The 9th Airlift Squadron is a unit of 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 ...

, part of the

436th Airlift Wing The 436th Airlift Wing is an active United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force, and is based at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Known as the "Eagle Wing", the 436th consists of the operations, ...

Air Mobility Command Air Mobility Command (AMC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the U.S. Air Force. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, Missouri. Air Mobility Command was established on 1 June 1992, and was formed from elements ...

based at

Dover Air Force Base Dover Air Force Base or Dover AFB is a United States Air Force base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), located southeast of the city of Dover, Delaware. 436th AW is the host wing and runs the busiest and largest a ...

, Delaware. It operates C-5M Galaxy aircraft supporting the

global reach mission worldwide. The mission is to provide services and support which promote quality of life and project global power through combat-proven airlift and

airdrop An airdrop is a type of airlift in which items including weapons, equipment, humanitarian aid or leaflets are delivered by military or civilian aircraft without their landing. Developed during World War II to resupply otherwise inaccessible tro ...

Mission

The 9th Airlift Squadron provides worldwide airlift to meet

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nati ...

and Presidential mobility requirements.

History

World War II

Constituted 9th Transport Squadron on 1 January 1938. Activated on 1 December 1940 at Patterson Field, OH with C-34. Moved to Brookley Field, AL, 18 September 1941, then to Camp Williams, WI, 24 May 1942. Redesignated 9th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942. Relocated to Dodd Field, TX, c. 18 Sep 1942; Stuttgart, AR, 11 Nov 1942; Victorville, CA, 18 December 1942; Ft Sumner AAFld, NM, 4 Mar 1943; Lawson Field, GA, 7 May 1943; Grenada AAFld, MS, c. 3 Jun 1943-17 Jan 1944; Hickam Field, TH, 21 Feb 1944; Abemama Island, 27 Mar 1944; Saipan, 4 Aug 1944; Guam, Jul-15 Oct 1946. The squadron provided aerial transportation in Central, Western, and Southwestern Pacific, during World War II. Inactivated on 15 October 1946. Redesignated 9th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium, on 10 May 1949. Activated in the Reserve on 27 Jun 1949 at Floyd Bennett NAS, NY, 27 June 1949-9 May 1951. Moved to Altus AFB, OK, 20 June 1953, with

C-124 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 ...

. The 9th conducted replacement training through 1943, and subsequently 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 ...

during

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 ...

Strategic airlift

It has provided worldwide airlift since 1953. The 9th resupplied scientific camps in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest contine ...

from 1959–1961, and 1965–1968. Relocated to

Dover AFB Dover Air Force Base or Dover AFB is a United States Air Force base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), located southeast of the city of Dover, Delaware. 436th AW is the host wing and runs the busiest and largest a ...

, DE, 1 January 1965. Redesignated 9th Military Airlift Squadron on 8 January 1966. It also flew missions to

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

from 1965–1968 with

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 th ...

s, discontinued, and inactivated, on 8 September 1968. Activated on 1 April 1971, with

C-5 Galaxy The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-ran ...

s. Participated in the evacuation of refugees from Southeast Asia in April 1975. The squadron supported operations in

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 ...

, 24 October 1983 – 11 December 1983;

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

, 19 December 1989 – 14 January 1990; and

Southwest Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes Anat ...

, August 1990–July 1991. Redesignated 9th Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991. The last C-5B left the squadron on March 12, 2012. The 9th Airlift Squadron is now a

C-5M Super Galaxy The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-rang ...

exclusive unit.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 9th Transport Squadron on 1 January 1938 : Activated on 1 December 1940 : Redesignated 9th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942 : Inactivated on 15 October 1946 * Redesignated 9th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 10 May 1949 : Activated in the reserve on 27 June 1949 : Ordered to active service on 1 May 1951 : Inactivated on 9 May 1951 * Redesignated 9th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 19 March 1953 : Activated on 20 June 1953 : Discontinued and inactivated on 18 January 1963 * Activated on 13 November 1964 (not organized) : Organized on 1 January 1965 : Redesignated 9th Military Airlift Squadron on 8 January 1966 : Discontinued and inactivated on 8 September 1968 * Activated on 1 April 1971 : Redesignated 9th Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991

Assignments

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), 1 December 1940 *

Seventh Air Force The Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) (7 AF) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The command's mission is to plan and direct air component operations in ...

, 3 February 1944 * VI Air Service Area Command, 25 July 1945 * Army Air Forces, Middle Pacific, 15 December 1945 *

Pacific Air Command, United States Army Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) is a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM). PACAF i ...

, 1 January 1946 * Far East Air Service Command, 9 January 1946 *

54th Troop Carrier Wing The Type 054 (NATO Codename Jiangkai I) is a class of Chinese multi-role frigates that were commissioned in the People's Liberation Army Navy Surface Force in 2005. They superseded the Type 053H3 frigates. Only two ships, ''Ma'anshan'' (525), and ...

, 15 January 1946 *

374th Troop Carrier Group 374th may refer to: *374th Airlift Wing, unit of the United States Air Force assigned to Fifth Air Force, stationed at Yokota Air Base, Japan *374th Fighter Squadron or 171st Air Refueling Squadron, unit of the Michigan Air National Guard's 127th W ...

, c. February 1946 * 54th Troop Carrier Wing, 15 May 1946 *

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 ...

, 31 May–15 October 1946 * 63d Troop Carrier Group, 27 June 1949 – 9 May 1951 * 63d Troop Carrier Group, 20 June 1953 – 18 January 1963 *

Military Air Transport Service The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy's Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) and the United States Air Force's ...

, 13 November 1964 (not organized) *

1607th Air Transport Wing The 1607th Air Transport Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the Eastern Transport Air Force, Military Air Transport Service, stationed at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. It was inactivated on 8 January ...

, 1 January 1965 *

436th Military Airlift Wing The 436th Airlift Wing is an active United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force, and is based at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Known as the "Eagle Wing", the 436th consists of the operations, ...

, 8 January 1966 – 8 September 1968 * 436th Military Airlift Wing, 1 April 1971 *

436th Operations Group The 436th Operations Group is an active United States Air Force unit. It is the flying component of the Eighteenth Air Force 436th Airlift Wing, stationed at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. The unit's World War II predecessor unit, the 436t ...

, 1 December 1991 – present

Stations

Patterson Field Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wri ...

, Ohio, 1 December 1940 *

Brookley Field : ''For the civil use of Brookley AFB after 1969, see: Mobile Downtown Airport'' Brookley Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located in Mobile, Alabama. After it closed in 1969, it became what is now known as the Mobile Aerople ...

, Alabama, 18 September 1941 *

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, 24 May 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, c. 18 September 1942 *

Stuttgart Army Air Field : ''for the airport's World War II history, see Stuttgart Army Airfield (Arkansas), Stuttgart Army Airfield'' Stuttgart Municipal Airport is in Prairie County, Arkansas, Prairie County, Arkansas. It is eight miles north of Stuttgart, Arkansas, St ...

, Arkansas, 11 November 1942 *

Victorville Army Air Field Victorville is a city in Victor Valley in San Bernardino County, California. Its population as of the 2020 census was 134,810. History In 1858, Aaron G. Lane came to what is now known as Victorville and founded a waystation called "Lane's Cro ...

, California, 18 December 1942 * Fort Sumner Army Air Field, New Mexico, 4 March 1943 *

Lawson Field Lawson may refer to: Places Australia * Lawson, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Lawson, New South Wales, a town in the Blue Mountains Canada * Lawson, Saskatchewan * Lawson Island, Nunavut United States * Lawson, Arkansas ...

, Georgia, 7 May 1943 * Grenada Army Air Field, Mississippi, c. 3 June 1943 – 17 January 1944 *

Hickam Field Hickam may refer to: ;Surname *Homer Hickam (born 1943), American author, Vietnam veteran, and a former NASA engineer ** October Sky: The Homer Hickam Story, 1999 American biographical film *Horace Meek Hickam (1885–1934), pioneer airpower advoca ...

, Hawaii, 21 February 1944 *

Abemama Island Abemama (Apamama) is an atoll, one of the Gilberts group in Kiribati, and is located southeast of Tarawa and just north of the Equator. Abemama has an area of and a population of 3,299 . The islets surround a deep lagoon. The eastern part of ...

, 27 March 1944 *

East Field (Saipan) East Field (also known as Kagman Airfield) is a former World War II airfield on Saipan in the Mariana Islands, part of Naval Advance Base Saipan. History Saipan had been occupied by the Japanese since World War I, and by mid-1944, the Americans h ...

, Mariana Islands, 4 August 1944 *

Agana Airfield Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport , also known as Guam International Airport, is an airport located in Tamuning and Barrigada, east of the capital city of Hagåtña (formerly Agana) in the United States territory of Guam. The airport is ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, Marianas Islands, July–15 October 1946 *

Floyd Bennett Naval Air Station Floyd Bennett Field is an airfield in the Marine Park neighborhood of southeast Brooklyn in New York City, along the shore of Jamaica Bay. The airport originally hosted commercial and general aviation traffic before being used as a naval air ...

, New York, 27 June 1949 – 9 May 1951 *

Altus Air Force Base Altus Air Force Base (Altus AFB, AAFB) is a United States Air Force base located approximately east-northeast of Altus, Oklahoma. The host unit at Altus AFB is the 97th Air Mobility Wing (97 AMW), assigned to the Nineteenth Air Force (19 AF) ...

, Oklahoma, 20 June 1953 *

Donaldson Air Force Base Donaldson Air Force Base is a former facility of the United States Air Force located south of Greenville, South Carolina. It was founded in 1942 as Greenville Army Air Base; it was deactivated in 1963 and converted into a civilian airport. It ...

, South Carolina, 15 October 1953 – 18 January 1963 *

, Delaware, 1 January 1965 – 8 September 1968 * Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, 1 April 1971 – 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 ...

(1940–1941) * Douglas C-34 (1940–1941) * Douglas C-39 (1940–1941) *

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 ...

(1942–1946, 1949–1951) * Douglas C-50 (1942) * Douglas C-53 Skytrooper (1942–1943) *

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 ...

(1945–1946) *

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) *

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 ...

(1953–1963, 1965-1966) *

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 ...

(1966–1968) *

Lockheed C-5A Galaxy The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-ran ...

(1971–unknown) * Lockheed C-5B Galaxy (unknown–2012) * Lockheed C-5M Super Galaxy (2009–present)

Operations

Operation Neptune Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

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 ...

Operation Urgent Fury The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, ...

Operation Just Cause Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

* Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn *

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 ...

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{USAAF 7th Air Force World War II 0009 Military units and formations in Delaware