86th Airlift Squadron

{{Infobox Military Unit
 * unit_name= 86th Airlift Squadron
 * image= Lockheed C-141A-LM Starlifter 65-0279.jpg
 * caption= 86th Airlift Squadron Lockheed C-141A Starlifter 65-0279
 * dates= 1943-1993
 * country= {{flag|United States}}
 * allegiance=
 * branch= {{air force|USA}}
 * type= Strategic Airlift
 * role=
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 * colonel_of_the_regiment=
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 * battles= European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Streamer.jpgEuropean-African-Middle East Campaign (World War II}Korean War Streamer.pngKorean War
 * notable_commanders=
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 * decorations= Streamer PUC Army.PNG Distinguished Unit CitationRepublic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation Streamer.pngRepublic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
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}}
 * identification_symbol= 86th Military Airlift Squadron - MAC - Emblem.png
 * identification_symbol_label= 86th Airlift Squadron Emblem

The 86th Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was to the 60th Air Mobility Wing, Air Mobility Command, stationed at Travis Air Force Base, California.

It was inactivated on 1 November 1993.

World War II
Activated in May 1943 under I Troop Carrier Command and equipped with C-47 Skytrains. Trained in various parts of the eastern United States until the end of 1943. Deployed to England and assigned to IX Troop Carrier Command, Ninth Air Force.

Prepared for the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe. During the Normandy campaign, the group released gliders over Cherbourg and carried troops, weapons, ammunition, rations, and other supplies for the 82nd Airborne Division in Operation Neptune.

Deployed to Italy in July 1944 and participated in the Allied invasion of southern France in August 1944 dropping paratroops of the 1st Airborne Task Force.

During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, the group released gliders carrying troops and equipment for the airborne attack in the occupied Netherlands. In December 1944, the group re-supplied the 101st Airborne Division in the Bastogne area of Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. After moving to France in February 1945, the unit released gliders in support of an American crossing of the Rhine River called Operation Varsity in March 1945.

Evacuated wounded personnel to rear-zone hospitals. After V-E Day, the group evacuated prisoners of war and displaced persons to relocation centers. Returned to the United States in August 1945, became a transport squadron for Continental Air Command until inactivation in November 1945.

Cold War
Postwar the squadron was activated in the air force reserve in 1947 at Orchard Place Airport, Illinois, operating C-46 Commandos for Tactical Air Command Eighteenth Air Force. Inactivated at the start of the Korean War in 1950, its aircraft and personnel being used as fillers for active duty units, then inactivated.

Reactivated as part of Far East Air Force in 1951 in Japan. Equipped with C-119 Flying Boxcars and engaged in combat operations in the Korean Peninsula. Dropped 2nd Ranger Infantry Company (Airborne) troops near Munsan-Ni, inactivated in June 1952 as part of a reorganization of airborne troop carrier units in Japan

Activated as part of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in West Germany in 1952, it provided air transport between USAF bases in USAFE, between 1952 and 1954. It was reassigned to Charleston AFB, South Carolina in 1955, where it provided air transport between bases within the east and southeast United States. It was inactivated in 1955.

It was reactivated as a C-124 strategic airlift squadron at Travis AFB, California. It flew very long distance flights from Travis to Hawaii, Guam, Japan and the Philippines. It upgraded to C-141 Starlifter jet transports in 1967 and usually flew cargo and personnel to and from Travis to aerial ports in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War.

After the US withdrawal from Indochina in 1975, it flew C-141s on a worldwide basis. The squadron was inactivated in 1978 during the post-Vietnam USAF drawdown; however, it was reactivated in 1979, continuing C-141 airlift missions. In late 1993 the unit was re designated the 20th Airlift Squadron (formerly assigned to Charleston AFB, SC). The Air Force inactivated the 86th as part of the drawdown of forces at the end of the Cold War. Personnel and equipment were transferred to the 19th Airlift Squadron in a name-only re-designation

Lineage

 * Constituted 86th Troop Carrier Squadron on 15 Apr 1943
 * Activated on 1 May 1943
 * Inactivated on 15 Nov 1945


 * Activated in the reserve on 3 Sep 1947
 * Re-designated 86th Troop Carrier Squadron (Medium) on 27 Jun 1949
 * Inactivated on 1 Aug 1950


 * Activated on 26 Jan 1951
 * Inactivated on 10 Jun 1952.


 * Re-designated as the 86th Air Transport Squadron on 1 July 1952
 * Activated on 20 July 1952
 * Inactivated on 1 July 1955
 * Re-designated the 86th Air Transport Squadron, (Heavy) and activated on 8 January 1963
 * Re-designated the 86th Military Airlift Squadron, (Heavy) on 8 January 1966
 * Inactivated on 6 March 1978


 * Re-designated the 86th Military Airlift Squadron and activated on 15 February 1979
 * Re-designated the 86th Airlift Squadron on 1 October 1992
 * Inactivated on 1 November 1993

Assignments

 * 437th Troop Carrier Group, 1 May 1943-15 Nov 1945
 * Second Air Force, 3 Sep 1947
 * Tenth Air Force, 1 Jul 1948
 * 437th Troop Carrier Group, 27 Jun 1949-1 Aug 1950
 * 437th Troop Carrier Group, 26 Jan 1951-10 Jun 1952.
 * 1602d Air Transport Wing, 20 Jul 1952 − 19 May 1954
 * 1608th Air Transport Wing, 20 May 1954 − 1 Jul 1955
 * 1501st Air Transport Wing, 8 Jan 1963 − 8 Jan 1966
 * 60th Military Airlift Wing, 8 Jan 1966 – 6 Mar 1978; 15 Feb 1979 – 1 October 1992
 * 60th Operations Group, 1 October 1992 - 1 November 1993

Stations

 * Baer Field, Indiana, 1 May 1943
 * Sedalia Army Air Field, Missouri, 8 Jun 1943
 * Pope Field, North Carolina, 9 Oct 1943
 * Baer Field, Indiana, 31 Dec 1943-Jan 1944
 * RAF Balderton (AAF-482), England, 20 Jan 1944
 * RAF Ramsbury (AAF-469), England, 6 Feb 1944
 * Operated from Montalto Di Castro Airfield, Italy, 19 Jul-23 Aug 1944


 * Coulommiers-Voisins Airfield (A-58), France, Feb-Jul 1945


 * Baer Field, Indiana, 13 Aug 1945
 * Marfa Army Airfield, Texas, 14 Sep-15 Nov 1945
 * Orchard Place Airport, Illinois, 3 Sep 1947-1 Aug 1950
 * Tachikawa AB, Japan, 26 Jan 1951
 * Brady AB, Japan, Mar-10 Jun 1952
 * Rhein-Main AB, West Germany, 20 Jul 1952-19 May 1954
 * Charleston AFB, South Carolina, 20 May 1954 − 1 Jul 1955
 * Travis AFB, California, 8 Jan 1963 − 6 Mar 1978; 15 Feb 1979–1 Nov 1993

Aircraft

 * C-47 Skytrain, 1943-1945, 1947-1949
 * C-46 Commando, 1949-1950
 * C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1951-1952
 * C-54 Skymaster, 1952–1955
 * C-124 Globemaster II, 1963-1967
 * C-141 Starlifter, 1967–1993