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| 100th Air Refueling Wing | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Dedication of wing KC-135 asSkipper III to honor a former351st Bombardment Squadron B-17 | |
| Active |
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| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Type | Operational wing |
| Role | Air refueling |
| Size | 15 aircraft[citation needed] |
| Part of | US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (Third Air Force) |
| Base | RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom |
| Nickname | Bloody Hundredth |
| Motto | Peace through strength |
| Engagements | European Theater of Operations |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award withV Device Air Force Outstanding Unit Award French Croix de Guerre with Palm |
| Website | Official website |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Steven Byrum |
| Notable commanders | Darr H. Alkire |
| Insignia | |
| 100th Air Refueling Wing emblem[a] |  |
| 100th Bombardment Group emblem[1] |  |
| Tail code | D |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Tanker | KC-135R Stratotanker |
The100th Air Refueling Wing, nicknamedthe Bloody Hundredth, is aUnited States Air Force unit assigned to theThird Air Force,United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. It is stationed atRAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It is also the host wing at RAF Mildenhall.
The 100th is the only permanent U.S. air refueling wing in the European theater, operating theBoeing KC-135R/T Stratotanker.
During World War II, its predecessor unit, the100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) was anEighth Air ForceB-17 Flying Fortress unit in England, stationed atRAF Thorpe Abbotts. Flying over 300 combat missions, the group earned twoDistinguished Unit Citations (Regensburg, 17 August 1943; Berlin, 4/6/8 March 1944). The group suffered tremendous losses in combat, with 177 aircraftmissing in action, flying its last mission on 20 April 1945.
One of the wing's honors is that it is the only modern USAF operational wing allowed to display on its assigned aircraft the tail code (Square-D) of its World War II predecessor.[b]
USAFE's onlyBoeing KC-135R/T air refueling wing, it is responsible for U.S.aerial refueling operations conducted throughout the European theater. The unit supports some 16,000 personnel, includingThird Air Force, four geographically separated units, and 15 associated units.[2]
100th Operations Group (100th OG)
100th Maintenance Group (100th MXG)
100th Mission Support Group (100th MSG)
On 1 June 1942, theArmy Air Forces activated the100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) and assigned it toIII Bomber Command. The group remained unmanned until 27 October 1942, when a cadre for the unit was transferred from the29th Bombardment Group toGowen Field, Idaho. Within four days, on 1 November, the cadre moved toWalla Walla Army Air Base, Washington, where it received its first four aircrews and fourB-17Fs from theBoeing factory inSeattle. Following this, the 100th relocated toWendover Field, Utah, on 30 November where it added additional personnel, aircraft, and crews, and began bombing, gunnery, and navigation training.
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On New Year's Day, 1943, members of the fledgling group again transferred operations, this time to two bases. The aircraft and aircrews moved toSioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, while the ground echelon went toKearney Army Air Field, Nebraska. In both instances, members of the 100th assisted in air and ground training for other groups bound for overseas. In mid-April, the aircrew joined the ground echelon at Kearney and received new B-17s. After additional training, the group's aircrews departed Kearney on 25 May 1943, flying the North Atlantic route to England and into the war in Europe. Prior to the departure of aircraft and aircrews from Kearney, the 100th BG's ground echelon departed for the East Coast on 2 May 1943. On 27 May 1943, the ground personnel set sail aboard theRMS Queen Elizabeth bound forPodington, England, from New York. At Podington the ground crews rendezvoused with the air echelon, and together moved toRAF Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk, where they remained throughout World War II, operating as a strategic bombardment organization.
On 25 June 1943, the 100th BG flew its firstEighth Air Force combat mission,bombing theU-boat yards atBremen – the beginning of the "Bloody Hundredth"'s legacy. The group focused its bombing attacks against German airfields, industrial plants, and naval facilities in France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, and Soviet Union. The group inherited the "Bloody Hundredth" nickname from other bomb groups due to severe losses it took on several missions during summer and fall 1943. During one such raid onMünster on 10 October 1943, eighteen 100th BG aircraft were sent, of which five aborted and turned back before reaching the target. Twelve of the 13 aircraft that reached Münster were shot down; the only surviving 100th BG B-17 to reach Münster and return was theRoyal Flush[e] commanded for this mission byRobert Rosenthal; it returned to base seriously damaged and with several crewmen wounded. Only four of the original thirty-eight co-pilots assigned to the group completed their assigned twenty-five mission tour.[3]
In August 1943, the group received its firstDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC) after attacking theGerman aircraft factory at Regensburg[f] on 17 August 1943, resulting in serious disruption to German fighter production. From January–May 1944, the 100th Goup regularly bombed airfields, industries, marshaling yards, andV-weapon sites in Western Europe. In February 1944, the group participated in Operation Argument ("Big Week"), the Allied attempt to force a decisive battle with the Luftwaffe and gain air superiority over Western Europe before the invasion of France. In March 1944, the group completed a succession of attacks on Berlin and received its second DUC of the war. On March 6, 1944 became known as “Black Monday”, due to 15 aircraft were shot down, meaning 150 men were lost and hundreds were wounded.
While bombing during theOil Campaign of World War II as the summer of 1944 approached, the group also conducted interdictory missions, such as the June bombing of bridges and gun positions in support of theInvasion of Normandy. The next month saw aircrews bomb enemy positions atSaint-Lô, followed by similar attacks atBrest in August and September. In October 1944, the 100th BG attacked enemy defenses in the Allied drive on theSiegfried Line, then bombedmarshaling yards, German occupied villages, and communication targets in theArdennes during theBattle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. For its extraordinary efforts in attacking heavily defended German installations in Germany and dropping supplies to theFrench Forces of the Interior from June through December 1944, the 100th received the FrenchCroix de Guerre with Palm.
The group flew its last combat mission of World War II on 20 April 1945. The following month the unit's aircrews dropped food to the people in the west of the Netherlands, and in June transported French Allied former prisoners of war from Austria to France. In December 1945, the group returned to the U.S., where it inactivated atCamp Kilmer, New Jersey, on 21 December 1945.
On 29 May 1947, Headquarters Army Air Forces reactivated the 100th atMiami Army Air Field. From the time of its activation, the group trained and operated as a reserve unit assigned to the49th Bombardment Wing (Later 49th Air Division). It is not clear whether or not the unit was fully manned or equipped. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949 due to budget reductions.
The 100th Bombardment Wing, Medium was established on 23 March 1953, but the wing was not activated as part ofStrategic Air Command (SAC) until 1 January 1956. The delay was due to construction at the unit's programmed base,Portsmouth Air Force Base (later renamed Pease Air Force Base), New Hampshire. Construction was completed in late 1955 and, when activated, the 100th BW was assigned to theEighth Air Force817th Air Division.
The 100th Bomb Wing was assigned the newBoeing B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. The 100th Bomb Wing operated from Pease AFB for ten years. In official parlance, the establishment "...performed global strategic bombardment training and air refueling missions."[citation needed] One of the most significant overseas temporary duty assignments took place during the first four months of 1958, when the 100th participated in the last full wing B-47 deployment. During this time, the B-47s from New Hampshire operated fromRAF Brize Norton, in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, overseas deployments involved the simultaneous participation of several bomb wings engaging in global strategic bombardment training and global air refueling with the Stratojet.
In the early 1960s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. In October 1965, the Air Force initiated Project Fast Fly to oversee the inactivation of the last five B-47 wings and supporting tanker squadrons. The 100th ARS retired its last tanker on 21 December 1965, when aircraft 53-0282 flew to theMilitary Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center atDavis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The following day, the100th Air Refueling Squadron inactivated. The wing retained its ground alert commitment at Pease until 31 December 1965 and inactivated on 25 June 1966.
Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled (MAJCOM) wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled (AFCON) units, most of which were inactive at the time, which could carry a lineage and history. On 11 February 1966, the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing assumed the mission, equipment and personnel of the4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. The349th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron took over theLockheed U-2 aircraft of the4028th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron and the350th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron took over theRyan BQM-34 Firebee reconnaissance drones andLockheed DC-130 launch aircraft of the4025th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron. The 4080th was a SAC MAJCOM wing, and its lineage terminated when it was discontinued and could not be continued by reactivation at a later date. The 100th was now at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona.
After its reactivation, the 100th performed strategic reconnaissance with the Lockheed U-2 and drone aircraft. On 11 July 1970, the force was moved from Bien Hoa toU-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield (OL-RU) and then turned to (OL-UA in Nov. 1970) Thailand. Then after the move, in November 1972 they reactivated the99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron. In January 1973, the U-2s of the 99th flew more than 500 combat hours. That was the first time any U-2 unit flew 500 hours in a single month. That was topped in December 1974 when they logged more than 600 hours.[4] The 99th deployed to forward operating locations as needed, earning the P.T. Cullen Award as the reconnaissance unit that contributed most to the photo and signal intelligence efforts of SAC in 1972. The U-2s were one of the last units to be pulled out of Thailand in March 1976,
With the end of United States combat operations in Southeast Asia in mid-1973, the Air Force formally transferred nuclear air sampling operations to the 100th, and the 349th converted its U-2s to the U-2R configuration for atmospheric sampling missions, replacing the WB-57s which it inherited from the 4028th SRS. The air sampling mission would be moved toOsan Air Base, South Korea, although the deployment of U-2Rs to Osan could not take place until overflight and basing arrangements were concluded with the governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea and hangar facilities made ready at Osan. Not until theCommunist Chinese had actually exploded their sixteenth nuclear device on 17 June 1974, could Headquarters USAF announce that all negotiations were concluded. At the same time, it directed Headquarters SAC to deploy the 349th "Olympic Race" assets to Osan and begin collecting from that location on 18 June 1974. The sampling mission continued at Osan, and the U-2s in South Korea became the 100th SRW OL-A.
In addition to the drone and air sampling missions, the wing performed worldwide surveillance missions like the monitoring of the ceasefire between the Israelis and the Egyptians following the 1973Yom Kippur War. This operation was operated fromRAF Akrotiri, Cyprus and was named operation Olive Harvest – Operating Location OL-OH.
A detachment also operated fromMcCoy Air Force Base, Florida until that installation's closure in 1975, followed by a move to nearbyPatrick Air Force Base, Florida, designated Operating Location LF. These U-2s engaged in Olympic Fire missions over Cuba, which were coordinated with the Joint Air Reconnaissance Control Center atNAS Key West, Florida.
In 1976, due to budget reductions, SAC consolidated its strategic reconnaissance assets. The 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron and its U-2s were returned from U-Tapao and assigned to the9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing on 1 July 1976. The 9th Wing already controlled the1st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron, which operated theSR-71 Blackbird. This brought all the U-2 and SR-71 assets of SAC under one wing atBeale Air Force Base, California, with the RC-135 assets assigned to the6th Strategic Wing atEielson Air Force Base or the55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing atOffut Air Force Base (which also operated the Looking Glass platforms and EC-130 aircraft). The544th Intelligence Wing atBolling Air Force Base provided analysis support for intelligence collected by the flying wings. The Air Force continued to have non-SAC Strategic Reconnaissance assets in the form of satellite and radar systems operated byAerospace Defense Command, which were later transferred to SAC in 1979, theNational Reconnaissance Office, and the Space and Missiles Systems Organization|Space Systems Command inAir Force Systems Command. Cryptographic and communications intelligence operations were the domain of the Air Force Security Service|Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency.
The U-2Rs of the 349th and theAQM-34 Firebee/DC-130 Hercules drone operations of the 350th Squadron were discontinued, with the squadrons becoming KC-135 tanker squadrons of the100th Air Refueling Wing in support of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing SR-71 Blackbird. The U-2Rs in South Korea became the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing Detachment 2. The AQM-34s, associated DC-130 Hercules launch aircraft andCH-3 Jolly Green Giant recovery helicopters were reassigned to theTactical Air Command's22d Tactical Drone Squadron and remained at Davis-Monthan.
With the redesignation, the 100th and its 349th and 350th Air Refueling Squadrons were moved administratively to Beale, taking over the assets of the17th Bombardment Wing which was inactivated. The 349th and 350th assumed the KC-135s of the903rd and922d Air Refueling Squadrons. With the redesignation, the 100th assumed responsibility for providing worldwide air refueling support for the 9th Wing's SR-71s and U-2s on 30 September 1976
The 100th was inactivated on 15 March 1983 when its two KC-135 squadrons were reassigned to the host 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale, which became a composite wing under the one-base, one-wing concept.
After an inactive status for over seven years, SAC again reactivated the 100th, but this time as the100th Air Division atWhiteman Air Force Base, Missouri on 1 July 1990, an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command. It assumed host unit responsibilities at Whiteman. In addition, the division controlled the509th Bombardment Wing, a formerFB-111 unit that had relocated from the former Pease Air Force Base due toBase Realignment and Closure Commission action and which was not operational while waiting for productionB-2 Spirit stealth bombers to arrive and appropriate facilities for the B-2s to be constructed. It also controlled the351st Missile Wing, anLGM-30F Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing at Whiteman.
Air Force reorganization in 1991 put the 351st under the reactivatedTwentieth Air Force on 29 March 1991, and the 509th Bomb Wing took over host duties at Whiteman. As a result, SAC inactivated the 100th again on 1 August 1991.
Six months after its inactivation as an air division, and over 46 years after departing England at the end of World War II, the Air Force activated the100th Air Refueling Wing, stationed atRAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom, on 1 February 1992. It was assigned to SAC,Fifteenth Air Force,14th Air Division. It was then reassigned toThird Air Force on 1 February 1992. Becoming the host wing at RAF Mildenhall, the 100th ARW took over the management of theEuropean Tanker Task Force (ETTF).[5]
On 31 March 1992, the 351st Air Refueling Squadron was activated and assigned to the 100th Operations Group.[6] The 100th received its first aircraft when KC-135R, serial 58-0100 arrived fromLoring Air Force Base, Maine, in May 1992.[7] The wing reached full strength by September 1992, when its ninth KC-135R was delivered.[8]
The ETTF was ended on 28 November 1998, seeing the number of KC-135R/Ts assigned tothe Bloody Hundredth increased to 15 tankers.[9]
Since its reactivation in 1992, the 100th has served as the lone air refueling wing of the United States Air Forces in Europe.
The last surviving World War II pilot from the 100th Bombardment Group,John "Lucky" Luckadoo, died on 1 September 2025 at age 103.[10][11]
100th Bombardment Group
100th Air Refueling Wing
Wings
Groups
Squadrons
100 Air Expeditionary Wing Components
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Masters of the Air, a television miniseries forApple TV+ fromSteven Spielberg andTom Hanks follows the events of the 100th Bomb Group.[13]
"10 Oct 1943 R Rosenthal / Munster Cat AC damage - #1 eng out, oxygen out. Sole survivor of 100BG
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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