World War II The
776th Bombardment Squadron was activated on 1 August 1943 at
Wendover Field, Utah as a
Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment unit. The
squadron was one of the
464th Bombardment Group's four original squadrons, After gathering its initial
cadre, the squadron moved to
Gowen Field, Idaho for training with
II Bomber Command. After training in Idaho and Utah, the squadron began its move to the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations in February 1944. The 776th deployed to southern Italy in February 1944, where it became part of
Fifteenth Air Force's
55th Bombardment Wing. The air echelon trained for a few weeks in Tunisia before joining the remainder of the group in Italy and entering combat in April. The squadron sometimes engaged in
air support and
air interdiction operations. It supported Allied forces during
Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, in August 1944. It hit railroad centers to assist the advance of the
Red Army in southeastern Europe in March 1945. It bombed enemy supply lines to assist
Operation Grapeshot, the advance of the
US Fifth and
British Eighth Army in northern Italy in April 1945. The unit provided tactical airlift of troops and cargo, participated in joint airborne training with Army forces, and took part in tactical exercises in the United States and overseas. The squadron provided aeromedical airlift and flew humanitarian missions as required.
C-130 Hercules operations In 1964, the
Simba rebellion began in the Congo and rebels gained control of large areas of the eastern part of the country, including
Stanleyville and the United States
consulate there, taking several
State Department employees and others captive. The United States set up a Joint Task Force, which included four C-130s of the 464th Wing to rescue State Department employees in Stanleyville. The Wing's commitment increased to 14 aircraft with the development of an expanded rescue plan called
Operation Dragon Rouge. These aircraft, some from the 776th Squadron, were on rotation duty with the
322d Air Division at
Evreux Air Base, France and were conveniently located to airlift Belgian forces. The wing dropped Belgian paratroops into Stanleyville, and after the runways were cleared, landed additional troops at
Simi-Simi Airport. Once the city was secured, the C-130s began shuttling refugees out of the city, under fire as they departed, and with 100 passengers on each plane. Five aircraft were damaged as 2,000 refugees were evacuated. An additional 500–1000 were evacuated from
Paulis in a follow-on operation, although not all hostages could be rescued and a number were executed by the Simba rebels. The 464th Wing received the
Mackay Trophy for this operation. In April 1965, the United States decided to deploy troops to the Dominican Republic following the start of a
civil war there. on 30 April, the wing airlanded the 3rd Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division at
San Isidro Air Base. The 46 aircraft dispatched to San Isidro so overcrowded the field that many were unable to unload and some had to be diverted to
Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico. The following day, "an air bridge was established between Pope and San Isidro . . . with a transport . . . landing on an average . . . once every five minutes." In late May, the operation in the Dominican Republic came under the aegis of the
Organization of American States and American planes flew in the first Latin American troops.
Pacific Air Forces While the squadron supported
Operation Power Pack, it was also rotating crews for missions in Southeast Asia. It moved to
Tachikawa Air Base, Japan on 26 December 1965 to augment the airlift operations of the
315th Air Division, the manager of airlift operations for
Pacific Air Forces. At the end of March 1966, it was assigned to the
314th Troop Carrier Wing and joined the wing at
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan on 1 April. In 1973 it participated in the Battle of An Loc, Republic of Vietnam (Easter Airlift). Squadron detachments operated From Tan Son Nhut,
U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield, and
Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Navy Base, Thailand. On 28 January 1973 a crew from the squadron and a crew from the
345th Tactical Airlift Squadron flew into
Hanoi to bring a North Vietnamese delegation back to Tan Son Nhut Airport near Saigon. In November 1973, the 374th Wing and the squadron moved to
Clark Air Base in the Philippines. As
Saigon fell in April 1975, the squadron airlifted Vietnamese orphans from the city during
Operation Baby Lift. On 29 April 1975 a C-130 with a crew from the 776th was hit by rocket/mortar fire, causing the aircraft to catch fire while taxiing to pick up passengers for evacuation. This event essentially ended the fixed wing air evacuation. The crew evacuated the aircraft and joined the only other plane at the airport, flown by a
21st Tactical Airlift Squadron aircrew. This departing flight was the last fixed wing aircraft to leave carrying refugees out of Tan Son Nhut as Saigon was being overrun by the North Vietnamese. The squadron was inactivated in July 1975.
Twenty-first century The squadrons was activated as a C-130 Hercules airlift unit in 2002. The squadron has participated in the
War in Afghanistan (2001-2021) and the
Iraq War (U.S. involvement phase, 2003-10). ==Lineage==