17th Airlift Squadron

17th Airlift Squadron
17th Airlift Squadron Patch
Active	18 February 1942 – 25 June 2015
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Airlift
Part of	Air Mobility Command 18th Air Force 437th Airlift Wing 437th Operations Group
Garrison/HQ	Charleston Air Force Base
Nickname(s)	AAA Moving
Motto(s)	Anything, Anywhere, Anytime
Decorations	AFOUA RVGC w/ Palm

The 17th Airlift Squadron was one of four active duty C-17A Globemaster III units at Charleston AFB, South Carolina.

The 17th Airlift Squadron is commanded by a lieutenant colonel, who serves as head of the squadron and the pilots. The chief loadmaster is in charge of the loadmasters, the first sergeant takes charge of the few support military personnel and civilians working in the squadron.

The 17th was responsible for being the first unit to set up forward deployed C-17 staging operations, at the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, creating the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (EAS) .

The 17th Airlift Squadron recently stepped up to the plate once more and created another EAS. For the first time, two C-17 Squadrons became deployed in forward theater locations, supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom, and Enduring Freedom. The 817th Area of Responsibility split. On 1 June 2006, the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron was created and launched its first crew 15 minutes later.

Unlike previous C-17 deployments, this one actually had the squadron itself doing all the flying from "an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia." The 17th helped initiate a whole new concept in C-17 operations in that this was the first time that the airframe was employed like traditional intratheater airlift assets such as the C-12, C-20, C-21 or the C-130. However, unlike traditional tactical airlift assets that are under the direct command of the theater commander, the 817th EAS is headquartered out of theater.

Note: the 17th Airlift Squadron already existed at the time of redesignation as a C-130 squadron based at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. This unit originated from the 17th Troop Carrier Squadron under Alaskan Air Command in 1964. The squadron was redesignated the 17th Tactical Airlift Squadron in 1966. It was redesignated the 517th Airlift Squadron upon activation of the C-17 unit that took its name. In January 2006 the 517th Airlift Squadron began its own transition from C-130s to C-17s with the final C-130 leaving the unit on 26 March 2007.