301st Air Refueling Wing

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301st Air Refueling Wing
301st Bombardment Wing – Boeing B-29A Superfortress 44-61640. Taken at Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas, 1948. Note Triangle-V SAC Tail Code, Eighth Air Force.
Active1947–1979, 1988–1992
CountryUnited States
BranchUnited States Air Force
RoleBomber, Refueling
Part of  Strategic Air Command
Motto(s)Who Fears?[1]
Insignia
301st Air Refueling Wing emblem (approved 22 July 1959)[1]

The 301st Air Refueling Wing is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force being last assigned to the Strategic Air Command at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, where it was inactivated on 1 June 1992.

History

See the 301st Operations Group for related history and lineage.

Activated 5 November 1947. Assigned to

B-29 Superfortresses
. Conducted strategic bombardment training, 1947–1948, and aerial gunnery training for other SAC organizations, November 1947 – January 1948.

Reassigned to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana in 1949, the 301st was one of the first units to conduct aerial refueling operations with the

French Morocco
in 1954.

It was reassigned to

Davis-Monthan AFB
in late 1963, the last EB-47E going to storage in 1964.

Became an air refueling wing in April 1964, discontinuing all previous missions. In addition, participated in the post attack command and control system from 3 March 1965 to 30 June 1966.

From around 9 June to 8 October 1972, most of the wing headquarters staff, all tactical aircraft and crews, and most of the maintenance personnel, plus support personnel in various categories, deployed in

Lockbourne AFB, Ohio
.

From 19 December 1972 to 18 January 1973, the wing repeated previous deployed condition on a smaller scale, with deployed resources forming a provisional air refueling squadron at

Clark AB in the Philippines
.

The 301st ARW was inactivated on 30 November 1979 in conjunction with SAC turning over Rickenbacker to the Air National Guard. Its KC-135As were sent to various Air National Guard units.

The Wing was reactivated on 8 January 1988 at Malmstrom AFB, MT, and assigned to 4th Air Division, Strategic Air Command. It was equipped with KC-135s. It was inactivated on 1 June 1992.

Lineage

301st Bomb Wing emblem
  • Established as 301st Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, on 15 October 1947
Organized on 5 November 1947
Discontinued on 1 August 1948.
  • Re-designated: 301st Bombardment Wing, Medium, and activated on 1 August 1948
301st Bombardment Group, Medium, assigned as subordinate unit
Group element inactivated 16 June 1952
Re-designated: 301st Air Refueling Wing, Heavy on 15 June 1964
Inactivated on: 30 November 1979
  • Activated on: 8 January 1988
Group element re-designated as 301st Operations Group, 29 August 1991
Re-designated: 301st Air Refueling Wing on 1 September 1991
Group element re-activated and assigned as group element
Inactivated on: 1 June 1992

Assignments

Attached to: 7th Air Division, 3 December 1952–c. 4 March 1953
Attached to: 5th Air Division, c. 10 February–c. 17 April 1954

Stations

Components

Wings

  • 22d Bombardment Wing
    : attached 1 August 1948 – 9 May 1949 (not operational)
  • 97th Bombardment Wing
    : attached 17 March–16 May 1948

Groups

Squadrons

  • 32d Bombardment (later Air Refueling) Squadron
    : attached 10 February 1951 – 15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952 – 8 June 1964; assigned 15 March 1965 (not operational, c. 9 June–8 October 1972)
  • 91st Air Refueling Squadron: attached 4 May–14 June 1964, assigned 15 June 1964 – 1 July 1971
  • 301st Air Refueling Squadron: assigned to 301st Bomb Wing March 1949, TDY Lakenheath UK May–December 1950, attached 10 February 1951 – 15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952 – 15 April 1958 (detached 20–26 June 1955, 10 July–18 September 1955, 27 April–27 June 1956, 15 November–6 December 1956, 27 December 1956 – 28 February 1957); assigned 30 September 1973 – 31 December 1975
  • 321st Air Refueling Squadron: 15 April 1958 – 15 March 1965 (detached 11 April–13 July 1960, 3 October 1961 – January 1962)
  • 352d Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 February–20 September 1951; attached 20 December 1951 – 15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952 – 8 June 1964
  • 353d Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 February 1951 – 15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952 – 8 June 1964
  • 376th Air Refueling Squadron: attached 1 December 1957 – 15 April 1958
  • 419th Bombardment Squadron
    : 1 December 1958 – 1 January 1962
  • 4363d Post Attack Command and Control: attached 15–25 March 1965.

Aircraft flown

  • B-29 Superfortress
    , 1947–1953
  • Boeing KB-29
    , 1949–1953
  • B-47 Stratojet
    , 1953–1961, 1963–1964, RB-47 1958, EB-47 1961–1965
  • KC-97 Stratofreighter
    , 1953–1961, 1962–1963
  • Boeing EC-135,1964–1966
  • KC-135 Stratotanker
    , 1963–1979

See also

References

Notes
  1. ^ a b Ravenstein, pp. 144–146

Bibliography

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

  • Muirhead, John. Those Who Fall. New York: Random House, 1986.
  • 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
    . Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  • Rogers, Brian. (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publications.
    ISBN 1-85780-197-0
    .
  • Werrell, Kenneth P. Who Fears: The 301st in War and Peace, 1942–1979. Dallas, Texas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1991.
  • Commemorating the Tour of duty of the 301st Bombardment Wing in the United Kingdom, May–December 1950, Album published by West Suffolk Newspapers Ltd. Bury St. St. Edmunds, Suffolk, UK on behalf of 301st BW Public Information Office

External links
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