| dbo:abstract
|
- The 47th Airlift Flight is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 375th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where it served as an operational support airlift flight, operating Learjet C-21s from 1997 until 2004. The flight was first activated as the 47th Transport Squadron in June 1942. As the 47th Troop Carrier Squadron, it flew Douglas C-47 Skytrains in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations during World War II, earning Distinguished Unit Citations for carrying reinforcements to Sicily despite fire from ground and naval forces in July 1943, and for participation in Operation Overlord in June 1944. It converted to Curtiss C-46 Commandos, with which it took part in Operation Varsity. After V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States, where it was inactivated. The squadron was activated in Italy in 1946, but in 1947 was transferred to the United States on paper and began to train with Fairchild C-82 Packets. The following year, the 47th returned to Europe to participate in the Berlin Airlift with Douglas C-54 Skymasters. After the successful completion of the airlift, the squadron was again inactivated in 1949. The squadron was briefly active from 1953 to 1955 at Mitchel Air Force Base, New York and Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee as a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar unit. The squadron was again active from 1964 to 1973, when it conducted airlift missions with Lockheed C-130 Hercules transports under Tactical Air Command, frequently deploying aircraft and crews to overseas locations. (en)
|
