50th Air Refueling Squadron

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"50th Transport Squadron" redirects here. For the 50th Air Transport Squadron, see 50th Military Airlift Squadron.
"50th Airlift Squadron" redirects here. For the 50th Military Airlift Squadron, see 50th Military Airlift Squadron.

50th Air Refueling Squadron
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm[3]
Commanders
Current
commander		Lt. Col. Christopher L. Knaute [4]
Insignia
50th Air Refueling Squadron emblem
50th Airlift Squadron emblem(approved 12 December 1994)[3]
50th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem[note 1][5]
50th Troop Carrier Squadron emblem[note 2][2]

The 50th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the

air refueling
missions.

It is a former USAF

53d and 61st Airlift Squadrons, was assigned to the 19th Operations Group
.

Now the 50th Air Refueling Squadron is assigned to MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. They operate the KC-135R/T for the 6th Operations Group with the 91st Air Refueling Squadron and the 99th Air Refueling Squadron at Birmingham, for the Alabama Air National Guard.

History

World War II

Activated in the summer of 1942 under

North African Campaign. Remained with Twelfth Air Force, moving to Tunisia and Sicily providing transport and resupply operations as well as casualty evacuation of wounded personnel in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO). Reassigned to IX Troop Carrier Command in England during early 1944 as part of the build-up of Allied forces prior to Operation Overlord, the invasion of France.[3]

Began

Distinguished Unit 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 near Nijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during the Operation Market Garden, the airborne attack on the Netherlands. In December, it participated in the Battle of the Bulge by releasing gliders with supplies for the 101st Airborne Division near Bastogne.

Moved to Belgium in early 1945, and participated in the Western Allied invasion of Germany, participating in the air assault across the

Rhine River in March 1945, each aircraft towed two gliders with troops of the 17th Airborne Division and released them near Wesel
.

After V-E Day, became part of the

United States Air Forces in Europe
, and was part of the USAFE European Air Transport System (EATS), supporting the occupation forces in Germany as well as carrying supplies and personnel between various stations in Western Europe. Inactivated in early 1946 while stationed in France, unit inactivated later that year as an administrative unit.

Tactical Air Command

Reactivated as part of Tactical Air Command (TAC) in 1949 with Fairchild C-82 Packets and various gliders as an assault squadron. Deployed to Japan for combat operations in 1950 for the Korean War. Furnished airlift between Japan and Korea and airdropped paratroops and supplies at Sukchon/Sunchon and Munsan-ni. Moved to the Philippines in 1954 after the armistice and was inactivated.[3]

Reactivated in 1957 by TAC as one of the first

Persian Gulf War, and the current Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
.

The 50th is also known for

New Orleans, Louisiana and Biloxi, Mississippi areas to Little Rock, Arkansas
. Humanitarian missions were flown in and out of Haiti following a major earthquake in December 2010.

In 2012, elements of the 50th celebrated 70 years of history with members deployed to the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron in Afghanistan.[6]

The squadron was inactivated on 1 April 2016 as part of the

Lockheed C-130J Super Hercules
.

Air refueling mission

A ceremony marking the reactivation of the squadron was held at

Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker as part of the 6th Air Refueling Wing.[1]

Campaigns and decorations

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 50th Transport Squadron on 30 May 1942
Activated on 15 June 1942
Redesignated: 50th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942
Inactivated on 27 May 1946
  • Redesignated: 50th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 20 September 1949
Activated on 17 October 1949
Redesignated: 50th Troop Carrier Squadron on 1 January 1967
Redesignated: 50th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 August 1967
Redesignated: 50th Airlift Squadron on 1 December 1991[7]
Inactivated on 1 April 2016
Redesignated 50th Air Refueling Squadron[1]
Activated c. 2 October 2017[1]

Assignments

Stations

Aircraft

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Approved 16 April 1957.
  2. ^ Approved 13 February 1952.
  3. ^ Probably attached to 315th Air Division, which controlled airlift assets for Pacific Air Forces.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Perdue, A1C Ashley (2 October 2017). "Bringing 50 Back". 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs. Retrieved 26 January 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Endicott, pp. 577-579
  3. ^ a b c d e Haulman, Daniel L (15 December 2017). "Factsheet 50 Airlift Squadron (AMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
  4. ^ "50th ARS "Red Devils" welcome new commander". Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  5. ^ Maurer, Combat Squadrons,pp. 216-217
  6. ^ McCowan, TSG Shawn (21 June 2012). "Historic flying units celebrate anniversary, continue making history". 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 1 August 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b c d Lineage, including assignments and stations, through 2003 in Haulman.
  8. ^ Station number in Anderson.
  9. ^ a b Station number in Johnson.

Bibliography

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

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