22d Air Refueling Wing | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1 August 1948–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Aerial refueling |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Garrison/HQ | McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas |
| Motto | DucemusLatin "We Lead" |
| Equipment | Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker Boeing KC-46 Pegasus |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Philippine Presidential Unit Citation |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Cory M. Damon[1] |
| Notable commanders | GeneralHowell M. Estes II GeneralHansford T. Johnson GeneralJerome F. O'Malley Major GeneralWilliam Crumm |
| Insignia | |
| 22d Air Refueling Wing emblem (approved 28 June 1951)[2] |  |
The22d Air Refueling Wing is aUnited States Air Force unit assigned to theAir Mobility Command'sEighteenth Air Force. It is stationed atMcConnell Air Force Base, Kansas and also functions as the host wing for McConnell.
Its primary mission is to provide global reach by conducting air refueling and airlift where and when needed. It is one of only three "supertanker" wings in the Air Force, with four Regular Air Force air refueling squadrons, and 47Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker andBoeing KC-46 Pegasus aircraft.[citation needed]
Its origins date to 1940 as the22d Bombardment Group. The group was one of the firstUnited States Army Air Forces units to be deployed into the Pacific Theater after thePearl Harbor Attack with the MartinB-26 Marauder medium bomber. The22d Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit. Active for over 60 years, the 22 Air Refueling Wing and its earlier designation as the 22d Bombardment Wing, was a component wing ofStrategic Air Command's deterrent force during theCold War.
The 22d Air Refueling Wing is commanded by Colonel Richard Tanner.[3] Its Vice Commander is Colonel Mark Baran.[4] The Wing's Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Melissa Royster.[5]
Established as22d Bombardment Wing, Medium, on 28 July 1948. Activated on 1 August 1948. The new wing was assigned toMarch Air Force Base, California on 10 May 1949. It was not operational, so it shared a commander with the 1st Fighter Wing. The 22d Bomb became operational on 1 July 1949. The1st Fighter Wing was attached to it and both wings shared the same commanding officer.
Detached from the wing, the 22d Bombardment Group deployed its B-29s in early July 1950 toKadena Air Base,Okinawa, where it came under control of Far Ease Air Forces Bomber Command (Provisional). On 13 July, the group flew its first mission, against the marshaling yards and oil refinery atWonsan,North Korea. By 21 October, it had amassed fifty-seven missions against the enemy, attacking bridges, factories, industrial targets, troop concentrations, airfields, marshalling yards, communications centers, and port facilities. During four months of combat, the group flew 335sorties with only fourteen aborts and dropped over 6,500 tons of bombs. It redeployed to the United States in late October and November 1950.
Following the return of the Bombardment Group the wing re-equipped the propeller-driven B-29s with newB-47E Stratojet swept-wing bomber medium bombers in 1953, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. It trained for proficiency in globalstrategic bombardment, adding air refueling to its mission in 1952. The wing deployed atRAF Mildenhall, England, September–December 1951, and atRAF Upper Heyford, England, December 1953 – March 1954. From April to July 1957, it deployed toAndersen Air Force Base,Guam. SAC began phasing the B-47 out of the inventory beginning in 1962, sending the last of the wing's aircraft toDavis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona in 1963.
The wing was nottactically operational 11 March 1963 – 15 September 1963, while converting toB-52D bombers andKC-135A tankers. The wing supported Fifteenth Air Force's post-attack command and control system with EC-135s from, September 1964 – March 1970.
The 22d was a "super" wing from 1966–1971, with two bombardment and two tanker squadrons. From 10 March to c. 1 October 1967 the wing was reduced to a small "rear-echelon" non-tactical organization with all tactical resources and most support resources loaned to SAC organizations involved in combat operations inSoutheast Asia. In 1971 the Air Force retired all of its B-52C aircraft. The last airplane of this series was flown from March toDavis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona for storage on 29 September 1971.[6] The wing continued to support SAC operations in theFar East and Southeast Asia through 1975, and from 10 April 1972 to 29 October 1973 again the wing had all its bomber resources loaned to other organizations for combat and contingency operations. The wing's KC-135 resources were also on loan from 10 April to September 1972; afterwards, a few tankers returned to wing control.
The wing maintained a strategic bombardment alert posture from, 1973–1982, but in 1978 it addedconventional warfare missions, includingmine-laying and sea reconnaissance/surveillance. For many years, the wing provided the operations staff and support of theTanker Task Force (TTF) operations supportingRed Flag exercise flight operations on the Nellis Ranges, north of Las Vegas, NV, usingKC-135 personnel and equipment assets deploying from other bases for the duration of a Red Flag Exercise. The tanker task force staff TTF at March also supported overseas deployments ofU.S. Navy,Marine Corps andUSAF fighter aircraft going to the Pacific Region using bothKC-135 andKC-10 tankers.
In 1982, the wing retired its B-52D aircraft and converted from a bombardment wing to an air refueling wing (ARW). It was the first USAF unit to operate the newMcDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender along withBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker ("A" and "E" variants) aircraft. From 1982, the wing provided strategic air refueling andair transport forDepartment of Defense operations and trainingexercises. In 1983, the wing moved personnel and cargo in support ofChadian resistance toLibyan incursions and conducted airlift and refueling missions during rescue of U.S. nationals inGrenada. The wing also provided specialized refueling support toSR-71 aircraft reconnaissance operations using Boeing KC-135Q and (after theCFM-56 conversion) KC-135T aircraft with specialized fuel systems designed to handle theJP-7 fuel, worldwide from 1985 to 1990.
In 1989, the 22 ARW transferred its KC-135E and KC-135Q aircraft and became solely a KC-10 unit.
The 22 ARW supportedLockheed F-117 Nighthawk deployments toSaudi Arabia and helped move personnel and equipment after theInvasion of Kuwait and theGulf War in 1990–1991.
On 1 June 1992, Strategic Air Command was inactivated and the 22d ARW was assigned to the newly establishedAir Mobility Command (AMC). From the end of 1992 to 1994, the wing flewhumanitarian airlift missions toSomalia and it also provided air refueling in support of deployments toHaiti in 1994.
On 1 January 1994, the wing was reassigned without personnel or equipment from March upon the transfer of March to theAir Force Reserve Command) toMcConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, replacing the inactivating384th Bomb Wing and assuming control of the 384th'sKC-135R aircraft. The 22 ARW's former KC-10A aircraft assets were subsequently transferred to the 60th Airlift Wing atTravis Air Force Base, California, that unit being redesignated as the60th Air Mobility Wing (60 AMW).
Various air refueling squadrons were reassigned to the reconstituted 22 ARW from other units as follows:
After the realignment, the 22 ARW deployed crews and aircraft to support no-fly missions over northern and southernIraq and overBosnia and Herzegovina. In 1999, wing aircraft and crews deployed to theMediterranean to refuelNATO aircraft overSerbia. After the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, wing-supplied tanker crews and aircraft air-refueled combat aircraft on missions to theAfghanistan area.
The wing provided deployed KC-135R support duringOperation Iraqi Freedom and continues to provide aerial refueling and air mobility support underOperation Noble Eagle in the United States,Operation Enduring Freedom andOperation New Dawn overseas, and other AMC,USTRANSCOM, other combatant command, and associated national taskings as required.
On 25 January 2019, the Wing received the first two (15-46009 and17-46031) of a planned 36KC-46 Pegasus aircraft that will eventually replace the KC-135 as the primary Air Force tanker aircraft.[7] A further two (17-46030 and16-46022) were delivered to McConnell on 31 January.[8]
22d Operations Group (22 OG)
22d Maintenance Group (22 MXG)
22d Mission Support Group (22 MSG)
22d Medical Group (22 MDG)
Additionally, the22d Comptroller Squadron (22 CPTS) reports directly to the wing staff.
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References for commands and major units assigned, components and stations:[10][11][12]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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