53d Airlift Squadron The 53d Airlift Squadron ( 53 AS ) is part of the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base , Arkansas . It operates C - 130 Hercules aircraft for airlift and airdrop operations . History . Activated in June 1942 as a I Troop Carrier Command C - 47 Skytrain troop carrier squadron , trained in the United States . Assigned to Twelfth Air Force and deployed North Africa during May 1943 . The squadron ' s aircraft flew supplies to front - line units in Algeria and Tunisia during the North African Campaign as soon as suitable landing strips were available and evacuated casualties back to rear area field hospitals . Squadron engaged in combat operations , dropping airborne units into Sicily during the Operation Husky invasion and later into areas around Anzio , Italy as part of Operation Shingle , the invasion of mainland Italy and the initiation of the Italian Campaign , January 1944 . Moved north though Italy , in 1943 in support of Allied ground forces , evacuated wounded personnel and flew missions behind enemy lines in Italy and the Balkans to haul guns , ammunition , food , clothing , medical supplies , and other materials to the partisans and to drop propaganda leaflets . Was moved to England in February 1944 , assigned to IX Troop Carrier Command , Ninth Air Force . Prepared for the invasion of Nazi - occupied Europe . In June 1944 , subordinate units dropped paratroops in Normandy , subsequently flying numerous missions to bring in reinforcements and needed supplies . During the airborne attack on The Netherlands ( Operation Market Garden , September 1944 ) , the squadron dropped paratroops , towed gliders , and flew resupply missions . Several of its subordinate units also participated in the invasion of southern France in August 1944 . The 50th supported the 101st Airborne Division in the Battle of the Bulge by towing gliders full of supplies near Bastogne on 27 December 1944 . When the Allies made the air assault across the Rhine River in March 1945 , each aircraft towed two gliders with troops of the 17th Airborne Division and released them near Wesel . The squadron also hauled food , clothing , medicine , gasoline , ordnance equipment , and other supplies to the front lines and evacuated patients to rear zone hospitals . In late May 1945 , after V - E Day , the squadron was moved to Waller Field , Trinidad and attached to Air Transport Command . From Trinidad , the squadron ferried returning military personnel to Morrision Field , Florida , where they were sent on to other bases or prepared for separation after the war . The squadron participated in the Berlin Airlift , 1948 – 1949 , and conducted aerial transportation from the U . S . to Japan from August – December 1950 , and between Japan and Korea from 13 December 1950 - November 1952 . It conducted worldwide airlift operations from 1953 - 1966 , including resupply to Antarctica from 1957 – 1958 , and missions to Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War . The 53d again conducted worldwide airlift from 1972 - 1993 flying missions into Grenada , 23 October 1983 – 9 November 1983 , during the invasion of Panama , 20 December 1989 , and to Southwest Asia , August 1990 - June 1991 . The squadron was inactivated in 2008 and detached from AETC . It was reactivated in October 2008 as a part of the 19th Airlift Wing , 18th Air Force , AMC .