347th Tactical Airlift Squadron

Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar

The squadron was activated in the reserves at Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee in June 1949 when Continental Air Command implemented the wing base organization, in which combat groups and all supporting units on a base were assigned to a single wing,[1] for its reserve units. At Memphis, it was assigned to the 516th Troop Carrier Group, which absorbed most of the reservists from the inactivating 95th Bombardment Group.[2] The squadron trained under the supervision of the 2584th Air Force Reserve Training Center until April 1951. The 347th was called to active duty that month and, along with other reserve troop carrier organizations mobilized for Tactical Air Command during the Korean War, formed the new Eighteenth Air Force.[3] It participated in tactical exercises and worldwide airlift. It converted from Curtiss C-46 Commando to Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar aircraft in 1952.[4] The 347th was inactivated and replaced by the 774th Troop Carrier Squadron in January 1953.[5][6]

Piasecki H-21 Workhorse

The squadron was reactivated in 1955 and assigned to the 516th Troop Carrier Group at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee as the 347th Troop Carrier Squadron, Assault, Rotary Wing in part to test the United States Air Force's ability to provide helicopter airlift to the Army. The 347th was initially equipped with Sikorsky H-19 helicopters, but soon replaced them with Piasecki H-21s.[7] Its operations included participation in Operation Backlash II, which was a survey mission to fix the location of radar sites and support the construction of the Mid-Canada Line.[7][8] The group also tested the evacuation of key high ranking personnel from Washington DC in the event of a nuclear attack.[7]

The conflict between the Army and the Air Force concerning the use of Air Force helicopters to support Army assault operations was tested in Operation Sage Brush. The 347th operated as part of the aggressor force. The squadron's H-21s were dismantled and transported in Douglas C-124 Globemaster II aircraft in a test of air mobility.[8] Following this test, the 347th was inactivated in July 1956. The helicopters of the squadron were transferred to the 24th Helicopter Squadron, whose mission was support for routine Air Force activities.[note 1]

Fairchild C-123 Provider

Three months later, the squadron was reactivated at Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina as a Fairchild C-123 Provider unit.[9] The squadron trained to airlift troops, equipment and supplies into combat zones, to resupply forces, and evacuate casualties. In 1958, the squadron and most of the C-123s at Sewart were transferred to Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina and the squadron's parent 513th Troop Carrier Wing was inactivated.[10]

In July 1963 the squadron moved on paper to Dyess Air Force Base, Texas,[9][11] where it replaced the 18th Troop Carrier Squadron and assumed its mission, equipment and personnel, when the 18th moved to Sewart.[12] Until it was inactivated in 1972, the squadron participated in a constant stream of exercises and operations. The squadron frequently deployed its crews and aircraft to Europe and the Pacific.[13]

• 516th Troop Carrier Group, 26 June 1949 – 16 January 1953
• 516th Troop Carrier Group, 8 March 1955 – 9 July 1956
• Eighteenth Air Force, 8 October 1956 (attached to 464th Troop Carrier Wing)[14]
• Ninth Air Force, 1 September 1957 (attached to 464th Troop Carrier Wing)[14]
• 516th Troop Carrier Wing, 1 July 1963 – 1 June 1972 (attached to unknown,[15] 28 May 1964 – c. 20 July 1964, 513th Troop Carrier Wing 22 June 1967 – 27 September 1967,[16] unknown[15] 17 January 1968 – 11 March 1968, 315th Air Division 18 June 1968 – 15 October 1968,[17] 513th Tactical Airlift Wing, 13 June 1969 – 3 September 1969,[16] 322d Air Division, 3 February 1970 – 10 April 1970, 513th Tactical Airlift Wing,[16] 7 September 1970 – 11 November 1970. 322d Tactical Airlift Wing,[18] 4 June 1971 – 10 August 1971, 4 February 1972 – 17 April 1972)[13]

• Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, 26 June 1949 – 16 January 1953
• Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee, 8 March 1955 – 9 July 1956
• Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, 8 October 1956[9]
• Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, 1 July 1963 – 1 June 1972[11]

• Cantwell, Gerald T. (1997). Citizen Airmen: a History of the Air Force Reserve, 1946–1994. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program. ISBN 0-16049-269-6.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. pp. 338–339. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC, 15 June 1971
• AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits, Vol II Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC, 30 September 1976

Further reading

• Vaughan, David K. (1998). Runway Visions: An American C-130 Pilot's Memoir of Combat Airlift Operations in Southeast Asia 1967–1968. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-7864-0488-4. (Capt Vaughan was a pilot with the 347th Tactical Airlift Squadron at Dyess)