The 85th Military Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 unit. It last was assigned to the 60th Military Airlift Wing, Military Airlift Command

Military Airlift Command

The Military Airlift Command is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command of the USAF which was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. It was constituted on 1 January 1966 and active until the end of the Cold War, when the Air Force table of organization was revised...

, stationed at Travis Air Force Base

Travis Air Force Base

Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force air base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command , located three miles east of the central business district of Fairfield, in Solano County, California, United States. The base is named for Brigadier General Robert F...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. It was inactivated on 8 July 1967.

History

Established in 1952 assuming assets of provisional Military Air Transport Service

Military Air Transport Service

The Military Air Transport Service is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service and the United States Air Force Air Transport Command into a single, joint, unified command...

 1287th ATS. Initially equipped with C-54s flying transport route to Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. Re-equipped with C-24 Globemaster II intercontinental strategic transports in 1953. The squadron's primary mission was the routing and scheduling of flights throughout the Pacific Ocean region and in support of allied forces in the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

. During the 1950s flew routine flights to Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

, Alaska and other points in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, including transport flights to Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

 and South Asia to Karachi, Pakistan.

During the 1960s resources almost solely devoted to transport of equipment and personnel to South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

. Inactivated in 1967 with phaseout of C-124.

Lineage

• Established as 85th Air Transport Squadron, on 1 July 1952

Organized on 20 July 1952, assuming personnel and equipment of 1287th Air Transport Squadron

Redesignated: 85th Military Airlift Squadron: 8 January 1966

Inactivated on 8 July 1967

Assignments

• 1701st Air Transport Wing
  1701st Air Transport Wing
  The 1701st Air Transport Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the Western Transport Air Force, Military Air Transport Service, stationed at Brookley Air Force Base, Alabama. It was inactivated on 18 June 1957.-History:...
  
  , 20 July 1952
• 1501st Air Transport Wing
  1501st Air Transport Wing
  The 1501st Air Transport Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit, being inactivated on 8 January 1966.The 1501st ATW was a heavy cargo transport wing of the Military Air Transport Service , formed on 1 June 1948...
  
  , 20 Nov 1953
• 60th Military Airlift Wing, 8 January 1966 – 8 July 1967

Stations

• Great Falls AFB, Montana, 20 July 1952
• Travis AFB, California, 20 Nov 1953 – 8 July 1967