HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- The 28th Logistic Support Squadron, one of Hill AFB’s previous long-term tenant units, activated at the installation on July 8, 1953. With an authorized strength of 69 officers and 357 airmen, the squadron provided the Ogden Air Materiel Area with air transportation of special weapons equipment. The squadron also provided air transportation of other cargo as required when it had space available.
Though the squadron ceased to be an organic part of the OOAMA on February 6, 1955, when the Air Materiel Command reassigned it to the 3079th Aviation Depot Wing (headquartered at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio), it remained at Hill AFB as a tenant and continued to perform important air transportation support for the OOAMA and other Air Force units.
In January 1962, the squadron transferred to the Military Air Transport Service and redesignated as the 28th Air Transport Squadron. In early 1966, the squadron transferred to the 60th Military Airlift Wing (headquartered at Travis AFB, California) and redesignated as the 28th Military Airlift Squadron. The squadron remained a tenant unit at Hill AFB throughout these transitions.
In the mid-1960s, logistical activity increased at Hill AFB in support of operations in Southeast Asia. To improve logistics support to the battlefield, the Military Airlift Command (MAC) began direct airlift support from Hill AFB to bases in Southeast Asia. On March 3, 1966, the first MAC-operated C-124 left Hill AFB for Southeast Asia, loaded with airmunitions. The 28th Military Airlift Squadron conducted three flights per week. Airlifting eased overtaxed storage facilities at Travis AFB, California, and reduced cargo transit time by seven days. By the end of the month, 14 airmunitions-loaded C-124s had departed Hill AFB for destinations in Southeast Asia.
A few months later (December 1966), the 28th Military Airlift Squadron held a ceremony to honor two of its C-124 Globemaster aircraft. These C-124s had 14 years of service and over 15,000 hours of air time hauling 5½ million pounds of cargo. The next year, AMC once again reassigned the 28th Military Airlift Squadron. The 62nd Military Airlift Wing at McChord AFB, Washington, took control of the squadron on July 8, 1967. This realignment put all of Military Airlift Command’s C-124 activities on the west coast under one wing.
In March 1969, Col. Hugh L. Baynes, Squadron Commander, piloted the 28th Military Airlift Squadron’s last mission. Col. Baynes and his crew departed Hill AFB, stopped at Travis AFB, California, to on-load additional supplies, and then flew to Cam Rahn Bay, Vietnam. The 28th Military Airlift Squadron inactivated a few weeks later, having operated as a Hill AFB tenant unit for nearly two decades and contributing immeasurably to the success of the installation during that time.