50th Airlift Squadron The 50th Airlift Squadron is one of four operational flying Air Mobility Command squadrons currently stationed at Little Rock AFB in Jacksonville , Arkansas . The " Fightin ' 5 - 0 along with their sister squadrons , the 41 AS , 53 AS , and the 61 AS , are assigned to the 19th Operations Group . History . Activated in the summer of 1942 under I Troop Carrier Command and equipped with C - 47 Skytrain s . Trained in various parts of the eastern United States until the end of 1943 . Deployed to French Morocco in May 1943 and assigned to Twelfth Air Force to support combat operations in the North African Campaign . Remained with Twelfth Air Force , moving to Tunisia and Sicily providing transport and resupply operations as well as casualty evacuation of wounded personnel in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations ( MTO ) . Reassigned to IX Troop Carrier Command , Ninth Air Force in England during early 1944 as part of the build - up of Allied forces prior to the D - Day invasion of France . Began operations by dropping paratroop s into Normandy on D - Day ( 6 June 1944 ) and releasing gliders with reinforcements on the following day . The unit received a 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 . Moved to Belgium in early 1945 , and participated in the Western Allied invasion of Germany , participating in 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 . After V - E Day , became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe , being assigned to AAF Station Frankfurt and was part of the USAFE European Air Transport System ( EATS ) , supporting the occupation forces in Germany as well as carrying supplies and personnel between various stations in Western Europe . Demobilized in early 1946 while stationed in France , unit inactivated later that year as an administrative unit . Reactivated as part of Tactical Air Command Eighteenth Air Force in 1949 with C - 82 Packet s and various gliders as an assault squadron . Deployed to Japan for combat operations in 1950 for the Korean War . Furnished airlift between Japan and Korea and airdropped paratroops and supplies at Sukchon / Sunchon and Munsan - ni . Moved to the Philippines in 1954 after the armistice and was inactivated . Reactivated in 1957 by TAC as one of the first C - 130 Hercules squadrons when the aircraft came into operational service . The squadron has been involved in major engagements around the world to include the Korean War , Vietnam War , Persian Gulf War , and the current Operation Iraqi Freedom ( OIF ) and Operation Enduring Freedom ( OEF ) . The 50th AS is also known for humanitarian relief . During the 2004 Asian Tsunami crisis , the 50th sent several crews and tons of food rations to Thailand to help those in need . Following the horrors of Hurricane Katrina , 50th AS aircrews helped relocate survivors from the New Orleans , Louisiana and Biloxi , Mississippi areas to Little Rock , Arkansas . Humanitarian missions were flown in and out of Haiti following a major earthquake in December 2010 . In 2012 , elements of the 50th celebrated 70 years of history with members deployed to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in Afghanistan .