 November 1976 – 15 January 1977; 374th Tactical Airlift Wing, 23 February – 12 March 1973; 322d Tactical Airlift Wing, • 463rd Operations Group, 1 November 1991 – 1 October 1993 • 910th Operations Group, 1 April 1995 – 31 March 2014 Stations • Geiger Field, Washington, 1 August 1943 • Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota, August 1943 • MacDill Field, Florida, 4 November 1943 • Drane Field, Florida, 3 January – 2 February 1944 • Morrison Field, Florida, 11 January – 4 February 1944 • Celone Airfield, Italy, 11 March 1944 • Pomigliano Airfield, Italy, 26 May 1945 • Celone Airfield, Italy, 3–25 September 1945 • Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, 16 January 1953 • Ardmore Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 17 August 1953 • Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, 15 November 1958 (deployed at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, 15 Nov 1954 – 19 May 1955) • Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, 5 July 1963 – November 1965 • Clark Air Base, Philippines, 23 November 1965 – 31 October 1971 • Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, 1 June 1972 – 1 October 1993 :: Deployed to RAF Mildenhall, England, 1 June – 8 July 1972, 16 September – 31 October 1972, 3 July – 16 September 1973, 5 May – 17 July 1974, and 3 May–16 July 1975, 3 November 1976 – 15 January 1977, 19 September – 1 December 1978, 3 February – 5 April 1980, 3 June – 14 August 1981, 3 October – 7 December 1982, 8 February – 10 April 1984, 6 April – 4 June 1985, 9 December 1986 – 3 February 1987, 2 February – 16 April 1988, 2 April–14 June 1989, and 3 June – 14 August 1990); Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan, 23 February – 12 May 1973; Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, 3 February – 9 April 1976, 3 August – 5 October 1977; • Youngstown-Warren Air Reserve Station, Ohio, 1 April 1995 – 31 March 2014 Aircraft • Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943–1945 • Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1953–1957 • Lockheed C-130 Hercules, 1956–1971; 1972–1993; 1995–2014 Awards and campaigns ==See also==