The 39th Airlift Squadron is a United States Air Force unit based at

Dyess Air Force Base Dyess Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located about southwest of downtown Abilene, Texas, and west of Fort Worth, Texas. The host unit at Dyess is the 7th Bomb Wing assigned to the Global Strike Command Ei ...

, Texas. The unit flies the Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules. It is primarily tasked to transport cargo and personnel, and where circumstances require, airdrop them. It traces its history to 1942 and fought in the Pacific during the Second World War.

History

The 39th conducted

paratroop A paratrooper is a military parachutist—someone trained to parachute into a military operation, and usually functioning as part of an airborne force. Military parachutists (troops) and parachutes were first used on a large scale during World ...

drops on Noemfoor, Luzon, as well as aerial transport in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II during World War II. The squadron participated in the Berlin Airlift in 1948. It was the squadron that provided disaster relief for the Peruvian earthquake in June 1970 conducting numerous missions to the people of Peru. It was part of airlift missions to

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

, in October 1983, to Panama, December 1989 – January 1990, and to Southwest Asia, August 1990 – March 1991.

Operations

* Operation Desert Storm * Operation Southern Watch *

Operation Iraqi Freedom {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

Operation New Dawn Operation New Dawn may refer to: * Operation New Dawn (Iraq, 2010–2011), the United States Armed Forces' involvement in the Iraq War after August 2010 * Operation New Dawn (Afghanistan), an operation in Trekh Nawa in the summer of 2010 *Second B ...

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used synonymously by the U.S. government for both the War in Afghanistan (2001–2014) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response to the September 11 at ...

Lineage

* Constituted as the 39th Transport Squadron on 2 February 1942 : Activated on 22 February 1942 : Redesignated 39th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942 : Redesignated 39th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy, on 21 May 1948 : Inactivated on 14 September 1949 * Redesignated 39th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 3 July 1952 : Activated on 14 July 1952 : Redesignated 39th Troop Carrier Squadron on 1 March 1966 : Redesignated 39th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 May 1967 : Inactivated on 31 July 1971 * Activated on 31 August 1971 : Redesignated 39th Airlift Squadron on 1 January 1992 : Inactivated on 1 June 1992 * Activated on 1 October 1993

Assignments

317th Transport Group The 317th Operations Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last stationed at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina as part of Air Mobility Command. It was activated in 1992 during the Air Force's Objective Wing reorganization, and ina ...

(later 317th Troop Carrier Group), 22 February 1942 – 14 September 1949 * 317th Troop Carrier Group, 14 July 1952 * 465th Troop Carrier Wing, 12 March 1957 * 317th Troop Carrier Wing, 8 July 1957 * 322d Air Division, 25 September 1958 * 317 Troop Carrier Wing (later 317 Tactical Airlift Wing), 15 April 1963 – 31 July 1971 (attached to Detachment 1, 322d Air Division, February–May 1965;

513th Tactical Airlift Wing The 513th Air Control Group is an Air Reserve Component unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command, and is stationed at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The group's mission is to provi ...

, 13 May–18 July 1968; 7310th Tactical Airlift Wing (15 April–22 July 1969)) * 317th Tactical Airlift Wing, 31 August 1971 (attached to

322d Tactical Airlift Wing The 322d Tactical Airlift Wing is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force History The unit was activated as the 322d Tactical Airlift Wing on 1 January 1970 at Rhein-Main Air Base West Germany, replacing the 7310th Tactical Airlift Wing. ...

, 12 December 1973 – 17 February 1974; 513th Tactical Airlift Wing, 9 July–15 September 1974, 12 July – 14 September 1975;

435th Tactical Airlift Wing The 435th Air Ground Operations Wing is an active unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe. It is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The current commander is Colonel Bryan T. Callahan, who too ...

, 12 April–14 June 1976, 1 October–15 December 1977; 435th Tactical Airlift Group, 4 January–4 March 1977) * 317th Tactical Airlift Group, 1 October 1978 (attached to 313th Tactical Airlift Group, 5 June–14 August 1979) * 317th Tactical Airlift Wing, 1 April 1980 (attached to 313th Tactical Airlift Group, 8 October–13 December 1980, 3 February–14 April 1982, 4 June–13 August 1983, 1 October–12 December 1984, 2 February–15 April 1986), 3 March–15 May 1987, 3 June–10 August 1988, May–11 July 1991) * 317 Operations Group, 1 January–1 June 1992 (attached to 313th Tactical Airlift Group, 3 April–31 May 1992) * 7th Operations Group, 1 October 1993 * 317th Airlift Group, 1 April 1997 – present

Stations

* Duncan Field, Texas, 22 February 1942 *

Bowman Field Bowman Field may refer to: Airports * Bowman Field (Kentucky), an airport in Louisville, Kentucky * Bowman Field (Maine), an airport in Livermore Falls, Maine * Bowman Field (Montana), an airport in Anaconda, Montana * Bowman Municipal Airport, an a ...

, Kentucky, 9 October 1942 * Lawson Field, Georgia, October 1942 * Laurinburg-Maxton Army Air Base, North Carolina, 2–12 December 1942 * Garbutt Field, Queensland, Australia, 22 January 1942 * Archerfield Airport, Queensland, Australia, 22 February 1942 *

Port Moresby Airfield Complex The Port Moresby Airfield Complex was a World War II military airfield complex, built near Port Moresby in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. It was used during the Battle of New Guinea as a base of Allied air operations primarily in 1942 an ...

, New Guinea, 28 September 1943 *

Finschhafen Airfield Finschhafen Airport is a general aviation airport in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. . It is located on the south-east tip of Huon Peninsula at Finschafen. A half mile inland, parallel to Schneider Harbor, with Dregerhaffen to the south-east. ...

, New Guinea, 23 April 1944 * Hollandia Airfield, New Guinea, July 1944 * Leyte, Philippines, 19 November 1944 *

Clark Field Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

, Luzon, Philippines, 28 March 1945 * Okinawa, Ryuku Island, 19 August 1945 *

Fukuoka Air Base , formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Fukuoka Airport is the principal airport on the island of Kyushu and is the fourth busiest passenge ...

, Japan, 11 November 1945 * Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, 15 January 1946 *

Yamoto Air Base Yamoto may refer to: * Yamoto Station, a JR East railway station in Higashi-Matsushima, Miyagi, Japan * Yamoto Tamura (born 1979), Japanese national champion figure skater * Yamoto River, one of the rivers that forms the Tsurumi River in Japan * Th ...

, Japan, 17 July 1946 * Carelus Army Air Field, Japan, 6 September 1946 * Tachikawa Air Base, Japan, 16 October 1946 – 21 September 1948 * Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany, 30 September 1948 * RAF Celle, Germany, 23 December 1948 – 14 September 1949 * Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany, Germany, 14 July 1952 * Neubiberg Air Base, Germany, 23 March 1953 * Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, 24 June 1956 – 20 June 1964 * Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, 20 June 1964 – 31 July 1971 :: Deployed to Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, February–May 1965; RAF Mildenhall, England, 13 May-18 July 1968; Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany (15 April-22 July 1969) * Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, 31 August 1971 – 1 June 1992 :: Deployed to Rhein-Main Air Base, Germany , 12 December 1973 – 17 February 1974, 12 April–14 June 1976, 1 October–15 December 1977; RAF Mildenhall, England, 12 July–14 September 1975, 4 January–4 March 1977, 5 June–14 August 1979, 8 October–13 December 1980, 3 February–14 April 1982, 4 June–13 August 1983, 1 October–12 December 1984, 2 February–15 April 1986, 3 March–15 May 1987, 3 June–10 August 1988, May–11 July 1991, 3 April–31 May 1992) *

, Texas, 1 October 1993 – present

Aircraft

* Douglas C-47 Skytrain (1942–1946) *

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

(1946–1948) * Douglas C-54 Skymaster (1946–1949) * Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar (1952–1958) * Lockheed C-130 Hercules (1958–1971, 1971 – Present)

Notes

Bibliography

* * *

External links

{{US Air Force navbox Military units and formations in Texas

039 39 may refer to: * 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 * one of the years: ** 39 BC ** AD 39 ** 1939 ** 2039 * ''39'' (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa * "'39", a 1975 song by Queen * "Thirty Nine", a song ...