249th Airlift Squadron

249th Airlift Squadron

249th Airlift Squadron C-17 Globemaster III[1]
Active 2009 – present
Country  United States
Allegiance  Alaska
Branch   Air National Guard
Role Airlift
Size 34 officers and 36 enlisted [2]
Part of Alaska Air National Guard
Garrison/HQ Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska
Tail Code White tail stripe "Elmendorf" in black "AK"
Insignia
249th Airlift Squadron emblem

The 249th Airlift Squadron (249 AS) is a unit of the 176th Wing of the Alaska Air National Guard located at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, Alaska. The 249th is an associate unit of the 517th Airlift Squadron, which is equipped with the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.

Mission

The 249th’s mission is strategic airlift of troops and cargo to main operating bases or forward locations worldwie. It also conducts theater airlift, aeromedical evacuation and tactical airdrop missions. Tactics to accomplish the mission include air refueling, low-level contour navigation and use of night vision goggles. Its crews mix with crews from the active-duty Air Force 517th Airlift Squadron to fly eight Boeing C-17 Globemaster III jets around the world. In the event of mobilization the squadron would become an element of Pacific Air Forces[2]

History

In association with the 517th, the Alaska Air National Guard established a detachment of the 176th Operations Group in 2007 to fly airlift missions. The detachment was organized under the "classic" association model in which the 517th retained principal responsibility for the aircraft flown. Although the 517th and the detachment were administratively separate, they were operationally and functionally integrated for performance of missions.[2] Missions flown by the detachment included combat missions in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom in mid-summer of 2007.

On 1 September 2009, with the expansion of the mission, the 249th Airlift Squadron was activated and absorbed the personnel and mission of the detachment. The squadron achieved initial operational capability sixteen days later.[2]

Following the January 2010 Haiti earthquake members of the 249th and three C-17s deployed to Jackson Air National Guard Base to fly cargo and relief assistance personnel to the destroyed areas of Haiti. At Jackson, they integrated with the 183rd Airlift Squadron of the Mississippi Air National Guard. Squadron members flew equipment like fire trucks and fork lifts into Haiti, while evacuating more than 800 refugees on the return trips.[3] In July of that same year, a C-17 flown by a joint crew of the 249th and 517th crashed while practicing for an airshow, killing the four crewmembers aboard the plane.[4]

In the fall of 2011, the squadron once again participated in a major disaster relief operation, when it transported Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters of the 176th Group to the northeastern United States to assist in recover from Hurricane Irene.[5]

Lineage

Activated on 1 September 2009[2]

Assignments

Stations

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, 18 February 2011 - present[2]

Aircraft

See also

References

  1. ↑ Aircraft is C-17A Lot XI, serial 99-169 "Spirit of Denali". This was the first Globemaster III delivered to Elmendorf Air Force Base.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Factsheet 249th Airlift Squadron". 176th Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Brooks, Kalei (2010). "Alaska National Guard Deploys to Help Haiti" (PDF). Warriors. p. 18. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Air show to go on after 4 killed in Alaska plane crash". NBC News. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  5. ↑ Hayes, Maj Guy (24 August 2011). "Alaska Air National Guard to provide rescue support for Hurricane Irene". The Delta Discovery. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
  6. ↑ The aircraft flown by the 249th are assigned to the 517th Airlift Squadron of the 3d Wing. It is not assigned aircraft of its own.

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

External links

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