61st Troop Carrier Group (M)

Units

4th Troop Carrier Squadron
14th Troop Carrier Squadron
15th Troop Carrier Squadron
53rd Troop Carrier Squadron

From the last week of July until early December 1950, the 61st TCG, equipped with C-54 Skymasters, flew the northern route from McChord AFB, Washington, to Japan, providing airlift of personnel and supplies for UN forces. Flying a total of 253 Pacific trips, it airlifted 368 tons of cargo and transported 5,117 passengers until alerted for movement to Japan. On December 13, three days after the 61st TCG arrived at Ashiya, the squadrons flew their first combat missions, carrying ammunition, supplies and equipment to besieged UN forces fighting their way out of the Hungnam perimeter and returning wounded personnel and evacuees to South Korea and Japan. The 61st TCG often operated from airstrips that were too primitive for larger transports. In November 1952, the U.S. Air Force began to phase C-54s out of the Korean airlift. The 61st had accounted for movement of over 67, 257 air evacuees, 615,195 passengers and 152,500 tons of cargo before returning to the United States on 18 November.

Combat Components

4th Troop Carrier Squadron: attached December 17, 1950-July 25, 1951.
14th Troop Carrier Squadron: -c. December 5 and March 26-c. November 15, 1952.
15th Troop Carrier Squadron: duration.
53rd Troop Carrier Squadron: duration except detached March 26-September 14, 1952.

Stations

McChord AFB, WA, - December 5, 1950; Ashiya AB, Japan, December 10, 1950; Tachikawa AB, Japan, March 26-November 1952.

Bill Fitzgerald wrote on April 16, 2005

Email Update Needed

City and State: MEDFORD NJ

Unit: 61TH. T.C.SQ. ASHIYA

Service or Relationship: -

Comments:

Keywords: 61th t.c.sq. ashiya japan 1954 to 1956
work on c-119