| 905th Air Refueling Squadron | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Active | 1942–1944; 1959–2010; 2019–Present |
| Country |  United States |
| Branch |  United States Air Force |
| Role | Air Refueling |
| Part of | Air Mobility Command |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Insignia | |
| 905th Air Refueling Squadron emblem[a][1] |  |
| Patch with first 905th Air Refueling Squadron emblem |  |
| 505th Bombardment Sq emblem[b][2] |  |
The905th Air Refueling Squadron is aUnited States Air Force Reserve unit. It is presently active as an element of the931st Air Refueling Wing atMcConnell Air Force Base,Kansas. The squadron was previously inactivated at the end of 2010 when the319th Air Refueling Wing atGrand Forks Air Force Base lost its operational mission and became the 319th Air Base Wing.
The first predecessor of the squadron was the505th Bombardment Squadron, which was activated duringWorld War II and served as a Replacement Training Unit until it was inactivated when theArmy Air Forces reorganized its training units into Army Air Forces Base Units.
The 905th was organized underStrategic Air Command in 1960 at Grand Forks, where it served as anair refueling unit for the next fifty years under SAC andAir Mobility Command. From 1960 through 1991 the squadron maintained aircraft onalert, prepared to launch in the event the United States went to war. The squadron also refueledBoeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers flying airborne alert and deployed tankers and crews to the Pacific during theVietnam War. In 1985 the two squadrons were consolidated.
In 1992 the squadron became an element ofAir Mobility Command. It continued to support contingency operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, and Afghanistan until it was inactivated.
The first predecessor of thesquadron was the505th Bombardment Squadron, which was activated in September 1942 atSalt Lake City Army Air Base as one of the original four squadrons of the346th Bombardment Group.[2][3] The following month, the squadron moved toSmoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas, where it briefly acted as aConsolidated B-24 LiberatorOperational Training Unit (OTU).[3] The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to providecadres to "satellite groups."[4] In November, its mission changed to that of aReplacement Training Unit (RTU).[2] RTUs were also oversized units, but their mission was to train individualpilots oraircrews.[4]
The 505th continued as an RTU until about October 1943.[2] However, theArmy Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit,[5] while the groups and squadrons acting as RTUs were disbanded or inactivated.[6] This resulted in the 505th, along with other units atDyersburg Army Air Base, being inactivated in the spring of 1944[2] and replaced by the 223d AAF Base Unit (Combat Crew Training Station (Bombardment, Heavy)), which assumed the unit's mission, personnel, and equipment.[7]
Although the 346th group was reactivated in August 1944 as aBoeing B-29 Superfortress unit, it was assigned three new squadrons and the 505th remained inactive until it was consolidated with the 905th in 1985.[1][2]
In 1959 the Air Force assigned the905th Air Refueling Squadron toStrategic Air Command (SAC), which organized it atGrand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota in early 1960, where it was assigned to the4133d Strategic Wing. The 905th was the first Air Force flying unit to be assigned to Grand Forks.[8][9] The squadron received its firstBoeing KC-135A Stratotanker on 6 May 1960 and began to fly global refueling sorties.[10]
The 4133d wing was established by SAC in a program to disperse itsBoeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.[11] Half of the wing's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minutealert, fully fueled and ready for combat. The 4133d (and later the 319th) continued to maintain an alert commitment until the end of theCold War. The 905th also refueled B-52s participating inOperation Chrome Dome, the airborne component of SAC's alert force[12] until Chrome Dome was terminated in 1968. The squadron's ground alert commitment was increased in the fall of 1962 during theCuban Missile Crisis, when all available aircraft assumed an alert status.[13]
The squadron transferred to the319th Bombardment Wing in 1963 when SAC replaced its Major Command controlled (MAJCON) strategic wings with wings carrying the honors ofWorld War II organizations.[14] The squadron supported combat operations inSoutheast Asia from 1965 to 1975, supporting PACAF fighters participating inOperation Rolling Thunder, the bombing campaign against North Vietnam.[1][15] The squadron also deployed elements as part of Operation Young Tiger,[16] which provided tanker support from Thailand. Operating from its home station, the unit refueled the SAC airborne command post, code namedLooking Glass.[17]
As the war in Southeast Asia wound down, the squadron once more focused on training for strategic missions.[15] In 1985, the 505th Bombardment Squadron was consolidated with the 905th.[1] In 1986 the 319th wing's last B-52 left Grand Forks, and the following year the 905th began to support the wing's newly assignedB-1A Lancers.[18] 1987 also marked the squadron's upgrade from the KC-135A to the re-engined KC-135R[19]
In December 1989, the squadron flew missions duringOperation Just Cause, the American operation to oustManuel Noriega from power inPanama.[1][c] The efforts of the 905th enabledaeromedical evacuation missions to be flown directly to medical facilities in the United States from Panama.[20]
The squadron provided personnel and aircraft for air refueling operations inSouthwest Asia from 13 August 1990 to 9 April 1991.[1] On 29 September 1991, as the United States reduced its nuclear alert force following the signing of theStrategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the squadron ended thirty years of alert duty with SAC.[20]
In 1992 the air force reorganized its major commands. As a result, the 905th's parent 319th Operations Group was reassigned toAir Combat Command as a bomber unit, while the 905th became an element ofAir Mobility Command (AMC) and was assigned as a geographically separated unit to the305th Operations Group, stationed atGrissom Air Force Base, Indiana. The following year it was transferred to the43d Operations Group atMalmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, when Grissom closed. This assignment was short-lived, however, because the 319th wing lost its B-1s and became an air refueling wing in December 1993 and the 905th was once more part of its operations group.[18]
Under AMC control, the unit supportedOperation Deny Flight, the no-fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994 and 1995 fromPisa Airport, Italy andIstres Air Base, France.[21] It supportedOperation Uphold Democracy, the United States action to remove the military junta and restore the elected president ofHaiti in 1995.[22] In 1996 the squadron deployed planes and crews toRiyadh Air Base, Saudi Arabia forOperation Southern Watch, the Southwest Asia Task Force operation to monitor and control airspace in southern Iraq, as an element of Air Expeditionary Force III.[21][23] It also deployed for the sister operation patrolling northern Iraq,Operation Northern Watch.
The squadron was named the best air refueling squadron in AMC in 1997, being awarded the Spaatz Trophy.[24] After 1998, the unit participated inOperation Joint Forge, theNorth Atlantic Treaty Organization to provide stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[22]
For three months in the summer of 2000, the squadron was forced to operate fromMacDill Air Force Base, Florida as the Grand Forks runways underwent a nine million dollar renovation. For the first time in ten years, following the9/11 attacks, the squadron once again placed aircraft on alert as part of Operation Noble Freedom and also began support forOperation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Toward the end of the following year, the squadron began to deploy forward in what becameOperation Iraqi Freedom, the war in Iraq.[25]
The last squadron KC-135 departed Grand Forks on 6 December 2010. At the end of the year the squadron inactivated as AMC ended air refueling operations at Grand Forks and the 319th became a housekeeping unit for the base in preparation for the arrival ofGlobal Hawk unmanned aircraft.[26]
The 905th ARS was transferred to the 931st Air Refueling Wing at McConnell AFB, Kansas, and reactivated on 14 May 2019. The squadron was assigned the KC-46A Pegasus.[27]
505th Bombardment Squadron
905th Air Refueling Squadron
| Award streamer | Award | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1977 – 30 June 1979 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[1] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 30 May 1990 – 29 May 1992 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1992 – 30 June 1994 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1994 – 30 June 1995 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1995 – 30 June 1997 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 1998 – 30 June 2000 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2000–30 June 2002 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2002–30 June 2004 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2004–30 June 2005 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2005–30 June 2006 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2006–30 June 2007 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | 1 July 2007–30 June 2009 | 905th Air Refueling Squadron[29] |
| Service Streamer | Campaign | Dates | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
.png) | American Theater without campaign credit | 7 September 1942 – 1 April 1944 | 505th Bombardment Squadron[2] |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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