interceptor opposition that was able to concentrate on defending against the group's Liberators. Its actions in this operation earned the squadron its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC). Later, the squadron expanded its operations to include attacks on locomotive manufacturing plants, oil refineries, oil storage facilities and viaducts in France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and on the Balkan peninsula. On 2 July 1944, the squadron experienced severe fighter attacks while bombing oil facilities at Budapest, Hungary, for which it was awarded a second DUC. During this time, the squadron was occasionally diverted from its strategic mission to carry out air support and air interdiction missions. From July through August 1944, it helped set the conditions for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. In the spring of 1945, it supported Operation Grapeshot, the offensive by the United States Fifth Army and British Eighth Army against remaining German forces in northern Italy. Following V-E Day, the squadron airlifted supplies to airfields in northern Italy. It returned to the United States in July and began to reorganize as a very heavy bomber unit in preparation for operations in the Pacific. However, with the surrender of Japan, the squadron was inactivated on 17 October 1945. Air Force reserve The squadron was reactivated as a reserve unit in July 1947, under Air Defense Command (ADC) at McChord Field, Washington, where its training was supervised by ADC's 406th AAF Base Unit (later the 2345th Air Force Reserve Training Center). It was nominally a very heavy bomber unit, but according to air force historian Maurer Maurer, the squadron does not appear to have been fully manned or equipped with operational aircraft while a reserve unit. In 1948 Continental Air Command (ConAC) assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC. President Truman’s reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of units in the Air Force. ConAC also reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization system in June 1949. As a result, the squadron was inactivated and its personnel and equipment were transferred to elements of the 302d Troop Carrier Wing, which was activated simultaneously. Troop carrier operations In 1952, the squadron was redesignated the 746th Troop Carrier Squadron and activated at Miami International Airport, Florida, where it replaced the 78th Troop Carrier Squadron, a reserve unit that had been mobilized for the Korean War and which was returning to reserve status.