Origins Prior to the early 1930s, transport aircraft in the
Air Corps had been assigned to air depots and to service squadrons, although provisional transport squadrons had been formed for special projects. By 1932 Major Hugh J. Kerr, Chief of the Field Service Section of the
Materiel Division, proposed the formation of a transport squadron at each air depot to act as a
cadre for the transport wing the Air Corps proposed to support a field army in the event of mobilization. Major General
Benjamin Foulois approved the formation of four provisional squadrons in November 1932. On 1 October 1933 the
1st Provisional Transport Squadron was constituted. However, there were no funds to equip or pay personnel for the unit, which remained inactive. It was authorized to partially activate in 1935 at the
Fairfield Air Depot, Dayton, Ohio in March 1935. The squadron was given a permanent designation as the 1st Transport Squadron in June and fully activated on 15 July 1935 with
Bellanca C-27 Airbus aircraft assigned. With enlisted men as pilots, the squadron hauled engines, parts, and other equipment to airfields in their assigned depot area, returned items to the depot, and transferred materiel between depots. They also furnished transportation for
maneuvers. The rapid transport of supplies by the squadrons permitted the Air Corps to maintain low levels of materiel at its airfields, relying on replenishment from depot stocks only when needed.
World War II After the
Pearl Harbor Attack and the entry into
World War II, in April 1942, its parent 10th TG was reassigned to the Air Transport Command (later
I Troop Carrier Command) (I TCC). The 1st, now redesignated as the
1st Troop Carrier Squadron became an Operational Training Unit and converted to
Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports. It moved to General Billy Mitchell Field, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it joined the
5th Troop Carrier Squadron carrying out operations and transition training for pilots. In September the 10th transferred to Pope Field, North Carolina, where it continued to be a training squadron for I TCC. In February 1943, the group's 1st and
2d Troop Carrier Squadrons deployed to the CBI Theater and were assigned to Tenth Air Force. With the squadron's return to Tenth Air Force control, it began combat operations, primarily supporting American and British forces in Burma. The squadron was active carrying commandos who would parachute at low altitude behind enemy lines, and perform their mission. Frequently, the squadron would locate small groups of men in camouflaged areas and drop resupply containers out of the door of the aircraft, usually flying at low level with the aircraft vulnerable to enemy ground weapons fire. In late April 1944 the squadron supported the Allied attack on Myitkyina Airfield in northern Burma. The squadron flew paratroopers and also towed in CG-4A Waco gliders to the airfield during the battle; later moving in combat engineers and equipment to prepare the captured airfield to land reinforcements. After the battle ended the squadron continued its combat operations, transporting Allied troops, evacuating wounded personnel, and hauling supplies and material, including gasoline, oil, signal and engineering equipment, medicine rations, and ammunition. The squadron's missions were concerned primarily with support for Allied forces that were driving southward through Burma, but the 1st also made flights to China. The squadron was reassigned to
Fourteenth Air Force in January and moved to China in August 1945, and received a
Distinguished Unit Citation for transporting a Chinese army of more than 30,000 men from Chihkiang to Nanking in September 1945. The squadron returned to the US in December and inactivated on 18 December 1945. With its assignment to
Strategic Air Command (SAC) in March 1946, it was decided to convert the 509th into a bombardment group. The 1st Air Transport Unit assumed the mission of the 509th's
320th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was inactivated. The 509th was redesignated as the 509th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy. The 1st continued the logistics support and special air transport mission of the inactivated 320th. In November 1946 the 58th Bomb Wing was assigned to
Eighth Air Force and the 1st was also assigned directly to headquarters, Eighth Air Force. Little less than a year later, the unit moved to
Fort Worth Army Air Field, headquarters of Eighth Air Force. In early 1949 the unit participated in Operation Scordo, In this operation the unit transported support personnel and equipment to the four bases in Hawaii, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and the Azores, that were used by the
Boeing KB-29 tankers that supported the first non-stop flight around the world by the
Boeing B-50 Superfortress "Lucky Lady II". For this operation the unit received a commendation from the Secretary of the Air Force. It provided similar support for the first deployment of jet fighters from the United States across the Atlantic to Germany. During the postwar years and through the 1950s the squadron carried much classified equipment and personnel to various locations around the world. It was upgraded first to C-97 Stratofreighters in 1949 operating 12 of that type. In 1951 C-124 Globemaster IIs replaced the C-97s, the first C-124A arriving at Biggs on 18 January 1951. It was inactivated on 15 January 1959 when SAC got out of the transport business and the 97th Bomb Wing was transferred from Biggs to
Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas.
Consolidation On 15 January 1985, the
Air Force Historical Research Agency consolidated these three units, and designated it as the 971st Airborne Warning and Control Squadron. The 971st was never activated and remains in an inactive status. ==Lineage==