Military Air Transport Service
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![A U.S. Navy Douglas R6D-1 Liftmaster operating for the Military Air Transport Service in the 1950s.](/Images/godic/202501/27/Douglas_R6D-1_MATS_in_flight_in_the_1950s2519.jpeg")
The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) and the United States Air Force Air Transport Command (ATC) into a single joint command. It was inactivated and discontinued on 8 January 1966 when the Air Force and Navy set up separate strategic airlift commands.