350th Air Refueling Squadron | |
|---|---|
 AKC-135 Stratotanker from the22nd Air Refueling Wing refuels aB-2 Stealth Bomber from the509th Bomb Wing. | |
| Active | 1942–1945; 1947–1949; 1956–1976; 1982–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Aerial refueling |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Garrison/HQ | McConnell Air Force Base |
| Nickname | Red Falcons[1] |
| Engagements | WWIIEuropean Theater Gulf War[2] War on terror[3] |
| Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award withCombat "V" Device Air Force Outstanding Unit Award French Croix de Guerre with Palm |
| Insignia | |
| 350th Air Refueling Squadron Emblem[a][2][1] |  |
| Patch with World War II 350th Bombardment Squadron emblem[b][4] |  |
| World War II ETO fuselage code[4] | LN |
The350th Air Refueling Squadron is aUnited States Air Forceunit assigned to the22nd Air Refueling Wing atMcConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. It operatesBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conductingaerial refueling missions.
Thesquadron, was activated as the350th Bombardment Squadron duringWorld War II as aheavy bomber unit. It served in combat in theEuropean Theater of Operations, where it earned aDistinguished Unit Citation and theFrench Croix de Guerre with Palm for its actions. AfterV-E Day the squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated at the port of embarkation.
The squadron was briefly active in thereserve from 1947 to 1949, but does not appear to have been fully equipped or manned. It served between 1956 and 1992 withStrategic Air Command as abombardment,strategic reconnaissance and air refueling unit.
To organize, train and equip to provide global mobility, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.[citation needed]
Thesquadron was activated atOrlando Army Air Base, Florida on 1 June 1942 as one of the four original squadrons of the100th Bombardment Group,[5][6] It was intended to equip the squadron withConsolidated B-24 Liberators. TheArmy Air Forces (AAF) decided to concentrateheavy bomber training underSecond Air Force, and before the end of June, the squadron moved toPendleton Field, Oregon. Its intended equipment changed toBoeing B-17 Flying Fortresses.[7]
As a result, the squadron only began organizing in October 1942, when the initialcadre of the ground echelon (4 officers and 27 enlisted men) were assigned after it had moved toGowen Field, Idaho.[8] Two days later, the squadron departed forWalla Walla Army Air Base, Washington for Phase I training. There the first aircrew arrived on 1 December 1942 and it received its first operational aircraft and began training.[7][9] In February 1943, the ground echelon went toKearney Army Air Field, Nebraska, while the air echelon went toAinsworth,Casper andScottsbluff Army Air Fields, where they acted as instructors training other units for the next three months.[10]
The 350th completed its training and departedKearney Army Air Field, Nebraska for theEuropean Theater of Operations on 1 May 1943.[7] the air echelon returned toWendover Field, and would not be reunited with the ground echelon until arriving in England in June.[11] The ground echelon proceeded by rail toCamp Kilmer, then sailed on theRMS Queen Elizabeth on 28 May, arriving atGreenock, Scotland on 3 June,[12] while the air echelon flew via thenorthern ferry route to England about 21 May 1943.[2][7][13]
The squadron established itself at its combat station,RAF Thorpe Abbotts, on 9 June 1943, flying its first combat mission againstBremen on 25 June.[14] Until the end of the war, the squadron was primarily employed in thestrategic bombing campaign against Germany. Until January 1944, it concentrated its operations on airfields in France, and industrial targets and naval facilities in France and Germany. On 17 August 1943, it participated in anattack on a factory manufacturingMesserschmitt Bf 109 fighters inRegensburg, Germany, which seriously disrupted production of that plane. Although the mission called for fighter escort, the fighter group assigned to protect the squadron's formation missed the rendezvous and thewing formation proceeded to the target unescorted. Enemy fighter opposition focused on the low "box", formed in part by the squadron. Ten of the 21 Flying Fortresses flown by the 100th Group were lost on this mission. Unknown to AAF intelligence at the time, the attack also destroyed almost all of the fuselage construction equipment for Germany's secretMe 262 jet fighter. Rather than returning to England, the unit turned south and recovered at bases in North Africa.[15] For this action, the squadron was awarded theDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC).[5]
From January to May 1944, the 350th attacked airfields, industrial targets,marshalling yards, and missile sites in Western Europe. DuringBig Week, it participated in the concentrated attack on the German aircraft industry. In March, it conducted a series of long range attacks againstBerlin, for which it was awarded a second DUC.[5] The raid of 6 March was to be the costliest mission flown byEighth Air Force during the war. German fighter controllers detected that the formation including the squadron was unprotected by fighter escorts and concentratedinterceptor attacks on it. Twenty-three B-17s from the formation failed to return.[16][d] Two days later, German fighters shot down the leader of the45th Combat Bombardment Wing, and the 100th Group took the lead in another attack on Berlin.[17] From the summer of 1944, the 350th concentrated on German oil production facilities.[5]
The squadron was occasionally diverted from strategic bombing to performinterdiction andair support missions. It attacked bridges andgun positions to supportOperation Overlord, the landings at Normandy in June 1944. In August and September it supportedOperation Cobra, the breakout atSaint Lo, and bombed enemy positions inBrest. AsAllied forces drove across Northern France toward theSiegfried Line in October and November, it attacked transportation and ground defenses. During theBattle of the Bulge in December 1944 and January 1945, it attackedlines of communication and fortified villages in theArdennes. It provided support forOperation Varsity, the airborne assault across theRhine in March 1945. The squadron was awarded theFrench Croix de Guerre with Palm for attacks on heavily defended sites and dropping supplies to theFrench Forces of the Interior.[5]
The squadron flew its last mission on 20 April 1945.[18] Following,V-E Day, the squadron was initially programmed to be part of theoccupation forces in Germany, but that plan was cancelled in September, and between October and December, the squadron's planes were ferried back to the United States or transferred to other units in theater.[7] Its remaining personnel returned to the United States in December and the squadron was inactivated at the Port of Embarkation on 19 December 1945.[2]
Starting with the Regensburg mission of August 1943, the squadrons of the 100th Bombardment Group began suffering losses among the highest inVIII Bomber Command.[19] On 8 October, it lost seven aircraft on a raid on Bremen, including its lead and deputy lead aircraft.[20] Only two days later, it lost twelve aircraft on an attack onMünster, again including the lead aircraft. The only group plane returning from that mission had lost two engines and had two wounded on board.[21][e] Its highest one day loss occurred on the 6 March 1944 attack on Berlin, when 15 bombers failed to return, ten from the350th Bombardment Squadron.[22] On 11 September 1944, theLuftwaffe put up its heaviest opposition in months, destroying 11 of the group's bombers.[23] On 31 December 1944, half the1st Bombardment Division's losses consisted of a dozen 100th bombers.[24] With a group authorization of 40 B-17s, it lost 177 planes to enemy action.[7] It became a legend for these losses and was referred to as the "Bloody Hundredth."[7]
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The squadron was again activated in thereserve atColumbia Army Air Base, South Carolina on 16 July 1947 and assigned to the 100th Group, which was located atMiami Army Air Field, Florida. At Columbia, its training was supervised byAir Defense Command (ADC). It does not appear the squadron was fully staffed and was equipped only with training aircraft.[2] In 1948,Continental Air Command assumed responsibility for managing reserve andAir National Guard units from ADC.[25]
PresidentTruman’s reduced 1949 defense budget required reductions in the number of Air Force units.[26] As a result, the 350th was inactivated[2] as reserve flying operations at Columbia ceased.
The squadron reactivated underStrategic Air Command in 1956, and received new, swept wingBoeing B-47 Stratojet,[1] which was designed to carry nuclear weapons and to penetrate Soviet air defenses with its high operational ceiling and near supersonic speed. The squadron flew the B-47 for about a decade when by the mid-1960s it had become obsolete and vulnerable to new Soviet air defenses. The squadron began to send its Stratojets to TheMilitary Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center atDavis-Monthan Air Force Base for retirement in 1965, the last being retired in 1966; it was one of the last B-47 squadrons.
It was redesignated as a strategic reconnaissance squadron, operatingRyan AQM-34 Firebeereconnaissance drones launched fromDC-130 Hercules aircraft and recovered bySikorsky CH-3 helicopters from 1966–1976.
Transitioning to theKC-135Q Stratotanker in 1982, the squadron provided refueling support forSR-71 aircraft from, 1983–1990. The 350th also provided cargo support and intratheater refueling during combat inSouthwest Asia from August 1990 – March 1991 during theGulf War.[2]
At the end of theCold War, the Air Force underwent extensive changes as a result of several rounds ofBase Realignment and Closure (BRAC). On 1 January 1994, the22nd Air Refueling Wing moved toMcConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, as part of the Air Force's plan to return McConnell to an air refueling hub. The384th Air Refueling Squadron, a geographically separated unit of the19th Air Refueling Wing (atRobins Air Force Base, Georgia) and a McConnell tenant unit, joined the 22nd as the first of fourBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker squadrons to comprise the wing’s new tanker force. Within eight months, the 350th,344th, and349th Air Refueling Squadrons joined the 384th in the22nd Operations Group to fly the wing's 48 KC-135s. In 1997, theRepublic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) selected McConnell as its training base for its KC-135 crews and maintenance personnel. The RSAF stationed two of their Stratotankers with the 22 ARW, naming the organization the Peace Guardian Detachment.[3] From 1998 to 2003, the RSAF maintained a 300-person detachment at McConnell and trained with the 350th on air refueling techniques, tactics, and general airmanship.[27]
After theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States,the Pentagon launched theglobal war On terrorism (GWOT). The 22nd Air Refueling Wing initially deployed tanker crews in support ofOperation Noble Eagle. Before the end of the year, McConnell tankers were sent to the Middle East, Central Asia, Horn of Africa, and other locations to provide air refueling support duringOperation Enduring Freedom. Beginning in 2003, the 22nd ARW took an active role inOperation Iraqi Freedom as tanker crews deployed to the Arabian Peninsula.[3]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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