This article's lead section does not adequately summarize key points of its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page.(August 2017)
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial and space warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the five branches of the United States Armed Forces, and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially formed as a part of the United States Army on 1 August 1907, the USAF was established as a separate branch of the U.S. Armed Forces on 18 September 1947 with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the youngest branch of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the fourth in order of precedence. The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world. The Air Force articulates its core missions as air and space superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.
The 305th Air Mobility Wing is a United States Air Force strategic airlift and air refueling wing under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command. It generates, mobilizes and deploys C-17 Globemaster III and KC-10 Extender aircraft. The 305th AMW is a tenant unit at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in central New Jersey. It also controls one of the Air Force's busiest aerial ports, and the air operations at both McGuire Air Force Base and Naval Support Activity Lakehurst.
McGuire AFB/McGuire, the common name of the McGuire unit of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, is a United States Air Force base located in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States, approximately 16.1 miles (25.9 km) south-southeast of Trenton. McGuire is under the jurisdiction of the Air Mobility Command. It was consolidated with two adjoining US Army and Navy facilities to become part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on 1 October 2009. The McGuire Air Force Base census-designated place (CDP) is located in portions of both New Hanover Township and North Hanover Township.
The 2d ARS is the second-oldest squadron in the Air Force, having over 100 years of service to the nation. Deployed to the Philippines after World War I, during the 1941-1942 Battle of the Philippines, it was wiped out, with the Japanese forcing some of the personnel to endure the Bataan Death March. It was re-formed as an air refueling squadron by Strategic Air Command in 1949. Today, it operates the KC-10 Extender aircraft, conducting aerial refueling missions.
World War I, also known as the First World War or the Great War, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. Contemporaneously described as "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. It is also one of the deadliest conflicts in history, with an estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilian deaths as a direct result of the war, while resulting genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic caused another 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide.
The Bataan Death March was the forcible transfer by the Imperial Japanese Army of 60,000–80,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war from Saysain Point, Bagac, Bataan and Mariveles to Camp O'Donnell, Capas, Tarlac, via San Fernando, Pampanga, where the prisoners were loaded onto trains. The transfer began on April 9, 1942, after the three-month Battle of Bataan in the Philippines during World War II. The total distance marched from Mariveles to San Fernando and from the Capas Train Station to Camp O'Donnell is variously reported by differing sources as between 60 and 69.6 miles. Differing sources also report widely differing prisoner of war casualties prior to reaching Camp O'Donnell: from 5,000 to 18,000 Filipino deaths and 500 to 650 American deaths during the march. The march was characterized by severe physical abuse and wanton killings, and was later judged by an Allied military commission to be a Japanese war crime.
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense (DoD) Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command (MAJCOM), responsible for Cold War command and control of two of the three components of the U.S. military's strategic nuclear strike forces, the so-called "nuclear triad," with SAC having control of land-based strategic bomber aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles or ICBMs.
History
Origins
The Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps activated the squadron on 12 May 1915. It was the second to be organized in the United States Army, as noted by its numerical designation. It was organized at Rockwell Field, San Diego, California, where the only Aviation School at that time was located, and it was from this school that most of its squadron members came from. Other members were taken from the 1st Aero Squadron, then the only completely equipped squadron in the Army.[4]
The Aviation Section, Signal Corps, was the aerial warfare service of the United States from 1914 to 1918, and a direct statutory ancestor of the United States Air Force. It absorbed and replaced the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps, and conducted the activities of Army aviation until World War I, when its statutory responsibilities were suspended for the duration of the war. The Aviation Section organized the first squadrons of the aviation arm and conducted the first military operations by United States aviation on foreign soil.
Rockwell Field is a former United States Army Air Corps military airfield, located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) northwest of the city of Coronado, California on the northern part of the Coronado Peninsula across the bay from San Diego, California.
It was the policy of the Aviation School to completely train and equip a squadron before sending it into the field. The squadron consisted of six flying officers and thirty-nine enlisted men, primarily mechanics. Two officers and ten men were transferred from the 1st Aero Squadron. It sailed from San Francisco for Manila on 5 January 1916. After two weeks of quarantine, the unit reached its station on Corregidor on 14 February without aircraft. It was the first complete aviation unit assigned outside of the United States.[4]
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. San Francisco is the 13th-most populous city in the United States, and the fourth-most populous in California, with 884,363 residents as of 2017. It covers an area of about 46.89 square miles (121.4 km2), mostly at the north end of the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, making it the second-most densely populated large US city, and the fifth-most densely populated U.S. county, behind only four of the five New York City boroughs. San Francisco is also part of the fifth-most populous primary statistical area in the United States, the San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area.
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital of the Philippines. It is the most densely populated city proper in the world. It was the first chartered city by virtue of the Philippine Commission Act 183 on July 31, 1901 and gained autonomy with the passage of Republic Act No. 409 or the "Revised Charter of the City of Manila" on June 18, 1949.
Corregidor Island, locally called Isla ng Corregidor, is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in southwestern part of Luzon Island in the Philippines. Due to this location, Corregidor has historically been fortified with coastal artillery to defend the entrance of Manila Bay and Manila from attacks by enemy warships. Located 48 kilometres (30 mi) inland, Manila has been the largest city and the most important seaport in the Philippines for centuries, from the colonial rule of Spain, Japan and the United States, to the establishment of the Philippines in 1946.
The 2d received four Martin S-Hydro seaplanes (Signal Corps numbers 56-59) on 13 March and 15 April, and began flying on 8 May 1916. A radio transmitter was set up in one aircraft, giving the aircraft a broadcast range of 29 miles. On 28 June, the company provided artillery spotting and adjustment for target practice with the Fort Mills batteries. Personnel for a second company were assembled and the unit was re-designated the 2d Aero Squadron on 20 July 1917.[4]
The Martin S was a two-seat observation seaplane produced in the United States in 1915. Designed along the same general lines as the preceding Model T, it was a largely conventional two-bay biplane with unstaggered wings of equal span. The fuselage was not directly attached to the lower wings, but was carried on struts in the interplane gap. The undercarriage consisted of a single large pontoon below the fuselage and outrigger floats near the wingtips. The Model S was 23-year-old Donald Douglas' first and only design for the Martin company, and it set three world altitude records and a flight duration record that stood for three years.
Fort Mills was the location of US Major General George F. Moore's headquarters for the Philippine Department's Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays in early World War II, and was the largest seacoast fort in the Philippines. Most of this Coast Artillery Corps fort was built 1904–1910 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The fort was named for Brigadier General Samuel Meyers Mills Jr., Chief of Artillery 1905–1906. It was the primary location of the Battle of Corregidor in the Japanese invasion of the Philippines in 1941–42, and of the recapture of Corregidor in February 1945, both in World War II.
World War I
2d Aero Squadron (Later Squadron "A"), Kelly Field Texas, 1918
After the United States entered World War I, the squadron was ordered back to the United States. It sailed from Manila on 15 October 1917, arriving in San Francisco on 17 November. It was immediately transferred to Kelly Field, Texas, reaching the post on 22 November. At Kelly, a number of men were transferred and sent to the new training airfields that were being established throughout the country, serving as trainers for new recruits and as experienced backbones. Many of the men of the squadron were assigned to Call Field, Wichita Falls, Texas. The remainder of the squadron was sent to Kelly Field #2, which meant that the squadron would be a training unit at Kelly (Kelly Field #1 was used for training personnel for overseas service).[5]
Call Field is a former World War I military airfield, located 4.6 miles (7.4 km) southwest of Wichita Falls, Texas. It operated as a training field for the Air Service, United States Army between 1917 until 1919. The airfield was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established in 1918 after the United States entry into World War I.
At Field #2, the mechanics began assembling Curtiss JN-4D Trainers. After a few months, the men had little time to worry about their assignment at Kelly Field when suddenly various squadrons began to be ordered for overseas duty in France. The men of the squadron began to submit transfer requests to be included in these outgoing squadrons. Some transfers were approved, however, most were retained at Kelly Field. The 2d squadron was assigned to "Advanced Cross Country" and "Aerobatic" flight training. The squadron was re-designated as Squadron "A", Kelly Field, on 1 July 1918. At the end of the war, only six members of the squadron remained from the initial cadre that was formed up in San Diego in 1915. The squadron was demobilized on 18 November 1918.[5]
Inter-war years
2d Observation Squadron Thomas-Morse O-19, Nichols Field, Luzon, Philippine Islands, about 19322d Observation Squadron Douglas O-46s in flight over Luzon, Philippines, 1938.2d Observation Squadron Douglas O-46A 36-139 Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, 1941 (4M tail designation of 4th Composite Group)
After World War I, the unit was re-organized as a new organization, designated as the 2d Aero Squadron on 3 June 1919 at Rockwell Field, California. A few days later, it was re-designated as the 2d Aero Squadron (Observation). Many of the men were experienced mechanics and officers who had served either in France or at training units in the United States during World War I. After being organized, the squadron was transferred by train to San Francisco, California, where it boarded a ship bound for Manila, in the Philippine Islands, arriving on 24 December. The squadron was assigned to the Philippine Department, and was stationed initially at Kindley Field, on Corregidor Island. The squadron was equipped with some Curtiss HS2L and N-9 amphibian flying boats.[1]
Initially attached to Post Headquarters, Fort Mills, it became part of the 1st Observation (later 4th Composite Group) on 10 March 1920. The squadron's primary mission was coastal patrols and reconnaissance in and around the Manila Bay region. It participated in exercises and maneuvers with Army ground forces and Naval forces were a regular and important part of its mission. Another mission of the 2d Observation Squadron during the 1920s was aerial mapping of the Philippines, the topography of many of the islands were largely unknown. On 8 April 1924, it was formally consolidated with its World War I and Philippines predecessor unit, giving the squadron a history dating to 1 December 1915.[1][6] As with other squadrons in the Philippines, the 2d received a wide variety of second-line hand-me-down aircraft transferred from units in the United States during the austere years of Air Corps procurement during the 1920s and 1930s. It operated various Loening seaplanes, Dayton-Wright DH-4s, Thomas-Morse O-19s, Sikorsky and Douglas Dolphin amphibians, as well as other aircraft that the Army would send from the United States that it thought could be used in the Philippines. In June 1929, the squadron was moved off Corregidor to the 4th Composite Group and Philippines Department Headquarters at Nichols Field, near Manila.[7]
As a result of the rising tensions with the Japanese Empire in 1940, the defenses of the Philippines were judged to be abysmal, and a reinforcement effort was made to defend the islands against any Japanese aggression. Although beginning in 1938, the Army sent some Douglas O-46 observation monoplanes, these were supplemented in 1941 with some new Curtiss O-52 Owls, and the squadron was moved to Clark Field on 1 November 1940. In late 1941, the 4th Composite Group was broken up due to the expanding Air Corps presence in the Philippines. The pursuit squadrons were assigned to the new 24th Pursuit Group and the 28th Bomb Squadron was assigned to the incoming 19th Bombardment Group. The 2d Observation Squadron was reassigned directly to Far East Air Force (FEAF) headquarters as a courier and reconnaissance squadron, reporting to the Headquarters staff. It was moved to Nichols Field on 1 November.[7]
World War II
The Japanese attack on the Air Corps bases in the Philippines on 8 December 1941 destroyed two of the O-46s at Nichols Field, and almost all of the O-52s. With Japanese control of the air over Luzon during December 1941, the unarmed planes of the 2d Observation Squadron didn't have a chance. By the time FEAF headquarters moved to Darwin, Australia on 31 December 1941, the remainder of the squadron's aircraft were destroyed either on the ground or in the air. The order for all Air Corps units to move to Bataan Airfield in early January 1942 meant that any remaining squadron personnel left the Manila area. Remains of the squadron were scattered among remaining Air Corps resistance forces during the ensuing battle in the early spring of 1942. They were likely being assigned to Army ground forces under V Interceptor Command.[1][7]
The 2d Observation Squadron was carried on as an active unit under the Fifth Air Force after 5 May 1942 until 2 April 1946 when it was inactivated.[1]
Strategic Air Command
In the postwar years, limited funding for the Department of Defense meant that Strategic Air Command(SAC) was severely limited in the number of units it could support with personnel. SAC also wanted its units to have pre-World War II designations for its units as much as possible. The development of In-flight refueling, long a dream of airmen, was being developed for operational use in the late 1940s. In 1948, the 2d Bombardment Group deployed to England during the Berlin Blockade, but its B-29 Superfortresses could not reach Moscow if a war broke out from its base in England without it being a one-way mission due to a lack of range.[1][8]
KB-29M air refueling another B-29MR Superfortress, modified with a nose probe.
SAC activated the 2d Air Refueling Squadron, (Medium) on 1 January 1949 as a new squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona and it was assigned to the like-designated 2d Bombardment Group. It was one of the first units to be equipped with the new KB-29M Superfortress tankers equipped with a British-developed hose refueling system. The 2d Bomb Group was transitioning to the new B-50A Superfortress bomber, and SAC was anxious to give its B-50s an air-refueling capability to extend its range.[1][8]
The Group spent the next months training refueling the bombers with the tankers before the Wing was transferred to its operational base at Chatham Air Force Base, Georgia on 16 September 1949. Within a few months, the Wing's first deployment to England took place with its KB-29M tankers in February 1950. The KB-29s were forward deployed to The KB-29Ms flew via Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, and Keflavik, Iceland. However, the extremely cold weather in Iceland (-25F) caused difficulties with the aircraft, and the en route MATS services were inadequate. Also, the operation of the hose refueling system was, what was called a "Rube Goldberg Affair". In addition, it was found that malfunctions in the hose system meant fuel leaks were a hazard. After exercises in England and West Germany, the Wing returned to Chatham in April.[8][9]
KB-29P with the flying boom extended
During May and June, it began receiving the Boeing-developed KB-29P using the flying boom aerial refueling technique which is still in use today.[10] The wing also transitioned from B-50As to B-50D models, and the next several months were sent in transition training. In May 1951, the wing was ordered deployed to several bases in England, with the 2d ARS being assigned to RAF Lakenheath. None of the problems experienced with the hose and reel system of the KB-29Ms, and, also because of the warmer weather, the deployment was a much more successful operation. However, during operations in England, on 7 June a KB-29 crashed near Kircudreightshire, Scotland. The 2d ARS had the distinction of performing the first USAF refueling of an RAF aircraft, when it refueled three RAF Meteors from RAF Tarrant Tuston. The squadron also flew its first mission to the new SAC base at Sidi Slimane Air Base, French Morocco when a KB-29 landed on the unfinished runway on 13 July. On the redeployment to the United States at the end of August, all 19 of the squadrons KB-29Ps were to fly from Lakenheath to the Wing's new home at Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, on a great circle route. This was the longest over-water non-stop flight over the Atlantic in which all aircraft departed the same day and landed on the next. The bombers returned to Hunter at the end of September, and as they approached the Atlantic Coast, they were met by the KB-29Ps. 47 hook-ups were made to refuel two squadrons of B-50s, taking 75.5 total flying hours and 10,140 gallons of aviation gasoline. No incidents were experienced.[8]
In July 1952, the squadron supported the deployment of the F-84s of the 31st Fighter-Escort Wing at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia to Japan. The operation began on 4 July when the tankers refueled the F-84s over Wink, Texas, en route to Castle Air Force Base, California. Trans-Pacific refuelings were accomplished, and the 2d was joined by tankers from the 91st and 93d ARS as they island-hopped from Castle to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, Midway Island, Wake Island, Eniwetok Atoll, Guam, Iwo Jima and on to Japan in an 11,000 mile mission. The 2d returned to Hunter on 11 July.[8] Another deployment to RAF Lakenheath was made in September 1952, with the 2d ARS providing support to both SAC B-50 and B-29 bombers, as well as F-84 fighters of the federalized 137th Fighter-Bomber Wing, which was deployed to England. The squadron returned in December.[8]
In August 1953, the squadron was stood down and all of its KB-29s were transferred to Tactical Air Command. The crews were sent to various training schools. In October, the first KC-97G Stratotanker arrived, the last of 22 new aircraft in January 1954. Although propeller-driven, the KC-97s were significantly faster than the KB-29s and were designed for aerial refueling. The planes were designed to refuel SAC's B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bomber, with the 2d Bombardment Wing began to receive also in 1953.[1][8]
A 2d ARS KC-97 refueling a B-47 Stratojet in the late 1950s
On 6–7 August 1954, KC-97s from the 2d ARS refueled B-47s during "Operation Leap Frog", a 10,000 mile non-stop flight from Hunter to French Morocco and back to Hunter. The KC-97s were forward deployed to Lajes Field, Azores prior to the B-47s leaving Hunter. On the return flight back, Kindsley Field, Bermuda was the forward deployment point for the 2d ARS. This demonstrated the capability of the KC-97 and B-47 to perform together. For the next decade, the squadron carried out routine REFLEX deployments to SAC bases French Morocco, as well as training flights in the United States. In the late 1950s, the jet-powered KC-135 Stratotanker was developed, and with the retirement of the B-47 from SAC service, the 2d Air Refueling Squadron was inactivated in April 1963 concurrently with the move of SAC out of Hunter.[1][8]
On 19 September 1985 the 2d Air Refueling Squadron was consolidated with the 2d Observation Squadron (Medium), a unit that was last active 2 April 1946. This action was directed by Department of the Air Force Letter DAF/MPM 662q Attachment 2 (Inactive Units), 19 September 1985. The Consolidated Unit retained the Designation of 2d Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy", and the consolidation gave the SAC organization a history dating to 1915.
The squadron was re-activated on 3 January 1989 as part of the 2d Bombardment Wing at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana as part of a SAC reorganization of its KC-10 Extender tanker fleet to have 2 squadrons of 10 tankers each. It was equipped with KC-10s transferred from the 32d Air Refueling Squadron.[11]
Modern era
With the inactivation of Strategic Air Command in June 1992 and the realignment of Air Mobility Command's tanker force, the 2d ARS was reassigned to the 458th Operations Group on 1 June 1992.[11] Using KC-10 aircraft, the squadron airlifted humanitarian equipment and supplies to Somalia, 1992–1994. Deployed aircrews and aircraft on other contingency operations in many parts of the world, including Haiti in 1994.
It continued operations from Barksdale until 1 October 1994 when it was moved to McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey where it was transferred to the 305th Operations Group on 1 July 1995. It supported NATO operations over Serbia in 1999. The squadron also refueled aircraft enforcing no-fly zones over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the mid-1990s and over northern and southern Iraq between 1992 and 2002.[11]
Today, the 2d ARS continues to remain ready to provide the United States with the Global Reach necessary to support our national security objectives, while placing an increased emphasis on squadron members' families-the unsung heroes of the unit's successful operations.[12]
Lineage
Squadron A, Kelly Field
Organized as the 1st Company, 2d Aero Squadron on 1 December 1915
Redesignated 2d Aero Squadron on 20 July 1917
Redesignated Squadron A, Kelly Field, on 23 July 1918
Demobilized on 18 November 1918
Consolidated 8 April 1924 with the 2d Observation Squadron as the 2d Observation Squadron[1][6]
2d Observation Squadron
Organized as 2d Aero Squadron on 3 June 1919
Redesignated 2d Aero Squadron (Observation) on 5 June 1919
Redesignated 2d Squadron (Observation) on 14 March 1921
Redesignated 2d Observation Squadron on 25 January 1923
Consolidated 8 April 1924 with Squadron A, Kelly Field
Redesignated 2d Observation Squadron (Medium) on 26 February 1942
Inactivated on 2 April 1946
Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 2d Air Refueling Squadron, Medium as the 2d Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy
2d Air Refueling Squadron
Constituted as the 2d Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 27 October 1948
Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 2d Observation Squadron' and redesignated 2d Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy (Remained inactive)
Activated on 3 January 1989
Redesignated 2d Air Refueling Squadron on 1 September 1991[1]
Assignments
Post Headquarters, Rockwell Field, 1 December 1915
Philippine Department, February 1916 (attached to Post Headquarters, Fort William McKinley, February 1916, Post Headquarters, Fort Mills, Corregidor, February 1916)
Post Headquarters, Kelly Field, November 1917 - 18 November 1918[6]
Post Headquarters, Rockwell Field, 3 June 1919
Philippine Department, February 1916 (attached to Post Headquarters, Fort Mills, 24 December 1919)
1st Observation Group (later 4th Observation Group, 4th Composite Group, 10 March 1920
The 19th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. The wing is also the host unit at Little Rock.
The 97th Air Mobility Wing is a United States Air Force (USAF) unit assigned to Nineteenth Air Force of Air Education and Training Command. It is stationed at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma. The wing is also the host unit at Altus. It plans and executes McDonnell Douglas C-17 Globemaster III and Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker pilot and aircrew training, providing formal school initial and advanced specialty training programs for up to 3,000 students annually. The training is done in a three-phase approach: Academic Phase, Simulator Phase, and Flying Phase.
The 92d Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. The wing is also the host unit at Fairchild.
The 376th Air Expeditionary Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force. It was last stationed at the Transit Center at Manas International Airport, Kyrgyz Republic, supporting U.S. and ISAF operations in Afghanistan.
The 22d Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas and also functions as the host wing for McConnell.
The 108th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the Illinois Air National Guard 126th Air Refueling Wing located at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Illinois. The 108th is equipped with the KC-135R Stratotanker.
The 6th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, California. It operates the McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender aircraft conducting mobility, and air refueling missions.
The 32d Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 305th Air Mobility Wing at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. It operates the KC-10 Extender aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The 91st Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. It operates the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The 92d Air Refueling Squadron is a squadron of the 92d Air Refueling Wing's 92d Operations Group, stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington.
The 93d Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 92d Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington. It operates the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
The 97th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 92d Operations Group at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, where it was inactivated on 30 September 2004.
The 905th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active as an element of the 319th Air Refueling Wing at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota, where it operated Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft. The squadron was inactivated at the end of 2010 when the 319th wing lost its operational mission and became the 319th Air Base Wing.
The 911th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 916th Air Refueling Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. The squadron is the Air Force’s very first active duty squadron that is under the command of a reserve wing. In October of 2016, the 911th, formerly geographically separated from the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill AFB, FL and operated as the active duty associate to the 916th Air Refueling Wing, became the first “I-Wing” or Integrated Wing.
The 22d Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit, assigned to United States Air Forces Central. It is engaged in combat operations as part of the Global War on Terrorism in Afghanistan. Its current status and location are undetermined.
The 6th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the 6th Air Mobility Wing, stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.
The 310th Expeditionary Air Refueling Flight is a provisional United States Air Force unit. The flight was last active as the 310th Air Refueling Squadron in October 1994, when it was assigned to the 380th Air Refueling Wing at Plattsburgh Air Force Base.
The 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force (USAF) unit. It is assigned to the 380th Expeditionary Operations Group at Al Dhafra Air Base in United Arab Emirates. It has supported combat operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria from this location. The squadron has a varied background, having been formed by a series of consolidations of no fewer than five distinct units.
The 917th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active as a Geographically Separated Unit at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, while assigned to the 43d Operations Group at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, where it was inactivated on 1 July 1994.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
