World War II The
779th 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 779th 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
Operation Grapeshot, the advance of the
US Fifth and
British Eighth Army in northern Italy in April 1945.
C-130 operations The squadron was reactivated at Pope on 1 July 1963 as the
464th Troop Carrier Wing began to convert its other squadrons to the
Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft
Expeditionary operations The squadron was converted to provisional status as the
779th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron. It was activated at
Ramstein Air Base, Germany, and inactivated on 15 April 2006. The unit was also active, operating out of Ali Al Salem Air Base, Kuwait, from 2018-2021. The unit's aircrews flew different models of the C-130. ==Lineage==