page_title: 778th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron
section_title: Assault operations and early Vietnam support
hierarchical_section_title: 778th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron / History / Assault operations and early Vietnam support
caption_attribution_description: South Vietnamese paratroopers jump out of a U.S. Air Force Fairchild C-123B Provider (s/n 56-4367) of the 464th Troop Carrier Wing during a training exercise in April 1966. This plane belly-landed at Tau Tieng after being hit by small arms fire on 26 November 1966.
context_page_description: The 778th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force squadron activated after 3 May 2002, being engaged in the Global War on Terrorism. Its current status is undetermined.
  The squadron was first active during World War II as the 778th Bombardment Squadron. The squadron flew Consolidated B-24 Liberators in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, earning two Distinguished Unit Citations for its actions. Following the war, the squadron helped transport troops back to the United States.
  The squadron was reactivated in 1953 as the 778th Troop Carrier Squadron, when it replaced the 73d Troop Carrier Squadron, a reserve unit that had been called to active duty for the Korean War at Lawson Air Force Base, Georgia. It moved to Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, where it successively flew Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars and Fairchild C-123 Providers. It converted to Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft. It frequently deployed to other theaters, and participated in Operation Dragon Rouge and Operation Power Pack. It was inactivated on 31 August 1971, when the 40th Tactical Airlift Squadron replaced it at Pope.
context_section_description: In November 1957, the 464th Troop Carrier Wing converted to the dual deputy organization.  The wing's 464th Troop Carrier Group was inactivated, and the squadron was assigned directly to the wing. The squadron, meanwhile, began trading its C-119s for Fairchild C-123 Providers before the end of the year.  The squadron continued airlift support missions with its providers until January 1964, when it began converting to the Lockheed C-130 Hercules
caption: 464th Wing C-123B Provider[note 1]
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