The 758th Airlift Squadron is oldest squadron in the 911th Airlift Wing at Pittsburgh International Airport, Pennsylvania. Activated as a 8-24 Liberator heavy bombardment squadron in July 1943, crews fought in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations from Giulia Airfield in Southern Italy during World War II. Assigned to the 15th Air Force, the 758th engaged in long range strategic bombing missions to enemy targets in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia.
The unit received the Distinguished Unit Citation for a perfect strike mission against enemy industrial targets in Bad Voslau, Austria on 23 April 1944. Following the war, the squadron transitioned to the 8-29 Superfortress, training Reserve aircrews at Long Beach Army Air Field, California. After a period of deactivation, the unit was reconstituted as an airlift unit at Pittsburgh International Airport on 16 November 1957, flying the mighty Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar. On 17 January 1963, the 911th Troop Carrier Group was activated to administer the squadron’s airlift mission at Pittsburgh.
