 Three decades, United States airlift forces have helped shape world history. From its beginning in World War II, airlift has repeatedly documented its ability to rapidly deliver the weapons of conflict and the provisions for peace. This then is the story of military airlift working for humanity. It began in 1943. During World War II, the men flying the hump over the Himalayas from India to China not only proved people and supplies could be carried long distance by air, but that airlift was critical when time was a factor. The Flyers of the Humps set the stage for today's military airlift command, MAC. The Military Air Transport Service was created in June 1948 as the heavy long-range airlift force for all U.S. military services. Just 26 days after Air Force and Navy long-range airlift resources were consolidated under mats. The challenge was issued, the Berlin Airlift. For several weeks, Russia had been slamming the doors to the city. They cut road traffic, then rails, then barges. So America, Britain and France decided to supply the city by air to keep freedom's door open. Many experts called it an impossible task. More than 2 million Berliners prayed it wasn't. Within a month, 159 United States aircraft were delivering 1,500 tons daily. Not enough, but it gave the people hope. Additional American and British aircraft were brought in. The first priority was coal, then food, then medical and industrial supplies. For the aircrews, it meant long hours, navigating through narrow air corridors into the heart of the city, flying on instruments through the winter's worst weather, landing at three-minute intervals, and then returning for another load. The peak day in April 1949 saw 1,400 missions deliver almost 13,000 tons to the beleaguered city. Many types of aircraft were used, principally the C-47 and the C-54, to fly 4,500 tons of food, coal and other supplies daily into Berlin. After 10 months of relentless flying by the heroic aircrews, the Russians gave in. The blockade was broken. The city of Berlin had been kept from starving and freezing by a quarter of a million flights, delivering two and a quarter million tons of supplies. But airlift saved the city and was established as a diplomatic and humanitarian weapon. Today, 20 C-5s flying only six hours a day could duplicate these accomplishments in the same period of time. But the Berlin Airlift still stands as probably the greatest airlift in history. Berlin was only the beginning. Even while the Berlin Airlift was still operating, Airlift was proving its worth elsewhere. Meanwhile, in the United States, an extremely severe winter had struck the northern part of the country. Thousands of snowbound sheep, cattle, deer and elk faced starvation. Operation Halift, conducted by tactical airlift units, dropped thousands of tons of hay. In 1950, when U.S. forces were committed to defend South Korea against communist invasion from the north, Airlift again played a vital role. A quarter of a million personnel and 80,000 tons of cargo were airlifted to the combat area. Return flights brought back 66,500, about 90% of all sick and wounded. Aeromedical Airlift reduced the World War II death rate of 4% of the wounded to a new low of 2%. While war raged in Korea, U.S. military aircraft on the other side of the world were performing an unusual airlift. 3,700 Muslims were stranded at various points in the Middle East, unable to reach Mecca by August 28 as required by Muslim law. The massive pilgrimage had saturated commercial airlines. The U.S. Airlift called Magic Carpet helped them meet their religious obligation. 1953, inundated by waters of the North Sea during a violent spring storm, Holland faced devastation. Helicopters evacuated people and transports flew in relief supplies to the flood victims for distribution by the Red Cross. Meanwhile, another unusual airlift came into operation. Kinderlift meant a five-week summer vacation for the needy children of Berlin who were unable to leave the Communist encircled city. American transports carried the children from Tempelhof Airport to camps and private homes in West Germany. Begun in 1953, Operation Kinderlift operated each summer for five years and airlifted almost 10,000 needy children. Humanitarian airlift continued. Severe weather, snow, cold and winds lashed Central Italy and Northern Greece. Thousands of communities were isolated and in dire need of food, clothing and medicine. U.S. Air Force transports delivered 700,000 pounds of critical supplies, some by airdrop, to the stricken areas. In another area of Europe, during the same year, the Hungarian revolt quickly crushed by the Soviet Army caused thousands to flee their homeland. During a six-month period, they were flown from Germany to the United States whereby executive order of the President, they could become American citizens. In July 1958, military airlift was again called upon. The President of Lebanon, Fearful of Revolt, appealed to the United States for military assistance. Airlift deployed forces from Europe and a composite air strike force was sent from the United States. The show of force stabilized the political situation. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, the Chinese Communists were shelling the Kunmen Islands in the Formosa Straits and threatening to invade Taiwan, the home of the Chinese Nationalists. The United States, committed to the defense of the Chinese Nationalists, neutralized the situation by deploying a composite air strike force augmented by a squadron of F-104s. Again, Airlift made these deployments possible. In Japan, 1960, the crisis was polio with more than 700 cases of the dreaded disease reported. From the United States by military airlift came life-saving iron lungs donated by the National Polio Foundation. Ample supplies of Salk vaccine were also airlifted into Japan. The same year saw Airlift respond to an emergency in the Republic of the Congo. Widespread violence depleted food supplies and threatened the safety of all non-Africans. Responding to the United Nations' call for support, U.S. airlift forces in Europe flew in supplies and evacuated refugees. The airlift continued after 1960 but with less urgency, and by the time it ended in 1964, military aircraft had flown more than 2,000 missions. The Glovemaster Transports were called upon elsewhere in Africa during 1962. Floods in the Rugee River Delta area of Tanganyika cut overland supply routes isolating 55,000 inhabitants. The C-124's air dropped over 1,500 tons of food in the emergency airlift. In the spring of 1965, a political crisis in the Dominican Republic flared into a revolution. Concern over the welfare of United States and other foreign nationals prompted the airlift of U.S. troops into the area to protect and evacuate the civilians. Food, medical aid and other services were also flown in. In November 1970, airlift came to the aid of East Pakistan. A severe cyclone followed by a tidal wave and extreme flooding devastated large areas of the country. Assistance from the United States came on the wings of C-141 Transports, which airlifted eight helicopters into the area for air dropping food to the isolated inhabitants. Water purification units, medical personnel and other supplies from the United States were also airlifted into the stricken country. One of the most memorable and happy airlift operations in history occurred in the spring of 1973, when the North Vietnamese released 566 American prisoners of war. Most were pilots who had been shot down over North Vietnam. Some had been imprisoned for seven years. After evacuation from Hanoi by C-141 star lifters to Clark Air Base in the Philippines, they received a medical check, a new uniform and were flown on to the United States. At various bases back home, they proudly walked off the Transports and into the arms of the families from whom they'd been separated for so long. C-9 nightingales then transferred them to military hospitals near their home areas, for many received treatment for malnutrition and injuries sustained while in prison. On 13 October 1973, the United States, at the urgent request of Israel, began a dramatic airlift of material into Tel Aviv. Throughout the years, humanitarian airlift continued. In 1974, a severe drought in the countries of Chad, Mali and Mauritania prompted a massive airlift of food and medical supplies by C-130s. During the six-month operation, airlift missions delivered more than 200,000 pounds of supplies to the isolated and starving inhabitants of these African countries. One of the final airlift operations in Southeast Asia was the evacuation of thousands of refugees just prior to the fall of the South Vietnamese government. Included among the refugees were hundreds of orphans who were airlifted to sponsors in the United States. Carrying for them en route became everyone's business, from flight nurses to loadmasters. Airlift has routinely responded to natural disasters. Earthquakes, one of nature's most destructive forces, struck in widely separated areas during 1976. First in Guatemala, where almost 23,000 people died. Emergency supplies and relief workers were airlifted into the country by U.S. Air Force Transport to care for the sick and homeless. Later in the year, earthquakes devastated large areas of Turkey. Relief supplies were quickly flown from the United States to bases in Europe by C-5 and C-141 transports. C-130s then trans-shipped the supplies into Van Airfield, Turkey, near the stricken areas. The following year, 1977, airlift was used to cope with an emergency in the United States. An unusually severe winter storm had blanketed the city of Buffalo, New York with snow. 10,000 tons of snow removal equipment and 500 relief workers were airlifted into the area. Responses to humanitarian requirements had been dramatic aspects of airlift. But airlift has also been used to support scientific programs. Since 1955, the continuing scientific expedition in Antarctica has been resupplied by Operation Deep Freeze, which involved airlift operations from the United States via New Zealand. Air Force transports have also supplied scientific expeditions on ice islands in the Arctic. In 1977, an Air Force C-5 was tasked to fly a 40-ton superconducting magnet from the United States to Moscow. This was done in support of the International Cooperative Program between the United States and Russia in the field of magnetohydrodynamic power generation. The development of the jet engine, improved communications, and improvements in cargo handling have enhanced our airlift capability. With mid-air refueling, our C-5s are now able to carry heavier loads over greater distances. Tanks, personnel carriers, and artillery pieces can now be flown directly to overseas locations, eliminating the need to land and route and refuel. Modern weaponry has reduced the spectrum of war from years to months, from weeks to days. By developing rapid military airlift mobility to meet the demands of modern warfare, we have gained an equally fast reaction to worldwide natural catastrophes. It is here that airlift spends its finest hours. In meeting the challenge of earthquake, blizzard, fire, and flood, America's airlift proves in full that it truly is an instrument of peace.