The 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed. Most recently, it operated Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft in theater airlift missions as part of the Global War on Terrorism. The squadron was first activated as the 746th Bombardment Squadron in June 1943. After training in the United States, it deployed to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, where it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citations for its combat operations. Following V-E Day, the squadron returned to the United States and began reorganizing as a very heavy bomber unit, but after the Japanese surrender, was inactivated in October 1945. The squadron was reactivated in the reserve in 1947, but does not appear to have been fully equipped or manned. It was activated again in 1952 as the 746th Troop Carrier Squadron, when the 456th Troop Carrier Group replaced the 435th Troop Carrier Group, a reserve group that had been mobilized for the Korean War. It operated from Japan with elements of United States Air Force Security Service, performing special reconnaissance missions, until returning to the United States for inactivation in 1958. It was converted to provisional status as the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in 2002. History World War II The squadron was first activated on 1 June 1943 as the 746th Bombardment Squadron at Wendover Field, Utah, where it was one of the four original squadrons of the 456th Bombardment Group and received its initial cadre. Shortly thereafter the squadron moved to Gowen Field, Idaho and began to train with Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers. It completed its training in December 1943 after which it began moving to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. The squadron arrived in theater at Cerignola Airfield on 11 January 1944 and later that month moved to its combat station of Stornara Airfield, Italy. The squadron commenced combat operations the following month, primarily engaging in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. Its early operations were conducted against airfields, aircraft factories, and railroad bridges in Italy, Austria and Romania. On 10 May 1944, the squadron targeted a manufacturing center at Wiener Neustadt, Austria, but adverse weather caused most of the attacking force to turn back before reaching the target. The 746th and the rest of the 456th Group proceeded to attack the target despite heavy