The 737th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command (ACC) to activate or inactivate as needed. It operates Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft in theater airlift missions as part of the Global War on Terrorism. Its current status and duty location is undetermined. The squadron was first activated as the 737th Bombardment Squadron in June 1943. After training in the United States with the Consolidated B-24 Liberator, it deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, participating in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for its combat operations. Following V-E Day, it returned to the United States for conversion as a very heavy bomber unit, but was inactivated instead. The squadron was activated in the reserves in 1947, but was not fully manned or equipped before inactivating in 1949. In 1952 it was redesignated the 737th Troop Carrier Squadron and again activated in the reserve, but was inactivated the following year and its personnel and equipment transferred to another unit. It was converted to provisional status in 2002 and assigned to Air Mobility Command. It was reassigned to ACC in 2003. History World War II The squadron was first activated at Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico in mid-1943 as the 737th Bombardment Squadron, one of the four Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment squadrons assigned to the 454th Bombardment Group. The unit trained under Second Air Force. After training in the United States, the squadron deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in late 1943 and was stationed at San Giovanni Airfield under Fifteenth Air Force. The unit engaged in very long range strategic bombardment of enemy military, industrial and transportation targets. It initially flew some interdiction and ground support missions, participating in the drive to Rome. Most operations included attacks against such objectives as marshalling yards, aircraft factories, railroad bridges, and airdromes in Italy, Austria, and Romania. The squadron was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for an attack on an airfield at Bad Vöslau, Austria on 12 April 1944. It helped to prepare the way for and supported Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France, during July and August 1944. At the same time, expanded previous operations to include attacks on oil refineries and storage facilities, locomotive works, and viaducts in France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, and in the Balkans. It earned a second Distinguished Unit