The 50th Military Airlift Squadron is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

unit. Its last assignment was to the

1502d Air Transport Wing The 1502d Air Transport Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force unit, last assigned to Western Transport Air Force in January 1966. The 1502d ATW was a heavy cargo transport wing of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), formed at ...

, Military Air Transport Service, stationed at

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint ...

, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 8 January 1966.

History

Replaced the 1266th Air Transport Squadron, which had been established in 1949 as a medium transport squadron flying

C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...

s, it transported supplies and personnel in the Pacific between Hawaii and the Philippines and bases in-between. It received long distance

Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter was a long-range heavy military cargo aircraft developed from the B-29 and B-50 bombers. Design work began in 1942, the first of three prototype XC-97s flew on 9 November 1944 (none saw combat), and the first of s ...

s and intercontinental Douglas C-124 Globemaster IIs in the 1950s and was part of the Military Air Transport Service worldwide network of transport units. It flew routes between India and the West Coast of the United States, Alaska and Japan. It was reassigned to the 61st Military Airlift Wing in 1966 when its parent

was inactivated.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 50th Ferrying Squadron (Special) : Activated c. 1 August 1942 * Redesignated 50th Transition Training Squadron on 4 June 1943 : Disbanded on 31 March 1944 * Reconstituted on 20 June 1952 as the 50th Air Transport Squadron, Heavy : Activated on 20 July 1952 : Redesignated 50th Military Airlift Squadron on 8 January 1966 : Inactivated on 22 December 1969

Assignments

* 1st Operational Training Unit, c. 1 August 1942 – 31 March 1944 * 1500th Air Transport Group (later 1502d Air Transport Group), 20 July 1952 * 1502d Air Transport Wing, 1 May 1958 * 61st Military Airlift Wing 8 January 1966 – 22 December 1969 (not operational after 1 December 1969)

Stations

* Rosecrans Field, Missouri, c. 1 August 1942 – 31 March 1944 *

, Hawaii, 20 July 1952 – 22 December 1969Mueller, p. 235

Aircraft

* C-54 Skymaster, 1949–1952 * C-97 Stratofreighter, 1952–1955 * C-124 Globemaster II, 1955–1966

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * {{cite book, last=Ulanoff, first=Stanley M., title=MATS: The Story of the Military Air Transport Service, year=1964, publisher=Franklin Watts, Inc., location=New York, NY, isbn=978-1-19908-768-3 Military units and formations in Hawaii 0050