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The squadron was first activated at Camp Williams, Wisconsin in June 1942 as the 52d Transport Squadron as the 63d Transport Group expanded from three to four squadrons. A few weeks after it was organized, the unit became the 52d Troop Carrier Squadron. It was equipped with various civilian and military versions of the Douglas DC-3, including the Douglas C-47 Skytrain and the C-53 Skytrooper. The squadron acted as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU).[1] RTUs were oversized units that trained individual pilots or aircrews for service in combat theaters.[2]
The squadron moved its operations several times, arriving at Sedalia Army Air Field, Missouri in January 1944. However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit.[3] The 52d was disbanded, and along with other units at Sedalia Army Air Field, was replaced by the 813th AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training School, Troop Carrier).[1][4]
Air Force reserve
The squadron was reconstituted and reactivated at Floyd Bennett Field, New York in June 1949, when Continental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization system, which placed both operational and support organizations under a single wing. Under the 1949 reserve plan, the squadron was manned at only 25% of its authorized strength.[5] It trained with C-47s and a variety of trainer aircraft[1] under the guidance of the regular 2230th Air Force Reserve Training Center.
Along with all reserve combat units, the squadron was mobilized for the Korean War.[6] It was included in the second wave of reserve unit callups, entering active duty on 1 May 1951. Its personnel were used as fillers for other units[7] and the squadron was inactivated on 9 May.[1]
Later operations
Worldwide Airlift, 1953–1969. Supported Project Deep Freeze in the Antarctic, 1956–1958. Worldwide airlift, 1988–1992 with Lockheed C-141 Starlifters, including airdrop of troops and equipment in Operation Just Cause in Panama on 20 December 1989. Redesignated as 52 Airlift Squadron on 1 January 1992. Inactivated on 30 September 1992. The squadron reactivated on 1 May 1994 in the tactical airlift role, 1994–1997. Inactivated on 16 September 1997.[1]
The squadron is assigned the aerial firefighting mission using Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems. The system can discharge its load of 3,000 gallons weighing 27,000 pounds in less than five seconds. The retardant can cover an area one-quarter of a mile long and 100 feet wide. After the plane discharges its load, it can be refilled on the ground in less than 12 minutes.[8]
Lineage
Constituted as the 52d Transport Squadron on 30 May 1942
Activated on 15 June 1942
Redesignated 52d Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942
Disbanded on 14 April 1944
Reconstituted and redesignated 52d Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 10 May 1949
Activated in the reserve on 27 June 1949
Ordered to active service on 1 May 1951
Inactivated on 9 May 1951
Redesignated 52d Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 19 March 1953
Activated on 20 June 1953
Redesignated as: 52d Military Airlift Squadron on 8 January 1966
Inactivated on 8 February 1969
Activated on 1 June 1988
Redesignated as 52d Airlift Squadron on 1 January 1992
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. LCCN48003657. OCLC704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
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