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458th Airlift Squadron

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458th Airlift Squadron
Gates Learjet C-21A as flown by the squadron
Active1942–1945; 1966–1972; 1975–present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleAirlift
Part ofAir Mobility Command
Garrison/HQScott Air Force Base
EngagementsPacific Ocean Theater
Vietnam War[1]
DecorationsDistinguished Unit Citation
Presidential Unit Citation
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm
Insignia
458th Airlift Squadron emblem[a][1]
458 Tactical Airlift Squadron emblem[2][b][1]
458th Bombardment Squadron[c][3]

The 458th Airlift Squadron is part of the 375th Airlift Wing at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. It operates C-21 aircraft, providing executive airlift and aeromedical evacuation. It has performed its current mission since activating in 1975 as the 1401st Military Airlift Squadron. The 1401st Squadron was consolidated with the 458th in 1991.

The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 458th Bombardment Squadron. It was a replacement training unit for heavy bomber crews until being inactivated in the spring of 1944 when the Army Air Forces reorganized its training and support units in the United States. It was reactivated the same day as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit. The unit deployed to the Pacific Ocean Theater in early 1945 and participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Japan until V-J Day, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions. The squadron returned to the United States in December 1945 and was inactivated.

The squadron was redesignated the 458th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated in the reserve in 1952, but was quickly inactivated as reserve units that had been mobilized for the Korean War were released from active duty. As the Air Force assumed the light airlift mission from the Army, the squadron was again activated on New Year's Day 1967. It served in combat in Vietnam until March 1972, earning an additional Presidential Unit Citation and three Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with Combat "V" Device before inactivating in theater.

History

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World War II

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Bombardment training unit

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B-24 Liberator 42-52161 from Alamogordo Army Airfield[d]

The squadron was first activated at Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah on 6 July 1942 as one of the original four squadrons of the 330th Bombardment Group.[1][4][5] Although equipped early on with some Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, it became a Consolidated B-24 Liberator Operational Training Unit (OTU), moving to Biggs Field, Texas by early September.[1] The OTU program was patterned after the unit training system of the Royal Air Force and involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups"[6] It then assumed responsibility for their training and oversaw their expansion with graduates of Army Air Forces Training Command schools to become effective combat units.[7][8] Phase I training concentrated on individual training in crewmember 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 forming Boeing B-29 Superfortress units, training “fillers” for existing units became more important than unit training.[10] The squadron then became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU).[1] RTUs were also oversized unit, but their mission was to train individual pilots or aircrews.[6]

However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units like the 458th, whose manning was based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving not well adapted to the training mission, even more so to the replacement mission. Accordingly, the Army 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 458th, 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]

B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan

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Squadron B-29 Superfortress[e]

The squadron was activated the same day at Walker 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 at Dalhart 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 the Hodogaya chemical plant in Koriyama, Japan on 12 April 1945.[4]

During April and May 1945, the squadron was diverted from the strategic campaign against Japan to support Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa.[4] It struck air bases from which kamikaze attacks were being launched. Many of these bases were located on Kyushu, only 300 miles from Okinawa. The attacks directly impacted kamikaze launches, but also forced the Japanese military to retain fighter aircraft to defend the Japanese Special Attack Units that otherwise might have been used to challenge air superiority over Okinawa.[14][f]

The squadron resumed attacking urban industrial areas until the end of the war in August 1945. It was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for incendiary raids on the industrial sections of Tokushima and Gifu and a strike against the hydroelectrical power center at Kofu in July 1945. It received a second DUC for a mission attacking the Nakajima aircraft engine plant at Musashino near Tokyo in August.[4]

Following V-J Day the squadron dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners of war and participated in several show of force missions over Japan. It departed the theater in November and was inactivated at Camp Anza, the Port of Embarkation in December 1945.[1][4]

Air Force reserve

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A 458th TAS C-7B in Vietnam, 13 September 1970.

Activated as a C-46 Commando Troop Carrier Squadron in June 1952. Inactivated in July 1952.

Vietnam War

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Reactivated during the Vietnam War at Cam Ranh Air Base, South Vietnam in 1966. Provided intratheater airlift in Vietnam, including airland and airdrop assault missions from, 1966–1972, being inactivated as part of the drawdown of United States forces and the closure of Cam Ranh AB. and military airlift operations worldwide from 1975 to 1978.

Executive airlift

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It conducted airlift in Southwest Asia from August 1990 – May 1991.

Campaigns and decorations

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  • Campaigns: World War II: Western Pacific; Air Offensive, Japan; Vietnam Air Offensive; Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase II; Vietnam Air/Ground 1968; Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase III; Vietnam Air Offensive, Phase IV; TET 69/ Counteroffensive; Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969; Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970; Sanctuary Counteroffensive; Southwest Monsoon; Commando Hunt V; Commando Hunt VI; Commando Hunt VII; Intratheater airlift in Southwest Asia, August 1990 – April 1991;
  • Decorations: Distinguished Unit Citations: Japan, 10 May 1945; Tokyo and Yokohama, Japan, 23–29 May 1945. Presidential Unit Citations (Southeast Asia) 21 Jan-12 May 1968; 1 Apr-30 June 1970; Navy Presidential Unit Citation: Vietnam, 20 Jan-1 April 1968; Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat "V" Device 1 Jan-30 April 1967; 1 May 1967 – 30 April 1968; 1 July 1970 – 31 December 1971. Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm: 1 January 1967 – 30 April 1972; Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards-1 Jul-31 December 1975; 1 January 1976 – 31 January 1977; 1 June 1981 – 31 May 1982; 1 June 1982 – 30 June 1983; 1 June 1986 – 31 July 1988

Lineage

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458th Airlift Squadron
  • Constituted as the 458th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 1 July 1942
Activated on 6 July 1942
Inactivated on 1 April 1944
  • Redesignated 458th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy and activated, on 1 April 1944
Inactivated on 27 December 1945
  • Redesignated 458th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 26 May 1952
Activated in the reserve on 14 June 1952
Inactivated on 14 July 1952
  • Redesignated 458th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated on 12 October 1966 (not organized)
Organized on 1 January 1967
Redesignated 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 August 1967
Inactivated on 1 March 1972
  • Consolidated with the 1401st Military Airlift Squadron as the 458th Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991[1]
1401st Military Airlift Squadron
  • Designated as the 1401st Military Airlift Squadron and activated on 1 April 1975.
  • Consolidated with the 458th Tactical Airlift Squadron as the 458th Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991[1]

Assignments

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Stations

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Aircraft

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References

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Notes

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Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Approved 18 May 1983.
  2. ^ Approved 27 March 1968.
  3. ^ Approved 27 June 1945.
  4. ^ Aircraft is Ford Motors built Consolidated B-24H-10-FO Liberator, serial 42-52161. It later deployed to Europe and was shot down on 22 February 1944. Missing Aircrew Report 2832.
  5. ^ Aircraft is Boeing B-29-75-BW Superfortress, serial 44-70016, Sentimental Journey, Quaker City. After the war this aircraft served as a TB-29 radar evaluation plane, Dopey. Transferred to storage in June 1959, this plane is now on display at the Pima Air Museum on loan from the National Museum of the United States Air Force. Baugher, Joe (9 October 2023). "1944 USAF Serial Numbers". Joe Baugher. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  6. ^ 75% of Twentieth Air Force's missions in April and May 1945 were flown to support Operation Iceberg. Cate & Olson p. 631.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o No byline (8 April 2008). "Factsheet 458 Airlift Squadron". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  2. ^ "458th Airlift Squadron" (PDF). USAFunithistory.com. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  3. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 564
  4. ^ a b c d e f Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 210-11
  5. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 563-67
  6. ^ a b Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi
  7. ^ Goss, p. 74
  8. ^ Greer, p. 601
  9. ^ Greer.p. 606
  10. ^ Goss, pp. 74-75
  11. ^ Goss, p. 75
  12. ^ See No byline (1 September 1944). "Abstract, Vol. 1 History 235 AAF Base Unit". Air Force History Index. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  13. ^ Cate & Olson, pp. 612-614
  14. ^ Cate & Olson pp. 641

Bibliography

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Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  • Cate, James L.; Olson, James C. (1953). "Strategic Bombardment from Pacific Bases, Chapter 17, Precision Bombardment Campaign". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. V, The Pacific: Matterhorn to Nagasaki. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  • Goss, William A. (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  • Greer, Thomas H. (1955). "Recruitment and Training, Chapter 18 Combat Crew and Unit Training". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
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