| 141st Air Refueling Wing | |
|---|---|
 141st Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker overMount Rainier | |
| Active | 1976–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  Washington |
| Branch |  Air National Guard |
| Type | Wing |
| Role | Air refueling |
| Part of | Washington Air National Guard |
| Garrison/HQ | Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington. |
| Tail Code | Fairchild |
| Website | http://www.141arw.ang.af.mil |
| Commanders | |
| Wing Commander | Colonel James McGovern |
| Command Chief Master Sergeant | Chief Master Sgt. Ed Pohl |
| Insignia | |
| 141st Air Refueling Wing emblem |  |
| Tail stripe |  |
The141st Air Refueling Wing is a unit of theWashington Air National Guard, stationed atFairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington. If activated to federal service, thewing is gained byAir Mobility Command (AMC). As a result ofBase Realignment and Closure action, the wing no longer has any unit assigned aircraft and is aassociate squadron sharing KC-135R aircraft with AMC's92d Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild. The wing was activated in 1976, when it absorbed the subordinate elements of the141st Fighter-Interceptor Group, which moved to Fairchild fromGeiger Field, where they had been supporting anair defense mission.
The116th Air Refueling Squadron assigned to the wing's 141st Operations Group, was first organized duringWorld War I as the 116th Aero Squadron, and is one of the29 squadrons of theUnited States Army National Guard formed beforeWorld War II.
Thewing's mission is to provide the air refueling for the United States Air Force and the Air Guard. It also provides air refueling support toNavy,Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft. Equipped with theBoeing KC-135 Stratotanker, the wing is capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients using patient support pallets during aeromedical evacuations. The KC-135 has often served as transport for the wing's own units.
The 141st Air Refueling Wing is composed of the following units:
The wing provides support to two squadrons that are assigned to the194th Regional Support Wing but are geographically separated units stationed at Fairchild AFB:[1]
In July 1976, the wing was organized atFairchild Air Force Base, receiving most of its units, including the116th Air Refueling Squadron. from the141st Fighter-Interceptor Group, which was inactivated atGeiger Field.[2] was transferred toStrategic Air Command (SAC) and the 116th Fighter Squadron converted to theKC-135 Stratotanker, becoming the fifth Air National Guard unit to join SAC. With the transfer, the 141st was changed in status from a Group to a Wing. The 141st Air Refueling Wing also moved from Geiger Field to nearbyFairchild Air Force Base to accommodate the larger KC-135A aircraft.[3] An Air National Guard spokesman at the time characterized the conversion from theF-101 Voodoo to the KC-135 as "like giving up anMG for asemi-truck".[4]
During the1990 Gulf Crisis, aircrew, maintenance and support personnel responded to the Iraq invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990, and deployed to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Upon federal activation in December 1990, all eight of the unit’s KC-135's deployed to the Middle East. The 116th refueled coalition attack aircraft duringOperation Desert Storm.
In December 1991, the unit responded with aircrew and support personnel forOperation Restore Hope, a United Nations relief mission to aid hunger victims in Somalia. In 1992, the Air Force considered, but ultimately rejected, converting the 141st from an air refueling wing to a bomb wing equipped with theBoeing B-52 Stratofortress, possibly transferred from the92nd Bomb Wing.[5] June 1995, several rotations deployed to Pisa, Italy, forOperation Deny Flight, NATO mission enforcing the no-fly zone overBosnia-Herzegovina. In May 1999, six KC-135E's deployed to Budapest, Hungary in support ofOperation Allied Force to deter ethnic aggressions in Yugoslavia.
On 13 January 1999, one of the unit's KC-135Es crashed atNATO Air Base Geilenkirchen Air Base, Germany, killing all four crew members.[6] This was the first time the wing lost an aircraft or lives. A monument was erected at the site the following year.
After the11 September 2001 attacks, the 141st ARW began refueling flights supportingOperation Noble Eagle almost immediately. In 2002 a new digital navigation system, called Pacer CRAG, was added to the aircraft and crews trained to function without a navigator. Members of the 116th also joined the thousands of Guard and Reserve forces called up to deploy all over the world in support of America's "War on Terror."
When the first Guard KC-135 R-model landed on Fairchild AFB in January 2003, with its new engines, it became the 40th different airplane the 116th pilots had flown since it was created back in 1924. Each one of the four engines of the KC-135R produces over 21,000 pounds of thrust. The unit's first plane, the JN-6-A2 "Jenny," had a wooden body covered in fabric and only weighed 1,430 pounds.
At the time PresidentGeorge W. Bush ordered coalition military units into Iraq duringOperation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003, the 116th was in a training status to transition into the R model KC-135. Since then the 116th has supported continuous deployments including antiterrorism efforts abroad underOperation Enduring Freedom and air refueling missions over the US for homeland defense flights underOperation Noble Eagle.
During a banquet ceremony in July 2003, the 141st Air Refueling Wing accepted the coveted Solano Trophy marking the wing as the best Air National Guard unit in the 15th Air Force.
Overseas deployments and homeland security refueling missions have dominated the tasking landscape for the squadron since 2004. In response to the Congress-mandated 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process, the last of the KC-135R Stratotankers belonging to the 141st Air Refueling Wing were redirected to the185th Air Refueling Wing of theIowa Air National Guard to replace their high maintenance KC-135Es. On 1 October 2007 the wing shares aircraft with the active duty92d Air Refueling Wing.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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