141st Air Refueling Wing

Edit links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

141st Air Refueling Wing
141st Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker over Mount Rainier
Active1946–present
Country United States
Allegiance Washington
Branch  Air National Guard
TypeWing
RoleAir Refueling
Part ofWashington Air National Guard
Garrison/HQFairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington.
Tail CodeFairchild
Websitehttp://www.141arw.ang.af.mil
Commanders
Wing CommanderColonel James McGovern
Command Chief Master SergeantChief Master Sgt. Ed Pohl
Insignia
141st Air Refueling Wing emblem

The 141st Air Refueling Wing (141 ARW) is a unit of the

92d Air Refueling Wing
at Fairchild AFB.

The 116th Air Refueling Squadron assigned to the Wings 141st Operations Group, is a descendant organization of the

United States Army National Guard formed before World War II
.

Overview

The 141st Air Refueling Wing's mission is to provide the core aerial refueling capability for the United States Air Force and the Air Guard. This unique aircraft enhances the Air Force's capability to accomplish its primary missions. It also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft. Equipped with the 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 its own units such as the 141 Security Police Squadron, now 141 Security Forces Squadron.

Units

The 141st Air Refueling Wing is composed of the following units:

  • 141st Operations Group
116th Air Refueling Squadron
  • 141st Maintenance Group
  • 141st Mission Support Group
  • 141st Medical Group

The 141 ARW provides support to two squadrons that are assigned to the

194th Regional Support Wing but are geographically separated units stationed at Fairchild AFB:[1]

History

On 1 May 1956 the Washington Air National Guard

116th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 141st Fighter Group (Air Defense) was allotted by the National Guard Bureau
, extended federal recognition and activated. The 116th FIS becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 141st Headquarters, 141st Material Squadron (Maintenance), 141st Combat Support Squadron, and the 141st USAF Dispensary.

Air Defense

The 141st Fighter Group (AD) was assigned to the Oregon ANG

142d Air Defense Wing
. In 1957, the interceptor aircraft were upgraded from the Korean War era F-94A Starfires to the more capable F-89J Scorpion. In 1960, the 141st Fighter Group (AD) was reassigned to the Washington Air National Guard headquarters and was re-designated as the 141st Fighter Group on 1 July.

Two 141st fighters crashed during the winter of 1961/62. On 28 December 1961, a

Geiger Field.[2] Both pilots were killed. A second crash occurred a week later when, on 6 January 1962, an F-89 flown by Captain Donald Adcock and Lt Larry Grosse crashed northeast of Penticton, British Columbia.[3][4] Grosse died in the crash, but Adcock survived after ejecting and was rescued by a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter crew. Another crash occurred on 17 November 1963, when mechanical failure caused an F-89 to crash during a night training mission near Windy Peak in Okanogan County, Washington. The observer, Major Rolin Deschane, was rescued near the crash site, but the body of the pilot, Captain Robert Boucher, wasn't recovered until 1974.[5]

In 1965, the Washington Air National Guard announced that the 116 FIS would convert from the F-89 to the nuclear-capable Convair F-102 Delta Dagger.[6] 1967 was a "trophy" year for the 141st Fighter Group and the 116th. Trophies and awards received included the Spaatz Trophy for the most Outstanding Air National Guard Flying Unit, the Air National Guard Outstanding Unit Plaque, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Trophy and the Winston P. Wilson Award. In 1969, the unit accumulated an outstanding record, 37,900 accident-free flying hours, receiving the 25th Air Division Flying Safety Award five years in a row.

Air Refueling mission

In July 1976, the 141st Fighter Group was transferred to

KC-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 nearby Fairchild Air Force Base to accommodate the larger KC-135A aircraft. An Air National Guard spokesman at the time characterized the conversion from the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo to the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker as "like giving up an MG for a semi-truck".[7]

During the

Operation Desert Storm
.

In December 1991, the unit responded with aircrew and support personnel for

Operation Allied Force
to deter ethnic aggressions in Yugoslavia.

On 13 January 1999, one of the unit's KC-135Es crashed at NATO Air Base Geilenkirchen Air Base, Germany, killing all four crew members.[9] This was the first time the unit lost an aircraft or lives since beginning the aerial refueling mission in 1976. A monument was erected at the site the following year.

Global War on Terrorism

After the

11 September 2001 attacks, the 141st ARW began refueling flights supporting Operation 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 President

Operation 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 under Operation Enduring Freedom and air refueling missions over the US for homeland defense flights under Operation 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-135 Stratotankers belonging to the 141st Air Refueling Wing were redirected to Iowa, and as of 1 October 2007 116th crew members now share aircraft with the active duty 92d Air Refueling Wing.

Today, 116th crews still deploy around the world to fulfill Air Expeditionary Force commitments much the same as during the First World War.

Lineage

  • Designated 141st Fighter Group (Air Defense), and allotted to Washington ANG, 1956
Extended federal recognition and activated, 16 April 1956
Re-designated: 141st Fighter Group, 1 July 1960
Status changed from Group to Wing, 1 July 1976
Re-designated: 141st Air Refueling Wing, 1 July 1976

Assignments
Gained by:
Air Defense Command
Gained by:
Air Defense Command
, 1 September 1963
Gained by: 25th Air Division, Aerospace Defense Command, 15 January 1968
Gained by: Strategic Air Command, 1 July 1976
Gained by: Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992
Gained by: Air Mobility Command, 1 June 1993–present

Components

Stations

  • Geiger Field
    , Washington, 16 April 1956
  • Fairchild AFB
    , Washington, 1 July 1976–present

Aircraft

References

  1. ^ "Team Fairchild". Fairchild Air Force Base. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
  2. ^ "Plane Crash Claims Lives of 2 Well-Known Farmers". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 29 December 1961. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Survivor of Crash in Good Condition". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 6 January 1962. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  4. ^ "2 Guard Crashes Called Dissimilar". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 8 January 1962. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  5. Eugene Register-Guard
    . 11 October 1974. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  6. ^ "Plane Change Due Air Guard". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 12 May 1965. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  7. ^ Bill Sallquist (7 June 1976). "Guard Unit Joins SAC". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  8. ^ Jim Camden (1 July 1992). "Air Guard may switch to bombers". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  9. Eugene Register-Guard
    . Retrieved 25 May 2013.

Further reading

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 141st Air Refueling Wing (Washington Air National Guard).
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=141st_Air_Refueling_Wing&oldid=1205378642"