36th Airlift Squadron The 36th Airlift Squadron ( 36 AS ) is the only forward - based tactical airlift squadron in the Pacific Area of Responsibility . Formerly an Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) unit , and a Military Airlift Command ( MAC ) and a Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) unit before that , the squadron is now part of Pacific Air Forces ( PACAF ) . It maintains a forward presence and supports combat operations by providing responsive movement of personnel and equipment through aerial delivery and assault airland operations . It maintains C - 130 Hercules mission - ready aircrews to conduct theater airlift , special operations , aeromedical evacuation , search and rescue , repatriation and humanitarian relief missions . Mission . Provide services and support , which promote quality of life and project global power through combat - proven airlift and airdrop . History . Activated in June 1942 under First Air Force , being formed at Patterson Field , Ohio . Trained at various stationd in the southeast and Texas with C - 47 Skytrain transports . Deployed to Egypt in November 1942 as part of President Roosevelt ' s decision to aid the Royal Air Force Western Desert Air Force , assigned to the newly established Ninth Air Force , headquartered in Cairo . Transported supplies and evacuated casualties in support of the British Eighth Army , operating from desert airfields in Egypt and Libya . Reassigned in May 1943 to the USAAF Twelfth Air Force in Algeria , supporting Fifth Army forces in the Tunisian Campaign . Began training for the invasion of Sicily ; dropped paratroops over the assault area on the night of 9 July . Carried reinforcements to Sicily on 11 July and received a DUC for carrying out that mission although severely attacked by ground and naval forces ; dropped paratroops over the beachhead south of the Sele River on the night of 14 September 1943 . Remained in the MTO until February 1944 until being reassigned back to Ninth Air Force in England , IX Troop Carrier Command to participate in the buildup of forces prior to the Allied landings in France during D - Day in June 1944 . Engaged in combat operations by dropping paratroop s into Normandy near Ste - Mere - Eglise on D - Day ( 6 June 1944 ) and releasing gliders with reinforcements on the following day . The unit received a third Distinguished Unit Citation and a French citation for these missions . After the Normandy invasion the squadron ferried supplies in the United Kingdom . The squadron also hauled food , clothing , medicine , gasoline , ordnance equipment , and other supplies to the front lines and evacuated patients to rear zone hospitals . It dropped paratroops near Nijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during the airborne attack on Holland . In December , it participated in the Battle of the Bulge by releasing gliders with supplies for the 101st Airborne Division near Bastogne . Returned to the United States in May 1945 , becoming a domestic troop carrier squadron for Continental Air Forces . In the Korean War the squadron flew airborne assaults at Sukchon and Munsan - ni and aerial transportation between Japan and Korea . Returned to the United States in 1952 , however re - deployed back to Japan in 1954 and performed theater airlift missions . Inactivated in 1957 as part of the draw down of occupation forces in Japan . Reactivated in 1966 at Langley AFB , Virginia as a Tactical Air Command C - 130 Hercules troop carrier squadron . Deployed frequently to NATO , sending aircraft to both England and West Germany . When Langley became an F - 15 base in 1975 , was moved to McChord AFB , Washington where it operated C - 130s under Military Airlift Command primarily within the United States . It also participated and supported the ground troops during military operations in Grenada , October – November 1983 , and in Panama , December 1989 – January 1990 . Reassigned back to Japan in 1993 where it performed its current theater airlift mission .