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44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron
KC-10 Extender deployed to Southwest Asia
Active	1942–1946; 1953–1964; after 2002
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Aerial refueling
Mottos	Versatility and Dependability
Engagements	European Theater of Operations Mediterranean Theater of Operations[1]
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation[1]
Insignia
44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron emblem
44th Air Refueling Squadron emblem[a]

The44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron is a provisionalUnited States Air Force unit that was assigned to the379th Air Expeditionary Wing. It was last known to be stationed atAl-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, where it engaged in air refuelingoperations in support ofUnited States Air Forces Central.

The earliest predecessor of the squadron was the44th Troop Carrier Squadron, which served in theEuropean andMediterranean Theaters of Operations duringWorld War II, where it earned threeDistinguished Unit Citations. After the war, it served briefly as anairlift unit in the United States and Hawaii.

The44th Air Refueling Squadron served withStrategic Air Command from 1953 to 1964 withBoeing KC-97 Stratofreighters atChennault Air Force Base, Louisiana andSelfridge Air Force Base, Michigan. The two squadrons were consolidated into a single unit in 1985. The consolidated unit was converted to provisional status in 2002.

The44th Transport Squadron was activated in June 1942 underI Troop Carrier Command atPatterson Field, Ohio. It trained at various stations in the southeast and Texas withDouglas C-47 Skytrain transports. Thesquadron, by now the44th Troop Carrier Squadron, deployed to Egypt in November 1942 as part of President Roosevelt's decision to aid theWestern Desert Air Force of theRoyal Air Force. There it became part of the newly establishedNinth Air Force, headquartered inCairo.

The 44th transported supplies and evacuated casualties in support of theBritish Eighth Army, operating from desert airfields in Egypt and Libya. It was reassigned in May 1943 to theTwelfth Air Force in Algeria, where it supportedUnited States Fifth Army forces in the Tunisian Campaign. The squadron began training for the invasion of Sicily. It droppedparatroops over the assault area of the island on the night of 9 July. It carried reinforcements to Sicily on 11 July and received aDistinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for carrying out that mission although severely attacked by ground and naval forces. It dropped paratroops over the beachhead south of the Sele River on the night of 14 September 1943. The squadron remained in theMediterranean Theater of Operations until February 1944, when it again joined Ninth Air Force in England. It became part ofIX Troop Carrier Command, participating in the buildup of forces prior to the Allied landings in France.

The Squadron engaged incombat operations by dropping paratroops into Normandy nearSte-Mere-Eglise onD-Day (6 June 1944) and releasinggliders with reinforcements on the following day. The unit received a third DUC and a French citation for these missions.

After the Normandy invasion the squadron ferried supplies in the United Kingdom. The squadron also hauled food, clothing, medicine, gasoline, ordnance equipment, and other supplies to the front lines and evacuated patients to rear zone hospitals. It dropped paratroops nearNijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements duringOperation Market Garden, the airborne attack on the Netherlands. In December it participated in theBattle of the Bulge by releasing gliders with supplies for the101st Airborne Division nearBastogne.

The squadron returned to the United States in May 1945, becoming a domesticairlift squadron for Continental Air Forces. It was reassigned to VI Air Service Area Command in Hawaii in September 1945, where it operated until being inactivated in early 1946.

The44th Air Refueling Squadron was established as aStrategic Air Command (SAC)Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter squadron, providing aerial refueling forBoeing B-47 Stratojets of the44th Bombardment Wing. With the retirement of the B-47 atChennault Air Force Base, Louisiana in 1960, the squadron moved toSelfridge Air Force Base, Michigan as part of SAC's4045th Air Refueling Wing. It was inactivated in 1964.

The squadron was converted to provisional status and reactivated as the44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, anAir Combat CommandMcDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender air refueling squadron in 2002 as part of the globalwar on terrorism.

44th Troop Carrier Squadron

• Constituted as the44th Transport Squadron on 30 May 1942

Activated on 15 June 1942

Redesignated44th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942

Inactivated on 25 March 1946

• Consolidated with the44th Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 19 September 1985 as the44th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy^[2] (remained inactive)

44th Air Refueling Squadron

Constituted as the44th Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 13 February 1953

Activated on 20 April 1953

Discontinued and inactivated on 15 December 1964

• Consolidated with the44th Troop Carrier Squadron on 19 September 1985 as the44th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy^[2] (remained inactive)
• Redesignated44th Air Refueling Squadron on 9 September 1994 (Remained inactive)^[3]
• Redesignated44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, and converted to provisional status, on 25 January 2002.

• 316 Transport Group (later, 316 Troop Carrier Group), 15 June 1942
• I Troop Carrier Command, May 1945
• VII Air Service Area Command, attached 3 August 1945 – 25 March 1946
• 44th Bombardment Wing, 20 April 1953
• 4045th Air Refueling Wing, 1 June 1960
• 500th Air Refueling Wing, 1 January 1963 – 15 December 1964
• Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate at any time after 25 January 2002.

379th Air Expeditionary Wing, 25 January 2002 – unknown

• Douglas C-47 Skytrain, 1942–1945
• Curtiss C-46 Commando, 1945–1946
• Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, 1953–1964
• McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender, 2002-undetermined

• Combat Operations. Included airborne assaults on Sicily, Normandy, Holland, and Germany; aerial transportation of personnel (including casualties), supplies, and equipment in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) and European Theater of Operations (ETO), Nov 1942 – Apr 1945.
• Campaigns. World War II: Egypt-Libya; Tunisia; Sicily; Naples-Foggia; Rome-Arno; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Central Europe.
• Decorations.Distinguished Unit Citations: Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Sicily, 25 November 1942 – 25 August 1943; Sicily, 11 July 1943; France, [6–7] Jun 1944.

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985).Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II(PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved7 July 2012.
• Coles, Harry C., (1945)Ninth Air Force in the Western Desert Campaign to 23 January 1943, USAF Historical Study No. 30
• Coles, Harry C., (1945)Participation by the Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign, USAF Historical Study No. 37
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961].Air Force Combat Units of World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-912799-02-1.LCCN 61060979. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 20 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969].Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-405-12194-6.LCCN 70605402.OCLC 72556. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 20 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984).Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• 44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron Factsheet

• Air refueling squadrons of the United States Air Force
• Military units and formations established in 1953

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