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The37th Airlift Squadron is part of the86th Airlift Wing atRamstein Air Base, Germany. It operatesLockheed C-130J Super Hercules aircraft providing theater airlift.
ConductsC-130J Super Hercules tacticalairlift,airdrop andaeromedical evacuation operations primarily in Europe and Africa.
Activated in June 1942 underI Troop Carrier Command atPatterson Field, Ohio. Trained at various stationed in the southeast and Texas withDouglas C-47 Skytrain transports. Deployed to Egypt in November 1942 as part ofPresident Roosevelt's decision to aid theRoyal Air ForceWestern Desert Air Force, assigned to the newly establishedNinth Air Force, headquartered inCairo.
Transported supplies and evacuated casualties in support of theBritish Eighth Army, operating from desert airfields in Egypt and Libya. Reassigned in May 1943 to the USAAFTwelfth Air Force in Algeria, supporting Fifth Army forces in the Tunisian Campaign. Began training for the invasion ofSicily; dropped paratroops over the assault area on the night of 9 July. Carried reinforcements to Sicily on 11 July and received a DUC for carrying out that mission although severely attacked by ground and naval forces; dropped paratroops over the beachhead south of the Sele River on the night of 14 September 1943. Remained in theMediterranean Theater of Operations until February 1944 until being reassigned back to Ninth Air Force in England, IX Troop Carrier Command to participate in the buildup of forces prior to the Allied landings in France during D-Day in June 1944.
Engaged in combatoperations by droppingparatroops intoNormandy nearSainte-Mère-Église onD-Day (6 June 1944) and releasinggliders with reinforcements on the following day. 37th TCS assigned C-47's during the D-Day operations utilized theW7 fuselage code.[2] The unit received a thirdDistinguished Unit Citation and a French citation for these missions.
After the Normandy invasion the squadron ferried supplies in the United Kingdom. The squadron also hauled food, clothing, medicine, gasoline, ordnance equipment, and other supplies to the front lines and evacuated patients to rear zone hospitals. It dropped paratroops nearNijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during theairborne attack on the Netherlands.
Returned to the United States in May 1945, becoming a domestic troop carrier squadron for Continental Air Forces flying theC-46 Commando andC-82 Packet.
During and after theKorean War, the unit was based atAshiya Air Base, Japan and equipped with theC-119 Flying Boxcar providing aerial transportation between Japan and Korea. During the height of the Korean War, the 37th TCS flew airborne assaults atSukchon andMunsan-ni. The squadron was later inactivated in 1957.
The squadron was reactivated in October 1966 atLangley Air Force Base, Virginia and equipped withLockheed C-130 Hercules tactical transports.
While deployed in Taiwan, crews of the 37th flew toHanoi on 17 February 1973 in support ofOperation Homecoming, the repatriation of Americanprisoners of war toClark Air Base, Philippines, on 5 March 1973. It conducted airlift operations duringOperation Desert Shield inSouthwest Asia, 14 August 1990 – 29 March 1991. It airdroppedhumanitarian supplies inOperation Provide Comfort for the relief of fleeingKurdishrefugees in northernIraq, April–May 1991. The 37th flew airlift and airdrop missions toBosnia and Herzegovina forOperation Provide Promise from July 1992 – January 1996 Continued support with Operations Joint Endeavor/Guard/Forge, 1996–2000. Airlifted troops and equipment to Kosovo, Mar–Jun 1999. Airlifted troops and equipment throughout ETO, 2000 – present;Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In November 2009, the 37th retired its last legacy C-130E and now solely operates theLockheed C-130J Super Hercules model.[3]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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