Active 1943-1961 Engagements Asia-Pacific Theater | Country United States | |
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Branch United States Army Air Forces
United States Air Force Decorations Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | ||
The 304th Special Operations Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit designation. It was designated on 15 September 1985 by the consolidation of the World War II 304th Troop Carrier Squadron (304th TCS), which was disbanded on 1 December 1943 at Mohanbari Airport, India, and the 4th Strategic Support Squadron (4th SSS), which was discontinued and inactivated on 15 March 1961 at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.
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The 304th TCS was a transport squadron which served primarily in the China-Burma-India Theater. It participated in the airlift of supplies and equipment from India to China over the Himalayan Mountains ("The Hump").
The 4th SSS was a Strategic Air Command transport squadron providing a limited air transport capability to supplement that of the Military Air Transport Service (MATS).
World War II
The squadron was activated by Tenth Air Force in India and equipped with C-47 Skytrains. It was assigned to the 30th Transport Group in the Assam Valley of eastern India, to aid in moving supplies to China by Air Transport Command (ATC). The squadron supplemented the ATC aircraft flying over "The Hump" into airfields in China. As more and more ATC aircraft arrived for the logistics mission to China, the 30th Transport Group was inactivated, and the assets of the unit were re-designated Station No. 9, India-China Wing, ATC.
Strategic Air Command
In its early years, along with its own fighter wings for escorting its bombers, SAC formed a limited air transport capability to supplement that of the Military Air Transport Service, which provided SAC with the majority of its airlift support. The 4th Strategic Support Squadron was activated on 18 February 1953 at Rapid city Air Force Base, South Dakota.
During the postwar years and through the 1950s the squadron carried much classified equipment and personnel to various locations around the world. It was moved to Dyess AFB, Texas on 15 June 1957, and was inactivated on 15 March 1961 when SAC got out of the transport bushiness.
Consolidated unit
The two units were consolidated on 19 September 1985, being designated as the 304th Special Operations Squadron, and assigned to USAF Special Operations Command. There is no record of the unit ever being activated in the Regular Air Force or Reserves.