JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
This Thursday, Dec. 11, marks the 15th Airlift Squadron's 74th year of getting the job done.
From our founding in Duncan, Texas, where pilots were flying two engine prop planes, to today, travelling the globe in the mighty C-17 Globemaster III, the 15th AS Airmen have proudly answered our nation's call. Here is a brief history of the 15th and the aircraft we have flown throughout the years:
C-33 (1941)
C-39 (1941-1942)
C-47 Skytrain (1942-1945, 1946-1948)
C-54 Skymaster (1948-1952)
C-124 Globemaster II (1952-1967)
C-141 Starlifter (1967-1997)
C-17 Globemaster III (1997 - Present)
22 Different Bases
Duncan Field, Texas (Dec. 4, 1940)
Augusta Airport, Ga. (July 12, 1941)
Pope Field, N.C. (May 24, 1942)
Lubbock Army Airfield, Texas (Nov. 15, 1942)
Pope Field, N.C. (Feb. 26 to April 30, 1943)
Lourmel Airfield, Algeria (May 15, 1943)
Kairouan Airfield, Tunisia (June 21, 1943)
Licata Airfield, Sicily (Sept. 3, 1943)
Sciacca Airfield, Sicily, (Oct. 6 1943 to Feb. 12, 1944)
RAF Barkston Heath (AAF-483), England (Feb. 18, 1944)
Abbeville/Drucat Airfield (B-92), France (March 13 to May 19, 1945)
Waller Field, Trinidad (May 19 to July 31, 1945)
AAF Station Eschborn, Germany (Sept. 30, 1946)
AAF Station Frankfurt, Germany (later West Germany) (Feb. 9, 1947 to July 21, 1950)
McChord AFB, Washington (July. 26 to Dec. 4, 1950)
Ashiya AB, Japan (Dec. 13, 1950)
Tachikawa AB, Japan (March 26 to Nov. 18, 1952)
Larson AFB, Wa. (Nov. 21, 1952)
Donaldson AFB, S.C. (Aug. 25, 1954)
Hunter AFB, Ga. (April 1, 1963)
Norton AFB, Ca. (April 1, 1967 to July 26, 1993)
Charleston AFB, S.C (Oct. 1, 1993 to present)
The 15th also flew in the following conflicts:
World War II (1940-1945)
Berlin Airlift (1948-1949)
Korea (Aug. 1950 to Nov. 1952
Worldwide Airlift (1953 to present)
Vietnam/Load/Cambodia (1966 to 1973)
Operation Urgent Fury/Grenada (Oct. to Nov. 1983)
Operation Just Cause/Panama (Dec. 18, 1989 to Jan. 8, 1990)
Operation Desert Storm/Persian Gulf War (Aug. 1990 to Feb. 28, 1991)
Operation Enduring Freedom/Afghanistan (Oct. 7, 2001 to present)
Operation Iraqi Freedom/ New Dawn/Iraq (March 20, 2003 to Dec. 15, 2011)
...and wherever and whenever we have been called upon around the globe.
From D-Day and the Berlin Airlift, to supplying Afghanistan and Combat Airdrops on Mt. Sinjar, our actions have shaped the future for the better.
Members of the 15th AS, you should be proud of our long and brave history because you are a part of it. Here's to our last 74 years of remarkable accomplishments: may we have many more!