99th Air Refueling Squadron | |
|---|---|
 117th Air Refueling WingKC-135s on the Birmingham ANGB flightline | |
| Active | 1942–1944; 1957–1973; 1983–2008; 2009–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Aerial refueling |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Birmingham Air National Guard Base |
| Nicknames | Black Knights[1] Ramrod (While Stationed at Westover 1957-1973)[citation needed] |
| Engagements | KosovoSouthwest Asia[2] |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award withCombat "V" Device Meritorious Unit Award Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm[2] |
| Insignia | |
| 99th Air Refueling Squadron emblem[note 1][2] (restored) |  |
| 99th Air Refueling Squadron emblem[note 2][3] | .png) |
| 399th Bombardment Squadron emblem[note 3][4] |  |
The99th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the6th Air Mobility Wing atMacDill Air Force Base, Florida, but is stationed atBirmingham Air National Guard Base, Alabama. It is an Active Associate Unit, an active duty component attached to theAlabama Air National Guard's117th Air Refueling Wing. The 99th Air Refueling Squadron works with, supports and flies the 117th Air Refueling Wing'sBoeing KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft.
The first predecessor of thesquadron was organized duringWorld War II as the9th Reconnaissance Squadron. Redesignated the399th Bombardment Squadron, it served as a crew training unit until inactivated in May 1944.
The99th Air Refueling Squadron was activated in July 1957 and served withStrategic Air Command (SAC) until 1973, and again from 1983. In 1985, it was consolidated with the399th Bombardment Squadron. When SAC was inactivated in 1992, the squadron became an element ofAir Mobility Command. The squadron was inactivated in 2008, but was reactivated as an associated unit the following year.
The earliest predecessor of thesquadron was constituted in January 1942 as the9th Reconnaissance Squadron. However, the squadron was redesignated as the399th Bombardment Squadron before activating on paper atSalt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah as one of the original four squadrons of the88th Bombardment Group.[4][5]
In September the squadron moved toGeiger Field, Washington, then toWalla Walla Army Air Base, Washington and received its first personnel andBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and became a heavy bomber Operational Training Unit (OTU) underII Bomber Command.[5] The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to providecadres to "satellite groups."[6] The squadron's time as an OTU was brief and it soon became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU).[5] Like OTUs, RTUs were also oversized units, but their mission was to train individualpilots oraircrews.[6]
In November 1943 the squadron moved toAvon Park Army Air Field, Florida[2] and became part ofIII Bomber Command,[5] asSecond Air Force concentrated on trainingBoeing B-29 Superfortress aircrews. However, theArmy Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit,[7] while the groups and squadrons like the 399th acting as RTUs were disbanded or inactivated in the spring of 1944.[4][8]
The99th Air Refueling Squadron was activated atTurner Air Force Base, Georgia in July 1957 as aBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker squadron underStrategic Air Command (SAC) and assigned to the4050th Air Refueling Wing. The following month it moved toWestover Air Force Base, Massachusetts, where the wingheadquarters was located. Beginning in 1958, The 99th conducted theater and overseasair refueling.[2] In 1963, the 4050th Wing, which was a Major Command controlled wing and could not continue its history if discontinued, was replaced by the499th Air Refueling Wing, an Air Force controlled wing, which could continue its history through periods of inactive service. In December 1965, operational control of the squadron was transferred to the99th Bombardment Wing, which became the parent of the squadron when the 499th Wing was inactivated in January 1966.[9][10]
Starting in 1965 the 99th supported operations inSoutheast Asia. For its efforts, it earned theAir Force Outstanding Unit Award withCombat "V" Device and theRepublic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm. During several periods after 1967, all squadron resources were transferred to units supporting theVietnam War, although the squadron nominally remained at Westover.[9] The squadron was inactivated in September 1973 as the 99th Wing reduced its operations in preparing Westover for transfer to theAir Force Reserve.[2][10][11]
In 1962, SAC established an airborne command post atOffutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, nicknamedLooking Glass, to ensure continuity ofcommand and control of SAC forces in the event of a nuclear attack. Looking Glass was soon augmented by auxiliary aircraft stationed with the headquarters of SAC's threeNumbered Air Forces. The 99th Squadron addedBoeing EC-135 aircraft to its inventory in 1965 to operate the Eastern Auxiliary Command Post forEighth Air Force at Westover. The EC-135s hadturbofan engines, were equipped with advanced electronics equipment, and could be refueled by other tankers while retaining the refueling capability of the KC-135s. The 99th continued to operate EC-135s until 1 April 1970, when SAC reorganized its airborne command post aircraft and withdrew them from vulnerable bases near the coasts like Westover and assigned them to the2d,3d, and4th Airborne Command and Control Squadrons, stationed at bases closer to the heartland of North America.[12]
In October 1983 the squadron was reactivated atRobins Air Force Base, Georgia,[2] becoming the second refueling squadron of the19th Air Refueling Wing when the 19th Wing converted from the strategic bombardment mission and lost itsBoeing B-52 Stratofortress aircraft.[13] It again flew worldwide aerial refueling missions. Between 1984 and 1991 it also performed the airborne command post mission.[2]
Shortly after its activation, the 99th supportedOperation Urgent Fury, which replaced the Stalinist regime inGrenada. In December 1989, 99th tankers supportedOperation Just Cause, which oustedManuel Noriega as the leader of Panama. In its last contingency operation while part of SAC, the unit deployed aircraft and crew to supportOperation Desert Shield in August 1990 and continued its deployment through Operation Desert Storm, which ended the occupation of Kuwait by Iraq.[2]
In 1992, the Air Force reorganized its combat forces. In the reorganization, tanker aircraft, which had been assigned to SAC, were mostly reassigned to the newAir Mobility Command (AMC). Under AMC, the squadron participated inOperation Deny Flight overBosnia, from January to February 1995 and again in August 1996. It provided personnel and aircraft to refuel aircraft participating inOperations Provide Comfort,Northern Watch andSouthern Watch, enforcingno-fly zones over Iraq in 1996. Deployed squadron operations along the border of Iraq continued in the following two years in Operations Phoenix Scorpion, Desert Thunder andDesert Fox.[2]
In 1998 and 1999 the squadron supportedOperations Noble Anvil,Deliberate Forge and Allied Force over the Balkans in areas that had been part of Yugoslavia.[2]
Closer to home, The squadron also refueled aircraft involved in Operation Constant Vigil, counter drug operations over the Caribbean Sea in 1998. These operations later expanded to locations in South America. After theterrorist attacks onNew York City andthe Pentagon on 11 September 2001, the squadron supportedOperation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan andOperation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. The unit also transportedTaliban andAl Qaeda detainees to theGuantanamo Bay detention camp, Cuba. In 2008, the squadron was inactivated at Robins.[2]
In October 2009, the 99th was reactivated atBirmingham Air National Guard Base, Alabama as part of the Air Force's "Total Force Integration" initiative. The squadron and its personnel remain an active duty Air Force unit with administrative control falling to the6th Operations Group atMacDill Air Force Base, Florida.[2] Operational direction for day-to-day taskings comes from the117th Air Refueling Wing of theAlabama Air National Guard at Birmingham as the squadron's personnel operate the KC-135s of the 117th's106th Air Refueling Squadron.[14]
399th Bombardment Squadron
99th Air Refueling Squadron
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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