3rd Air Transport Squadron (Mobile)

  March 1944 to June 1945

  United States of America

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TYPE: USAAF unit

IATA/ICAO CODES: Nil

HEADQUARTERS: Homestead AAF, FL (1944), RAF Kalaikunda, Bengal, India (1944), Dergaon, Assam, India (1944-1945), Sookerating, Assam, India (1945)

FORMER NAME: Nil

SUBSEQUENT NAME: 3^rd Airborne Command & Control Squadron (reactivated in 1985)

The 3^rd Air Transport Squadron (Mobile) (3 ATS(M)) was formed at Homestead AAF, FL on 13 March 1944. It trained there under the auspices of Air Transport Command Caribbean Wing, and quickly prepared for activation and deployment to the China-Burma-India theater of operations. Upon activation, it was deployed to Kalaikunda, Bengal, India in May 1944, while its air echelon began military airlift missions from Kharagpur, Bengal, India, only 10 km away. Using a complement of 20 Commandos, 3 ATS(M) was responsible for transporting men and material over the Himalayas to XX Bomber Command bases in China.

3 ATS(M) was purely a Commando squadron throughout its existence.

In June 1945, it was realized that operating B-29s from China, at the end of a thousand miles long air supply route, was impractical. XX Bomber Command was disolved and Superfortresses were operated from bases in Okinawa and the Marianna Islands. 3 ATS(M) was deactivated in the process.

March 1944 to June 1945

• Curtiss C-46A-40-CU Commando: 42-61065
• Curtiss C-46A-41-CU Commando: 42-60981, 42-60996, 42-107313, 42-107316, 42-107317
• Curtiss C-46A-45-CU Commando: 42-96635, 42-96650, 42-96759
• Curtiss C-46A-50-CU Commando: 42-101074, 42-101119