The 27th Transport Squadron was activated at Daniel Field, Georgia in February 1942 as one of the original five squadrons of the 89th Transport Group. The squadron was initially equipped with Douglas DC-3 transports (impressed into military service as C-48s and C-49s) and Douglas C-53 Skytroopers to conduct transition training for pilots who had no previous experience in Douglas transports.[2] In June 1942, the squadron moved to Kellogg Field, Michigan and was soon reassigned to the 10th Transport Group, but attached to the 62d Troop Carrier Group. It retained its C-53s, but its mission changed as it became a Replacement Training Unit.[1] Replacement Training Units were oversized units that trained individual pilots or aircrews[3]
In July 1942 the squadron and its parent group were redesignated as Troop Carrier units. In early August 1942, he squadron was releved of its attachment to the 62d Group and moved to Bowman Field, Kentucky. At Bowman, the squadron standardized on the Douglas C-47 Skytrain, although it retained some C-53s into 1943. In November 1943 the replacement training mission terminated and the 27th prepared for transfer overseas to the China Burma India Theater.[1]
Combat in India and China
[edit]C-47 as flown by the squadron during World War II
The air echelon of the squadron gathered at Baer Field, Indiana, where it received new aircraft. It ferried the airplanes to India via the South Atlantic ferry route, leaving Morrison Field, Florida in December and arriving in India in January. The ground echelon did not arrive in theater until late March[4]
The squadron flew airlift missions and evacuated wounded personnel, sometimes landing on unimproved airstrips. It participated in Operation Thursday, the transport of troops behind enemy lines in Burma, along with aircraft of the 1st Air Commando Group. After moving to China, the squadron supported Office of Strategic Services missions in China and Southeast Asia.[4] The squadron remained in China after the termination of hostilities in August 1945 and was inactivated there in December.[1]
The 907th Air Refueling Squadron was organized in July 1963 by Strategic Air CommandatGlasgow Air Force Base, however its first Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker did not arrive until October and it was December before the squadron became combat ready.[5][6] The squadron mission was to provide air refueling support to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers of its parent 91st Bombardment Wing and other USAF units as directed, including supporting Operation Chrome Dome airborne alert sorties.[7] The squadron kept half its aircraft on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike[8] until it became nonoperational in 1968, except for periods when it deployed its aircraft and aircrews to support operations in the Pacific.
The 907th deployed to the Western Pacific region to support Operation Arc Light from September 1966 to March 1967 and to Okinawa from February to March 1968 during the Pueblo Crisis.[9] It also deployed to Southeast Asia to support Operation Young Tiger, refueling tactical aircraft on strike missions.[10]
The squadron became non-operational in May 1968[9] and was inactivated in June when Glasgow closed.
The 27th Troop Carrier Squadron and the 907th Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated in 1985,[11] but the consolidated unit has not been active.
10th Transport Group (later 10th Troop Carrier Group), 15 June 1942 (attached to 62d Transport Group (later 62d Troop Carrier Group), 21 June 1942 – 5 August 1942)
Tenth Air Force, 12 January 1944 (attached to Troop Carrier Command, Eastern Air Command)
91st Bombardment Wing, 1 July 1963 – 25 June 1968 (detached c. 11 September 1966 – c. 31 March 1967 and c. 5 February 1968 – c. 16 March 1968, not operational after c. 1 May 1968)[9]
^Approved 25 February 1943. Description: Over and through a light blue disc, border red, piped white, a black and white checkered taxicab, winged gold, resting on a white cloud formation in base.
^ abcDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 September 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons
^ abcLineage, including assignments and stations through 1945 in Maurer, Combat Sqyuadrons, pp. 140–141
Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). "Introduction". The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. p. xxxvi. LCCN48003657.
United States
United States Air Force
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
