80th Troop Carrier Squadron The 80th Troop Carrier Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . Formed in April 1943 , its last assignment was with the 436th Troop Carrier Group , based at Standiford Municipal Airport , Kentucky . It was inactivated on 16 April 1951 . History . The squadron was formed in April 1943 by I Troop Carrier Command , trained and equipped at various bases in the United States for the balance of the year . It was deployed to England , being assigned to IX Troop Carrier Command , Ninth Air Force , 53rd Troop Carrier Wing , 436th Troop Carrier Group , in early January 1944 , during the Allied buildup prior to the invasion of France . Initially it was stationed at RAF Bottesford , then moved to RAF Membury 3 March 1944 . The squadron participated in the D - Day operation , dropping 101st Airborne Division paratroops near Sainte - Mère - Église on the Cotentin Peninsula in pre - dawn hours and towing gliders with 82nd Airborne Division paratroops at dusk to drop zones just inland from Utah Beach , then carried out re - supply drops and glider delivery missions the following day . The squadron ' s aircraft flew supplies into Normandy as soon as suitable landing strips were available and evacuated casualties to England . From 20 July until 23 August , a detachment from the squadron operated from Voltone Airfield in Italy in support of Operation Dragoon , the invasion of Southern France , releasing gliders carrying 82nd Airborne Division paratroops in the assault area on 15 August . It flew several resupply missions to France and then dropped supplies to Allied forces in Italy . The detachment then returned to Membury airbase in England . In late September the squadron carried out airborne operations over the Netherlands , dropping paratroops of the 101st Airborne Division and releasing gliders with reinforcements of troops and equipment in missions during Operation Market Garden . In late December , the squadron flew sorties during Operation Repulse , the resupply of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge . The squadron moved to Villaroche ( Melun ) Airfield , France , in February 1945 , and for the balance of the Northern France Campaign and the Western Allied invasion of Germany was engaged in combat resupply of ground forces , operating from Advanced Landing Ground s in northern France . Delivered supplies to rough Resupply and Evacuation airfields near the front lines , returning combat casualties to field hospitals in rear areas . Participated in Operation Varsity , the airborne invasion of Germany , in March 1945 . After V - E Day , the squadron continued to evacuate patients and prisoners of war and flew practice missions with French paratroops . Redeployed to the United States in August 1945 , it became a transport squadron for Continental Air Command until inactivated in November 1945 . Postwar the squadron was activated in the Air Force Reserve in 1947 , first at Godman AFB , then at Standiford Field , Louisville , Kentucky , operating C - 46 Commandos for Tactical Air Command Eighteenth Air Force ; activated during the Korean War in 1951 , its aircraft and personnel being used as fillers for active duty units , then inactivated .