780th Troop Carrier Squadron

780th Troop Carrier Squadron
Emblem of the 780th Troop Carrier Squadron
Active	1943–1958
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Bombardment/Troop Carrier

Emblem of the World War II 780th Bombardment Squadron

The 780th Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was to the 317th Troop Carrier Wing, stationed at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France.

It was inactivated on 8 March 1958.

History

Activated as a B-24 Liberator heavy bomber squadron in mid-1943, it trained under the Second Air Force. It deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) in March 1944, where it was assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force. It flew strategic bombardment combat missions over France, Germany, Italy, Austria and the Balkans until the German capitulation in May 1945.

The squadron was attached to Air Transport Command in June 1945. It used its B-24s as transports, flying personnel from Trinidad to Florida. The unit was inactivated in place in Trinidad during July 1945. Redesignated as a B-29 Superfortress very heavy bomber squadron in the reserves later in 1945, it was not, however, activated due to budget restrictions.

The unit was reactivated in 1953 as a Tactical Air Command C-119 Troop Carrier squadron under the Eighteenth Air Force. It primarily flew cargo transport missions, but also supported US Army airborne parachute units on maneuvers from Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The squadron was reassigned in 1953 as a troop carrier squadron, in France. It performed theater airlift and transport operations until 1958 when it was again inactivated due to budget restrictions.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 780th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 19 May 1943

Activated on 1 August 1943

Inactivated on 31 July 1945

• Redesignated the 780th Bombardment Squadron (Very Heavy) on 14 November 1945

Redesignated the 780th Troop Carrier Squadron (Medium) on 22 December 1952

Activated on 1 February 1953

Inactivated on 8 March 1958

Assignments

• 465th Bombardment Group, 1 August 1943 – 31 July 1945
• 465th Troop Carrier Group, 1 February 1953
• 465th Troop Carrier Wing, 12 March 1957
• 317th Troop Carrier Wing, 8 July 1957 – 8 March 1958

Stations

• Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 1 August 1943
• Kearns Center, Utah, c. 13 September 1943
• McCook Army Airfield, Nebraska, c. 5 October 1943 – 1 February 1944
• Pantanella Airfield, Italy, 15 March 1944 – June 1945
• Waller Field, Trinidad, c. 15 June – 31 July 1945
• Donaldson AFB, South Carolina, 1 February 1953 – December 1953
• Toul-Rosières Air Base, France, 26 December 1953
• Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France, 6 December 1954 – 8 March 1958

Aircraft

• B-24 Liberator, 1943–1945
• C-119 Flying Boxcar, 1953–1957
• C-130A Hercules, 1957–1958

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Maurer, Maurer, ed (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. http://www.airforcehistory.hq.af.mil/Publications/fulltext/combat_sq_of_the_af_wwii.pdf.