The squadron was first activated at Camp Williams, Wisconsin in June 1942 as the 52d Transport Squadron as the 63d Transport Group expanded from three to four squadrons. A few weeks after it was organized, the unit became the 52d Troop Carrier Squadron. It was equipped with various civilian and military versions of the Douglas DC-3, including the Douglas C-47 Skytrain and the C-53 Skytrooper. The squadron acted as a Replacement Training Unit. RTUs were oversized units that trained individual pilots or aircrews for service in combat theaters. The squadron moved its operations several times, arriving at Sedalia Army Air Field, Missouri in January 1944. However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. The 52d was disbanded, and along with other units at Sedalia Army Air Field, was replaced by the 813th AAF Base Unit.
The squadron was reconstituted and reactivated at Floyd Bennett Field, New York in June 1949, when Continental Air Command reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization system, which placed both operational and support organizations under a single wing. Under the 1949 reserve plan, the squadron was manned at only 25% of its authorized strength. It trained with C-47s and a variety of trainer aircraft under the guidance of the regular 2230th Air Force Reserve Training Center. Along with all reserve combat units, the squadron was mobilized for the Korean War. It was included in the second wave of reserve unit callups, entering active duty on 1 May 1951. Its personnel were used as fillers for other units and the squadron was inactivated on 9 May.
Later operations
Worldwide Airlift, 1953–1969. Supported Project Deep Freeze in the Antarctic, 1956–1958. Worldwide airlift, 1988–1992 with Lockheed C-141 Starlifters, including airdrop of troops and equipment in Operation Just Cause in Panama on 20 December 1989. Redesignated as 52 Airlift Squadron on 1 January 1992. Inactivated on 30 September 1992. The squadron reactivated on 1 May 1994 in the tactical airlift role, 1994–1997. Inactivated on 16 September 1997. Organization reactivated to duty on 3 October 2009 with C-130s as an active associate airlift squadron dually-assigned to the Air Force Reserve's 302d Airlift Wing at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. Participated in Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan 23 Aug 2010 – present. The squadron is assigned the aerial firefighting mission using Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems. The system can discharge its load of 3,000 gallons weighing 27,000 pounds in less than five seconds. The retardant can cover an area one-quarter of a mile long and 100 feet wide. After the plane discharges its load, it can be refilled on the ground in less than 12 minutes.
Lineage
Constituted as the 52d Transport Squadron on 30 May 1942
Reconstituted and redesignated 52d Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 10 May 1949
Redesignated 52d Troop Carrier Squadron''', Heavy on 19 March 1953
