The 49th Air Transport Squadron is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

unit. Its last assignment was as part of the

1502d Air Transport Wing The 1502d Air Transport Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force unit, last assigned to Western Transport Air Force in January 1966. The 1502d ATW was a heavy cargo transport wing of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), formed at ...

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

, stationed at

Hickam Air Force Base Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) United States Air Force installation, installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel (United States), Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged ...

, Hawaii. It was inactivated on 1 July 1955.

History

Activated as a ferrying unit during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it served in the

Mediterranean Theater of Operations The Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA), originally called the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), was a military formation of the United States Army that supervised all U.S. Army for ...

until disbanded in 1943 and replaced by Station 10, North African Wing, Air Transport Command. Reestablished in 1952 to replace the 1265th Air Transport Squadron, which had been organized on 1 June 1949 as a medium transport squadron flying

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 civilia ...

s, it transported supplies and personnel in the Pacific from Hawaii to the Philippines and bases in between. It deployed elements of the squadron to

Tachikawa Air Base is an aerodrome, airfield in the city of Tachikawa, Tokyo, Tachikawa, in the western part of Tokyo, Japan. Currently under the administration of the Ministry of Defense (Japan), Ministry of Defense, it has also served as a civilian airport with ...

, Japan during 1951–1952, flying combat resupply missions during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. After the Korean War, it returned to normal peacetime operations. It was inactivated simultaneously with the host 1500th ATW in July 1955.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 49th Ferrying Squadron : Activated c. 9 July 1942 * Redesignated 49th Transport Squadron, c. 29 March 1943 * Disbanded on 20 September 1943 : Reconstituted as the 49th Air Transport Squadron, Medium on 20 June 1952 : Activated on 20 July 1952 : Inactivated on 1 July 1955

Assignments

* 14th Ferrying Group, c. 9 July 1942 * African-Middle East Wing, Air Transport Command, 1943 – 20 September 1943 * 1500th Air Transport Group, 20 July 1952 - 1 July 1955

Stations

* Bathurst, Gambia, c. 9 July 1942 *

Marrakech Marrakesh or Marrakech (; , ) is the fourth-largest city in Morocco. It is one of the four imperial cities of Morocco and is the capital of the Marrakesh–Safi Regions of Morocco, region. The city lies west of the foothills of the Atlas Mounta ...

, French Morocco, c. February 1943 – 20 September 1943 *

Hawaii, 20 July 1952 - 1 July 1955Mueller, p. 244

Aircraft

* C-54 Skymaster, 1949–1952 *

C-97 Stratofreighter The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter is a long-range heavy military cargo aircraft developed from the B-29 and B-50 bombers. Design work began in 1942, the first of three prototype XC-97s flew on 9 November 1944 and the first of six service-test YC- ...

, 1952–1955

References

{{Air Force Historical Research Agency * Mueller, Robert, ''Air Force Bases Volume I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982'', Office of Air Force History, 1989 0049 Military units and formations in Hawaii Military units and formations established in 1952