The year was 1942. Franklin D. Roosevelt was president of the United States and the country was locked in war. Gary Cooper reigned at the box office as "Sergeant York," a gallon of gas cost 15 cents, Coca-Cola was a nickel and in Australia, the U.S. Army Air Forces activated a new squadron it dubbed the 22nd Air Transport Squadron.
On Tuesday, that squadron marked 70 years of service, including the last 40 at Travis Air Force Base.
At the time the squadron was created, Japanese forces were attempting to cut Australia off from the Allies and the squadron was part of a response to the imminent threat of a Japanese attack.
The squadron would go on to serve through World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, relocating several times along the way.
Then, in February 1972, it was reactivated and assigned to the 60th Military Airlift Wing at Travis Air Force Base as a C-5A Galaxy squadron. For more than 20 years, the 22nd MAS and its sister C-5 squadron, the 75th MAS, supported U.S. military combat and humanitarian operations throughout the world. From March 1972 to April 1975, the 22nd flew strategic airlift missions to Southeast Asia. From Oct. 25 to Nov. 7, 1983, it supported combat operations in Grenada to remove a Communist-backed regime.
The 22nd MAS was redesignated the 22nd Airlift Squadron on Nov. 1, 1991, and since then has provided support for a number of missions, including Operation Provide Comfort (1991 to 1996) for Kurdish refugees threatened by Iraqi forces; Operation Fiery Vigil (1991), the evacuation of military personnel and their families from the Philippines following the Mt. Pinatubo eruption; and Operations Provide Relief and Restore Hope (1992 to 1993), aiding thousands of famine victims in Somalia.
It currently flies in support of U.S. operations in Southwest Asia.
Mark Wilderman, 60th Air Mobility Wing historian at Travis Air Force Base,
contributed to this report.