41st Military Airlift Squadron The 41st Military Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit . It was last assigned to the 437th Military Airlift Wing , Military Airlift Command , stationed at Charleston Air Force Base , South Carolina . It was inactivated on 1 October 1991 . History . The unit was activated as the 41st Ferrying ( later , Transport ) Squadron at Accra , British Gold Coast ( Ghana ) , West Africa , in Aug 1942 . It ferried various aircraft , including A - 20s , A - 30s , B - 17s , B - 24s , B - 25s , B - 26s , B - 34s , P - 38s , P - 40s , C - 46s , and C - 53s , to destinations in England , North Africa , the Middle East , Iran and India . It also provided a maintenance service for transient aircraft until inactivated on 30 September 1943 . The squadron was re - activated in July 1952 at Wheelus Field , Libya . It flew C - 54s to Egypt , Saudi Arabia and Cyprus ; it also operated the base transport control center . Nine months after activation , the 41st undertook transient maintenance . It ceased flying operations on 1 Apr 1954 to prepare for the move to the United States . By 13 Apr , it had completed the move to Charleston AFB , SC and made its first scheduled flight on 10 May . Over the next fourteen months , its C - 54s flew to Goose Bay , Labrador ; Torbay , Newfoundland ; Port Lyautey , Morocco ; Tripoli , Libya ; England ; West Germany ; Thule , Greenland ; Bermuda ; the Azores and France . The squadron converted to the C - 121C between 15 September and 31 December 1955 , and added destinations in the Caribbean and Central America to its operations . In November – December , it flew the first of many missions in support of the UN , transporting peace - keeping forces from Columbia and India to Beirut in Lebanon , to enforce a Middle East cease - fire between Egypt and Israel . The airlift of Hungarian refugees from West Germany to the United States in Dec 1956 was only one of many humanitarian missions flown . In 1962 the 41st transferred its C - 121s to Air National Guard units and received its first C - 130E on 11 August . During the 1960s , the 41st Military Airlift Squadron annually flew airlift missions to the Antarctic in support of U . S . scientific bases there . In the spring of 1965 , it helped airlift troops , equipment and supplies to the Dominican Republic in support of the U . S . - backed government . In May 1965 , it flew the first airlift mission to Vietnam . Re - designated the 41st Airlift Squadron in January 1966 , it converted to C - 141 aircraft in February – May 1967 , and expanded operations to destinations all over the world . Flights to Southeast Asia in support of combat operations became much more frequent , only ceasing with the withdrawal of the U . S . in January 1973 . The squadron frequently flew support missions for presidential trips , including President Richard M . Nixon ' s visit to the People ' s Republic of China in February 1972 . The squadron participated in the airlift of military supplies to Israel during the Yom Kippur War in October – November 1973 . It flew missions in support of the evacuation and resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees , as the Communists took over South Vietnam and Cambodia between April and June 1975 . Between 23 and 29 Oct 1983 , it airlifted replacement troops and equipment to Beirut after a terrorist attack on U . S . Marines ' barracks killed 241 men . The 41st IBS provided airlift support for the Grenada operation from 24 Oct to 19 Dec 1983 . In recent years , the squadron has participated regularly in tactical air - drop exercises with the Army , and provided support for the U . S . Navy as well . It was inactivated in 1991 as part of the drawdown of the USAF after the end of the Cold War .