World War II The
778th 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
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 778th 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 support and
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 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. 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. 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. The squadron continued to perform tactical airlift missions until August 1971 when it was inactivated and its mission, personnel and equipment were absorbed by the
40th Tactical Airlift Squadron, which moved on paper from
Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio.
Expeditionary operations The squadron was redesignated the
778th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, converted to provisional status, and assigned to
Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed. It was activated as a
Lockheed C-130 Hercules airlift squadron as part of the global
war on terrorism. By January 2003, the squadron was flying missions in Afghanistan with crews deployed from
Little Rock Air Force Base. ==Lineage==