page_title: 144th Airlift Squadron
section_title: Modern era
hierarchical_section_title: 144th Airlift Squadron / History / Modern era
caption_attribution_description: English: C-130s are maintained on Kulis Air National Guard Base earlier this month while Guardmembers prepare for the move to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. All of the aircraft from Kulis will make a final pass on Feb. 12 to signify the shutting down of the Alaska Air National Guard base. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Shannon Oleson
context_page_description: The 144th Airlift Squadron is a unit of the Alaska Air National Guard 176th Wing located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska. The 144th is an associate unit of the active 517th Airlift Squadron, equipped with the C-17 Globemaster III.
context_section_description: The 144th Airlift Squadron performed humanitarian airlift missions for famine relief in Somalia and Rwanda, supported Operation Southern Watch in Saudi Arabia, achieved an Excellent rating in its first Operational Readiness Inspection from PACAF. On 1 October 1996, the squadron entered a one-year conversion to deployment tasking from its previous in-place generation tasking.
  Aircrews of the 144th, have flown to the far reaches of the globe, performing missions in Panama, Thailand, Japan, Australia and Germany. The unit also participated in Operation Full Accounting, an effort to bring back remains of Americans from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.
  Recently, the squadron has deployed members in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
  In 2005, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended that Kulis AGB be closed and the wing be relocated to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER). The move was considered a good fit, given the growing mission of the wing, and the state of Alaska supported the recommendation.
  The 144th Airlift Squadron closed Kulis AGB and moved to facilities at JBER in February 2011.  In March 2017, the squadron lost the last of its C-130H aircraft, but remained active without aircraft.  The decision was made to inactivate the junior 249th Airlift Squadron, which was flying the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and transfer its personnel to the 144th, making the 144th an associate unit of the active 517th Airlift Squadron. The C-17 mission was transferred to the 144th Airlift Squadron August 4 2018.
  "Association" denotes a relationship in which active-component and Air National Guard Airmen work together as total force partners in accomplishing the mission. The host and associate each retain command authority of their own forces, separate organizational structures and chains of command but the active-duty Air Force owns the airframes.
caption: C-130s of the 144th Airlift Squadron at Kulis Air National Guard Base, January 2011 while Guardmembers prepare for the move to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
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