The 6th Airlift Squadron is part of the

305th Air Mobility Wing The 305th Air Mobility Wing is a United States Air Force strategic airlift and air refueling wing under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command. It generates, mobilizes and deploys C-17 Globemaster III and KC-10 Extender aircraft. ...

at the

McGuire AFB McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the ju ...

section of

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

, New Jersey. It operates the

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft that was developed for the United States Air Force (USAF) from the 1980s to the early 1990s by McDonnell Douglas. The C-17 carries forward the name of two ...

supporting the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air 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 of the United States Army Signal ...

global reach mission worldwide. The main base and the flying squadron are located near the borough of

Wrightstown, New Jersey Wrightstown is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the borough's population was 802

Mission

Train and equip

aircrews for global airland operations.

History

World War II

The squadron was constituted in a major

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

reorganization of October 1933. Still, it was not activated until 1939, shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

had begun in Europe and the Air Corps began to expand. The squadron was allotted to the

Fourth Corps Area A Corps area was a geographically-based organizational structure (military district) of the United States Army used to accomplish administrative, training and tactical tasks from 1920 to 1942. Each corps area included divisions of the Regular Army ...

and partly organized by July 1934 with reserve personnel at

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population o ...

, Louisiana, and assigned to the 2d Transport Group. On 5 June 1936, the unit was allotted to the

Fifth Corps Area The Fifth Corps Area was a military district of the United States Army from 1920-21 to the Second World War. The Fifth Corps Area included the states of Indiana, Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Eventually it became Fifth Service Command on 22 Jul ...

and again organized with reserve personnel at

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

by August 1937. All reserve personnel were withdrawn from the squadron in October 1939.Clay, p. 1374 The squadron was activated on 14 October 1939 at

Olmsted Field Harrisburg Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base, located at Harrisburg International Airport, Pennsylvania. It is located west-southwest of Middletown, Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Air National Guard facility is site ...

, Pennsylvania, and assigned to the 10th Transport Group. Relieved from the 10th Transport Group on 1 December 1940 and assigned to the

60th Transport Group The 60th Operations Group (60 OG) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the 60th Air Mobility Wing. It is stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California. Established prior to World War II, its predecessor unit, the 60th Transport (later ...

. Relieved from the 60th Transport Group on 19 May 1941 and assigned to the 61st Transport Group. The squadron made airlift history during World War II when, in October 1942, it moved to

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...

, New Guinea. Then flying

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

s, the 6th became the first personnel transport squadron to fly in the Pacific. During this assignment, the squadron earned the nickname Bully Beef Express, as it carried tons of boiled beef to allied combat troops in Australia and New Guinea. The French called it "bouilli boeuf, " The term's Americanized version has continued to be the squadron's emblem. The 6th performed aerial transportation in the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

and

Southwest Pacific Theater The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia and its mandate Territory of ...

during

and in the Far East during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and after until 1968.

Strategic airlift

It has performed worldwide airlift operations since April 1970. The 6th conducted resupply missions in support of scientific stations in the Antarctic during

Operation Deep Freeze Operation Deep Freeze (OpDFrz or ODF) is codename for a series of United States missions to Antarctica, beginning with "Operation Deep Freeze I" in 1955–56, followed by "Operation Deep Freeze II", "Operation Deep Freeze III", and so on. (There w ...

from 1971 to 1974. It resupplied Israel during the 1973

Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...

. It evacuated Vietnamese

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s during the

fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Saigon, the capital of ...

in April through June 1975. It also supported U.S. forces in Grenada from October to December 1983, the invasion of Panama from December 1989 to January 1990, and the liberation of Kuwait from August 1990 to March 1991.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 6th Transport Squadron on 1 October 1933 : Organized with reserve personnel by July 1934 (remained inactive) : Activated on 14 October 1939 : Redesignated 6th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942 : Redesignated 6th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 21 May 1948 : Redesignated 6th Military Airlift Squadron on 8 January 1966 : Discontinued and inactivated on 8 June 1968 * Activated on 8 April 1970 : Redesignated 6th Airlift Squadron on 1 November 1991Lineage information, including assignments and stations, in Kane, except as noted.

Assignments

* 2d Transport Group, 1 October 1933 (in inactive status) * 10th Transport Group, 14 October 1939 * 60th Transport Group, 1 December 1940 * 61st Transport Group, 19 May 1941 * 315th Transport Group, March 1942 *

63d Transport Group The 63d Troop Carrier Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 63d Troop Carrier Wing, Eastern Transport Air Force (MATS), stationed at Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia. It was inactivated on 18 January 196 ...

(later 63d Troop Carrier Group), June 1942 * 374th Troop Carrier Group, 12 November 1942 *

403d Troop Carrier Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, 15 May 1946 * 374th Troop Carrier Group, 15 October 1946 *

1503d Air Transport Wing The 1503rd Air Transport Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Western Transport Air Force of Military Air Transport Service at Tachikawa Air Base, Japan. It was inactivated on 22 June 1964 and its remaining ...

, 18 November 1958 *

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 ...

, 22 June 1964 * 61st Military Airlift Wing, 8 January 1966 – 8 June 1968 *

438th Military Airlift Wing The 438th Air Expeditionary Wing was a United States Air Force unit operating in Afghanistan and assigned to United States Air Forces Central. The wing trained Afghan Air Force members, including pilots. Subordinate units * 438th Air Exped ...

, 8 April 1970 * 438th Military Airlift Group, 1 October 1978 * 438th Military Airlift Wing, 1 June 1980 * 438th Operations Group, 1 November 1991 * 305th Operations Group, 1 October 1994 – present

Stations

* Shreveport, Louisiana, by July 1934 – 5 June 1936 (in inactive status) * Cleveland, Ohio, by August 1937 – 14 October 1939 (in inactive status) * Olmsted Field, Pennsylvania, 14 October 1939 *

Camp Williams Camp W. G. Williams, commonly known as Camp Williams, also known as Army Garrison Camp Williams, is a National Guard training site operated by the Utah National Guard. It is located south of Bluffdale, west of Lehi, and north of Saratoga Spri ...

, Wisconsin, 23 March 1942 *

Dodd Field Dodd Army Airfield was an airfield located within the current boundaries of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Dodd Field includes the area bounded on the north by Rittiman Road, on the west by Harry Wurzbach Memorial Highway, on the south by ...

, Texas, 16–23 September 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, 13 October 1942 *

Garbutt Field RAAF Base Townsville (formerly RAAF Base Garbutt) is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) air base located in , west of Townsville in Queensland, Australia. It is the headquarters for No. 1 Wing Australian Air Force Cadets and, along with L ...

, Australia, 2 October 1943 *

Nadzab Airfield Complex Lae Nadzab Airport is a regional airport located at Nadzab outside Lae, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea along the Highlands Highway. It is served by both private and regional aircraft with domestic flights. The airport replaced the Lae Air ...

, New Guinea, c. 26 August 1944 *

Mokmer Airfield Frans Kaisiepo International Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Internasional Frans Kaisiepo) , is an airport in Biak, Papua, Indonesia. It is also known as Mokmer Airport. The airport is named after Frans Kaisiepo (1921–1979), the fourth Governor of ...

, Biak, Pampa New Guinea, c. 20 October 1944 *

Tacloban Airfield Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport (Waray language, Waray: ''Luparan Daniel Z. Romualdez'', fil, Paliparang Daniel Z. Romualdez; ), also known as Tacloban City Airport, is an airport serving the general area of Tacloban, a highly urbanized city in Leyt ...

, Leyte, c. 12 March 1945 *

Nielson Field Nielson Field (Luzon, the Philippines) was the location of the Far East Air Force headquarters. Most of the aircraft of the FEAF were based at either Clark Field or Nichols Field. The cultural site was an ''Honourable Mention'' in the 2001 UNES ...

, Luzon, 1 January 1946 * Okinawa, 10 June 1946 *

Tachikawa Air Base is an airfield in the city of Tachikawa, the western part of Tokyo, Japan. Currently under the administration of the Ministry of Defense, it has also served as the civil aviation with Japan's first scheduled air service. History Origins Tach ...

, Japan, 13 April 1947 *

Harmon Field Harmon Air Force Base is a former World War II United States Army Air Forces airfield, and postwar United States Air Force Base on Guam in the Mariana Islands. Originally named "Depot Field", it was renamed in honor of Lieutenant General Millard ...

, Guam, 1 December 1947 *

, Japan, 5 March 1949 *

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, 22 June 1964 – 8 June 1968 *

McGuire Air Force Base McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the j ...

, New Jersey, 8 April 1970 – present

Aircraft

Douglas C-33 The Douglas DC-2 is a 14-passenger, twin-engined airliner that was produced by the American company Douglas Aircraft Company starting in 1934. It competed with the Boeing 247. In 1935, Douglas produced a larger version called the DC-3, which bec ...

, 1940–1942 * Douglas C-39, 1940–1942 * Douglas C-53 Skytrooper, 1941–1942 * Douglas C-47 Skytrain, 1942–1945 *

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 ...

, 1945–1947 *

Douglas 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 ...

, 1946–1952 *

Douglas C-124 Globemaster II The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shaky", is an American heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. The C-124 was the primary heavy-lift transport for United States Air Force (USAF ...

, 1952–1968 *

Lockheed C-141 Starlifter The Lockheed C-141 Starlifter is a retired military strategic airlifter that served with the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), its successor organization the Military Airlift Command (MAC), and finally the Air Mobility Command (AMC) of the ...

, 1970–2004 * Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, 2004–present

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst
(Official Web site)
Air Mobility Command
(Official Web site) {{US Air Force navbox 0006 Military units and formations in New Jersey