| Unit Name: | 19th Military Airlift Squadron |
| Dates: | 1942–1943; 1952–1969 |
| Role: | Airlift |
| Command Structure: | 62d Military Airlift Wing (1962-69) |
| Decorations: | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award[1] [2] Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm |
| Identification Symbol Label: | 19th Logistic Support Squadron emblem (approved 26 January 1956) |
The 19th Military Airlift Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 62d Military Airlift Wing, Military Airlift Command, stationed at McChord Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 22 December 1969.
The first predecessor of the squadron was activated at Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah in July 1942 as the 363d Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 304th Bombardment Group. In September, the squadron moved to Geiger Field, Washington, where it received its first personnel and began training with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses, but soon moved to Virginia and switched to the Consolidated B-24 Liberator.[3] [4]
After its arrival on the eastern seaboard, the squadron began antisubmarine warfare patrols. In November, it was renamed the 19th Antisubmarine Squadron and in December, its parent 304th Bombardment Group, whose squadrons had dispersed to various locations, was inactivated and the squadron was assigned to the 25th Antisubmarine Wing, which supervised Army Air Forces throughout the Atlantic coast.[3] [5] The Navy believed that more antisubmarine forces were required to protect convoys in the North Atlantic, where attacks were becoming more concentrated. In March, the 19th Antisubmarine Squadron relocated to CFB Gander in Newfoundland, soon joined by two other squadrons.[6]
US Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command had moved some of its north American based antisubmarine squadrons to England in December 1942 as the 2037th Antisubmarine Wing (Provisional), but those early squadrons had subsequently been moved-on to airfields in French Morocco, where they were formed-up into the newly created 480th Antisubmarine Group under the control of the United States Navy Fleet Air Wing 15, part of the Moroccan Sea Frontier.
To replace them, the antisubmarine squadrons in Newfoundland, including the 19th, were moved to RAF St Eval in Cornwall in March 1943, where they formed the 479th Antisubmarine Group[7] under the control of No. 19 Group of RAF Coastal Command. The group conducted patrols over the Bay of Biscay in coordination with the RAF Coastal Command, achieving its greatest success in the first two months it was in action. Following this period, German U-boats adopted tactics that kept them submerged in the group's area of operations during daylight hours. The 479th Group continued its patrols, occasionally engaging Luftwaffe aircraft until October. The 479th Group was disbanded in England in November, along with the 19th Squadron.[3] [8]
The second predecessor of the unit was established as the 19th Logistic Support Squadron in 1952 as the first of three logistic support squadrons organized by Air Materiel Command.[9] Its mission was to provide worldwide airlift of nuclear weapons and related equipment,[10] [11] with a secondary mission to airlift other Department of Defense cargo as required when space was available.
In 1963, Military Air Transport Service assumed the mission of transporting special weapons and the squadron was reassigned to the 62d Troop Carrier Wing, one of the command's two C-124 troop carrier wings. Shortly before its inactivation, its mission changed to that of strategic transport squadron flying worldwide airlift operations. It was inactivated in 1969 with the retirement of the C-124.
In 1985 the two squadrons were consolidated and redesignated as the 19th Aeromedical Airlift Squadron.[12]
Activated on 15 July 1942
Redesignated 19th Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) on 29 November 1942
Disbanded on 11 November 1943[13]
Activated on 23 September 1952[10]
Redesignated 19th Air Transport Squadron, Special on 8 July 1964 1965
Redesignated 19th Military Airlift Squadron, Special on 27 December 1965
Redesignated 19th Military Airlift Squadron on 8 April 1969
Inactivated on 22 December 1969