457th Airlift Squadron | |
|---|---|
 A squadronC-21 Learjet comes in for a landing atScott AFB | |
| Active | 1942–1945; 1949–1951; 1966–1972; 1975–2019 |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Airlift |
| Motto | The Wings of Command[1] |
| Engagements | Pacific Ocean Theater Vietnam War[1] |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Presidential Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award withCombat "V" Device Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm[1] |
| Insignia | |
| 457th Airlift Squadron emblem[a][1] |  |
| 457th Tactical Airlift Sq emblem[b][1] |  |
| 457th Bombardment Squadron emblem[2] |  |
| Viet Nam tail code[3] | KA |
The457th Airlift Squadron was an executive airlift unit stationed atAndrews Air Force Base, Maryland. It, and its predecessor, the1402nd Military Airlift Squadron, operated a number of executive aircraft starting in 1975. From the mid-1990s, thesquadron operated onlyLearjet C-21 aircraft.
The squadron's other predecessor was organized in 1942 as the457th Bombardment Squadron, aheavy bomber training unit. It was inactivated in the spring of 1944 when theArmy Air Forces reorganized its training units on a more flexible basis. The squadron was immediately activated as aBoeing B-29 Superfortress unit. After training in the United States, it deployed toGuam, where it participated in thestrategic bombing campaign against Japan, earning twoDistinguished Unit Citations. FollowingV-J Day it remained on Guam until November 1945, when it was inactivated.
The squadron was activated as a corollary unit in thereserve in 1949, serving alongside regularStrategic Air Command units atMarch Air Force Base. It wasmobilized as a result of theKorean War in 1951, but inactivated as its personnel were used to fully man other units. When the reserve began to re-equip with aircraft in 1952, it was briefly activated as the457th Troop Carrier Squadron, but transferred its personnel and equipment to another unit a month later.
It was organized again in 1967 when the Air Force took overde Havilland Canada C-7 Caribou operations from theArmy. It performed theaterairlift missions in Viet Nam until inactivating in 1972 as the United States withdrew from Viet Nam. It earned both Presidential Unit Citations andAir Force Outstanding Unit Awards withCombat "V" Device for its combat actions.
The squadron was first activated atSalt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah on 6 July 1942 as one of the original four squadrons of the330th Bombardment Group.[1][4][5] Although equipped early on with someBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, it became aConsolidated B-24 LiberatorOperational Training Unit (OTU), moving toBiggs Field, Texas by early September.[1] The OTU program was patterned after the unit training system of theRoyal Air Force and involved the use of an oversized parent unit to providecadres to "satellite groups"[6] It then assumed responsibility for their training and oversaw their expansion with graduates ofArmy Air Forces Training Command schools to become effective combat units.[7][8] Phase I training concentrated on individual training increwmember specialties. Phase II training emphasized the coordination for the crew to act as a team. The final phase concentrated on operation as a unit.[9]
By early 1944 most units had been activated and almost three quarters of them had deployed overseas. With the exception of special programs, like formingBoeing B-29 Superfortress units, training “fillers” for existing units became more important than unit training.[10] The squadron then became aReplacement Training Unit (RTU).[1] RTUs were also oversized unit, but their mission was to train individualpilots oraircrews.[6]
However, theArmy Air Forces was finding that standard military units like the 457th, whose manning was based on relatively inflexibletables of organization were proving not well adapted to the training mission, even more so to the replacement mission. Accordingly, theArmy Air Forces adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[11] As a result, the 330th Bombardment Group and its components, including the 457th, along with all supporting units at Biggs were inactivated or disbanded on 1 April 1944[1][4] and replaced by the 235th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training School, Bombardment, Very Heavy).[12]
The squadron was activated the same day atWalker Army Air Field, Kansas as a Boeing B-29 unit. While waiting for new B-29s to come off the production line, it again flew B-17 Flying Fortresses for a short time. It trained at Walker and atDalhart Army Air Field, Texas until January 1945, when it deployed to the Pacific.[1]
The squadron arrived at its combat station,North Field, Guam in the Mariana Islands in early February 1945.[1] Because the results of high altitude B-29 raids on Japan were disappointing.XXI Bomber Command switched to low altitude night area attacks with incendiaries beginning in March 1945.[13] It flew its first combat mission, an attack on theHodogaya chemical plant inKoriyama, Japan on 12 April 1945.[4]
During April and May 1945, the squadron was diverted from the strategic campaign against Japan to supportOperation Iceberg, the invasion ofOkinawa.[4] It struck air bases from whichkamikaze attacks were being launched. Many of these bases were located onKyushu, only 300 miles from Okinawa. The attacks directly impacted kamikaze launches, but also forced the Japanese military to retainfighter aircraft to defend theJapanese Special Attack Units that otherwise might have been used to challengeair superiority over Okinawa.[14][e]
The squadron resumed attacking urban industrial areas until the end of the war in August 1945. It was awarded aDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for incendiary raids on the industrial sections ofTokushima andGifu and a strike against the hydroelectrical power center atKofu in July 1945. It received a second DUC for a mission attacking theNakajima Aircraft Company aircraft engine plant atMusashino nearTokyo in August.[4]
FollowingV-J Day the squadron dropped food and supplies to Alliedprisoners of war and participated in severalshow of force missions over Japan. It departed the theater in November and was inactivated atCamp Anza, the Port of Embarkation in December 1945.[1][4]
The May 1949 Air Force Reserve program called for a new type of unit, the Corollary unit, which was a reserve unit integrated with an active duty unit. The plan called for corollary units at 107 locations. It was viewed as the best method to train reservists by mixing them with an existing regular unit to perform duties alongside the regular unit.[15] As part of this program, the 457th was activated atMarch Air Force Base, California on 27 June 1949[1] as a corollary of ]Strategic Air Command (SAC)'s22nd Bombardment Group, which was responsible for the 457th's training.[16] All reserve corollary units weremobilized for theKorean War.[17] The squadron was called to active duty on 1 May 1951. The majority of its personnel were used to bring the 22nd to full strength and the squadron was inactivated on 16 June.[1]
The reserve mobilization for the Korean War had left the reserve without aircraft. In September 1951,Continental Air Command (ConAC) formed the 917th Reserve Training Wing to train reservists atGreater Pittsburgh Airport, Pennsylvania.[18][f] Anticipating the return of mission aircraft to reserve units, ConAC replaced the 917th Wing with the330th Troop Carrier Wing on 14 June 1952.[19] The squadron was redesignated the457th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated the same day.[1] It is not clear whether the squadron possessed its own aircraft or flew theCurtiss C-46 Commandos of the 2253rd Air Force Reserve Training Center.[19] However, this activation was short lived, as the 330th was replaced by the375th Troop Carrier Group, which was released from active duty on 14 July 1952, and which had been mobilized at Greater Pittsburgh in 1951.[19][20] The 457th was inactivated and transferred its personnel to the55th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was simultaneously activated.[1][21]
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In August 1966, the Air Force and theArmy began implementing Project Red Leaf, which would transfer responsibility for thede Havilland Canada C-7 Caribou from the Army to the Air Force following theJohnson-McConnell agreement of 1966. AtCan Tho andSoc Trang Airfields, South Vietnam, Air Force personnel began being assigned to the134th Aviation Company. TheDepartment of Defense had ordered that the483d Tactical Airlift Wing's new squadrons be located on Air Force installations, not on Army posts, and the cadre of the wing atCam Ranh Bay Air Base began planning to move squadron level operations from the small Army camps they were operating from to permanent sites when the Air Force units were activated.[22] In December, the company began moving to Cam Ranh Bay Air Base, and on 1 January 1967, the 457th Squadron was organized and took over Caribou operations from the 134th Company.[1][23]
The squadron provided intratheater airlift to support United States military civic actions, combat support and civic assistance throughout the Republic of Vietnam.[24] This included airland andairdrop assault missions. It also maintained a detachment of two aircraft atDon Muang Air Base, Thailand.[25] In the summer of 1967, the 457th and its sister Caribou squadron at Cam Ranh Bay, the458th Tactical Airlift Squadron took over Caribou operations atPleiku Air Base, formerly operated by the459th Tactical Airlift Squadron.[26] However, aViet Cong mortar attack on Can Tho on 21 December 1967 that damaged two C-7s, forced a reevaluation of dispersal arrangements and Caribous were withdrawn from Pleiku.[26]
Most missions by the Caribou were airlift flights, with fewer than 2% beingairdrops. The squadron experienced an exception to this during the attempt by theNorth Vietnamese Army to overrunDuc Lap Camp, near the Cambodian border. The camp was manned by half strengthCivilian Irregular Defense Group companies, assisted by Americanspecial forces. Duc Lap's landing strip was outside its defensive perimeter, and once Communist forces had surrounded the camp and occupied parts of it, airlanding resupplies was out of the question. Airdrops were particularly difficult, as only about 75 square yards remained in friendly force possession. The squadron's pilots approached the camp from random directions, flying at treetop level using strong evasive action due to heavy enemy fire, popping up and leveling off at the minimum altitude for parachutes to open only seconds before the drop was made. The efforts included what is believed to have been the first operational night airdrop by a Caribou. Between 24 and 26 August, C-7s delivered 26 tons of supplies to the besieged camp. After the 26th, reinforcements expanded the area under friendly control and the brunt of further supply was borne by ArmyBoeing CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopters.[27]
In April 1970, the squadron helped break the siege ofDak Seang Special Forces Camp.[28] North Vietnamese forces had surrounded the camp, and learning from the success of air resupply during their 1969 attack on theBen Het Camp, also establishedanti-aircraft artillery positions along likely air resupply corridors. On the first day of the siege, two C-7s were diverted from their scheduled missions and staged out of Pleiku to make the first airdrops to the camp. Resupply of the camp was so urgent that all drop-qualified crews of the 483rd Tactical Airlift Wing were ordered to Pleiku to support the operation and eleven sorties were flown that day with cover fromDouglas A-1 Skyraiders. Crews approached the camp from the north or south to use terrain to mask their approaches from enemyflak. Loss of the third Caribou in five days, including one from the 457th, prompted a move to resupply the camp with night drops, with cover and illumination provided byFairchild AC-119 Stinger gunships. All 483rd Wing squadrons participated in the operation.[29] It earned a secondPresidential Unit Citation for this action, evacuation of over 2000 refugees from Cambodia, and transportation of the Presidential Southeast Asia Investigation Team to various remote locations in South Vietnam.[30]
The squadron was the last C-7 unit of the 483d Wing to inactivate, ending operations on 25 March 1972 and transferring most of its equipment to theRepublic of Viet Nam Air Force at the end of April 1972 as Cam Ranh Bay prepared for closure with the withdrawal of the United States military from Viet Nam.[1][24][31] Seven aircraft, along with aircrew and maintenance personnel, were transferred to the310th Tactical Airlift Squadron atTan Son Nhut Airport.[32]
The second predecessor of the squadron was activated atAndrews Air Force Base, Maryland on 1 April 1975 as the1402nd Military Airlift Squadron and assigned to the89th Military Airlift Wing.[1] The 1402nd was one of the squadrons formed when the Air Force decided to consolidate its administrative airlift fleet underMilitary Airlift Command.[33] The Air Force also decided the fleet would become all jet, usingNorth American T-39 Sabreliners, although the squadron continued to operate propeller drivenConvair VC-131s for another two years.[1] In addition, the T-39s provided newly-graduated Air Force pilots with operational experience before assignment to combat units.[1]
In 1984, the squadron ended its pilot readiness training program and replaced its CT-39s withLearjet C-21s and once again flew the C-12. It supported intratheater airlift in Southwest Asia from August 1990 through April 1991. In 1993, its mission shifted from providing administrative airlift to airlift support for high-ranking dignitaries of the US and foreign governments from,[1] flying only Learjets from 1994.[citation needed] The squadron also supportedUnited States Northern Command during exercises. The squadron was inactivated in a ceremony held on 14 June 2019.[34]
| Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Distinguished Unit Citation | 3–9 July 1945 | Japan, 457th Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Distinguished Unit Citation | 8 August 1945 | Tokyo, 457th Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Presidential Unit Citation | 21 January – 12 May 1968 | Southeast Asia, 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Presidential Unit Citation | 1 April – 30 June 1970 | Southeast Asia, 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
 | Presidential Unit Citation (Navy) | 20 January – 1 April 1968 | Vietnam, 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award withCombat "V" Device | 1 January – 30 April 1967 | 457th Troop Carrier Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device | 1 May 1967 – 30 April 1968 | 457th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron)[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device | 1 July 1970 – 31 December 1971 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July – 31 December 1975 | 1402nd Military Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 January 1976 – 31 January 1977 | 1402nd Military Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 1981 – 31 May 1982 | 1402nd Military Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 1982 – 30 June 1983 | 1402nd Military Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 1986 – 31 July 1988 | 1402nd Military Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1991 – 30 June 1992 | 1402nd Military Airlift Squadron (later 457th Airlift Squadron)[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1992 – 30 June 1994 | 457th Airlift Squadron[38] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1994 – 30 June 1996 | 457th Airlift Squadron[38] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 1998 – 31 May 2000 | 457th Airlift Squadron[38] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 2003 – 31 May 2005 | 457th Airlift Squadron[38] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 June 2006 – 31 May 2008 | 457th Airlift Squadron[38] |
 | Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with Palm | 1 January 1967 – 30 April 1972[h] | 457th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron)[1] |
| Campaign Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
.png) | American Theater without inscription | 6 July 1942 – 1 April 1944, 1 April 1944 – 7 January 1945 | 457th Bombardment Squadron[1] |
 | Air Offensive, Japan | 18 February 1945 – 2 September 1945 | 457th Bombardment Squadron[1] |
| Western Pacific | 17 April 1945 – 2 September 1945 | 457th Bombardment Squadron[1] |
 | Vietnam Air Offensive | 1 January 1966 – 8 March 1967 | 457th Troop Carrier Squadron[1] |
| Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase II | 9 March 1967 – 31 March 1968 | 457th Troop Carrier Squadron (later 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron)[1] |
| Vietnam Air/Ground 1968 | 22 January 1968 – 7 July 1968 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase III | 1 April 1968 – 31 October 1968 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase IV | 1 November 1968 – 22 February 1969 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Tet 1969/Counteroffensive | 23 February 1969 – 8 June 1969 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969 | 9 June 1969 – 31 October 1969 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970 | 3 November 1969 – 30 April 1970 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Sanctuary Counteroffensive | 1 May 1970 – 30 June 1970 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Southwest Monsoon | 1 July 1970 – 30 November 1970 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Commando Hunt V | 1 December 1970 – 14 May 1971 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Commando Hunt VI | 15 May 1971 – 31 July 1971 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
| Commando Hunt VII | 1 November 1971 – 29 March 1972 | 457th Tactical Airlift Squadron[1] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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