A few months later the squadron was activated as a fixed wing troop carrier assault unit at Sewart and equipped with Fairchild C-123 Provider aircraft.

The 345th returned to the Pacific in 1965 and began to deploy C-130s to Southeast Asia, and in 1966 moved from Okinawa to Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, where it was assigned to the 314th Troop Carrier Wing.

[7] The squadron was reactivated in 1955 and assigned to the 516th Troop Carrier Group at Sewart Air Force Base, Tennessee as the 345th Troop Carrier Squadron, Assault, Rotary Wing in part to test the United States Air Force's ability to provide helicopter airlift to the Army.

[8][9] The group also tested the evacuation of key high ranking personnel from Washington DC in the event of a nuclear attack.

The 345th operated as part of the 20th Combat Airlift Division (Provisional) supporting Army Group Gulf', the aggressor force.

[11][12] The squadron trained to airlift troops, equipment and supplies into combat zones, to resupply forces, and evacuate casualties.

In 1958, most of the C-123s at Sewart were transferred to Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina and the squadron's parent 513th Troop Carrier Wing was inactivated.

Four months later, it moved closer to the conflict at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Republic of China[1] (usually called "CCK").

Although the squadron itself was not stationed in Viet Nam, it flew C-130s to augment task forces and other operational organizations during Vietnam War until 1973.

Maj. Gerald Johnson, was confident he could make a successful airborne radar approach, and the plane broke out of the overcast at three hundred feet above the airstrip.

There the damaged wheel was changed while the plane remained under fire from mortars, rockets, artillery, and heavy machine guns.

While the wheel was being changed, Dallman agreed to fly an out-of-commission bulldozer back to Da Nang Air Base.

Dallman and his crew saved a valuable transport plane, delivered a load of ammunition to the surrounded Marines, and prevented major damage to a battered outpost.

For dealing heroically with a series of crises that day, Dallman was awarded the Air Force Cross, the first tactical airlift crewman to be so honored.

[22] In late 1973, with the termination of USAF involvement in Viet Nam, all tactical units were withdrawn from CCK and the squadron returned to Okinawa at Kadena Air Base.

[1] Following the end of hostilities in Southeast Asia, the squadron provided tactical, aeromedical, and operational support to Department of Defense agencies throughout the Pacific region from Kadena, and later from Yokota Air Base, until 1993.