World War II The
squadron was activated at
Ephrata Army Air Base as the
815th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 20 September 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the
483d Bombardment Group. In November, the squadron moved to
MacDill Field, Florida, where it trained with
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses under
Third Air Force. The 815th deployed to the
Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it became part of
Fifteenth Air Force at
Sterparone Airfield in Southern Italy. It began operations in April 1944 with an attack on a cement factory in
Split, Yugoslavia. The squadron engaged in long-range strategic bombardment of enemy military, industrial and transport targets, including factories,
oil refineries,
marshalling yards, airfields, and troop concentrations in Italy, France. Southern Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans. The squadron received a
Distinguished Unit Citation for combat action two months later. On 18 July 1944 the squadron, along with the other elements of the 483d Group, bombed the objective, an
airfield and installations at
Memmingen, engaging numerous enemy aircraft in the target area despite a lack of cover from its planned fighter escort. It received a second citation for braving
fighter assaults and
flak to bomb tank factories at
Berlin on 24 March 1945. In its place, the Air Force activated the
483d Troop Carrier Wing. The 815th was activated as the
815th Troop Carrier Squadron and absorbed the mission, personnel and
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars of the
63d Troop Carrier Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated. In June 1953, the squadron, along with the other squadrons of the 483d Wing airlifted the
187th Regimental Combat Team from Japan to Korea, to prevent a breakthrough by North Korean and Chinese Communist forces before an armistice agreement could be signed. On 6 August 2010 the Air Force activated the
345th Airlift Squadron, an associate squadron composed of active duty personnel, at Keesler and integrated its members in operations of the 815th. On 21 March 2013, the 403rd Wing announced that its C-130J aircraft would be redeploying to
Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, beginning in October 2013 in preparation for inactivation of the 815th. The transfer was delayed in early 2014 because of pending plans to shut down the airlift wing at Pope and the inactivation of the 815th itself delayed on 28 July, then cancelled. ==Lineage==