The 303rd Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

unit. It was last assigned to the

499th Air Refueling Wing The 499th Air Refueling Wing is an inactive United States Air Force (USAF) unit that was last active at Westover AFB, Massachusetts in June 1966. The wing was first activated as the 499th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces, w ...

at Kindley AFB, Bermuda, where it was inactivated on 15 June 1963. The

squadron Squadron may refer to: * Squadron (army), a military unit of cavalry, tanks, or equivalent subdivided into troops or tank companies * Squadron (aviation), a military unit that consists of three or four flights with a total of 12 to 24 aircraft, ...

was first active as the 303rd Transport Squadron, an

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distanc ...

element of the India-China Wing, Air Transport Command. The 303rd flew missions over

the Hump The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew military transport aircraft from India to China to resupply the Chinese war effort of Chiang Kai-shek and t ...

before being disbanded when

Air Transport Command Air Transport Command (ATC) was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. It had two main missions, the first being the delivery of supplies and ...

abandoned the traditional squadron and group organization for its operations in the

China Burma India Theater China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the United States military designation during World War II for the China and Southeast Asian or India–Burma (IBT) theaters. Operational command of Allied forces (including U.S. forces) in the CBI was officia ...

. The second predecessor of the squadron was the 483rd Bombardment Squadron, a very heavy

Boeing B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

squadron that flew missions from Tinian against Japan before moving to the Philippines, where it was inactivated in 1946. The unit was activated a third time as the 303rd Air Refueling Squadron, and served during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

to support

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

bombers. For most of its active life, the squadron operated from a forward base in the middle Atlantic to support reflex deployments and maintained readiness to support Emergency War Order missions. In 1985, the

consolidated three squadrons, but they have not been active since the consolidation.

History

Flying the Hump

The 303rd Transport Squadron was activated in India in late spring 1943. It operated

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

and

Curtiss C-46 Commando The Curtiss C-46 Commando is a twin-engine transport aircraft derived from the Curtiss CW-20 pressurised high-altitude airliner design. Early press reports used the name "Condor III" but the Commando name was in use by early 1942 in company pub ...

transports in the China-Burma-India theater for the India-China Wing, Air Transport Command in 1943. It flew supplies, equipment and personnel over

from the Assam Valley of India to airfields in southeast China, primarily to support

Fourteenth Air Force The Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF; Air Forces Strategic) was a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It was headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The command was responsible for the organizatio ...

combat operations. It was a short-lived organization for it was disbanded in December 1943 and replaced, along with other elements of the 30th Transport Group, by Station 9, India-China Wing, Air Transport Command.

B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan

The 483rd Bombardment Squadron was activated in March 1944 as a

very heavy bombardment squadron. The squadron trained at airfields in the midwest under

Second Air Force The Second Air Force (2 AF; ''2d Air Force'' in 1942) is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and non-flying officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended ...

. When training was completed the unit moved to

North Field, Tinian North Field is a former World War II airfield on Tinian in the Mariana Islands. Abandoned after the war, today North Field is a tourist attraction. Along with several adjacent beaches on which Allied forces landed during the Battle of Tinian, th ...

in the Mariana Islands of the Central Pacific. There it became an element of

XXI Bomber Command The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II. The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization an ...

.Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 581 Its mission was the strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands and the destruction of Japan's war-making capability. Upon arrival in the Pacific, the unit flew "shakedown" missions against Japanese targets on Moen Island, Truk, and other points in the Carolines and

Marianas The Mariana Islands (; also the Marianas; in Chamorro: ''Manislan Mariånas'') are a crescent-shaped archipelago comprising the summits of fifteen longitudinally oriented, mostly dormant volcanic mountains in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, betw ...

. The squadron began combat missions over Japan on 25 February 1945 with a firebombing mission over Northeast Tokyo. The squadron continued to participate in wide area firebombing attack, but the first ten-day blitz resulted in the Army Air Forces running out of incendiary bombs. Until then the squadron flew conventional strategic bombing missions using high explosive bombs. The squadron continued attacking urban areas with incendiary raids until the end of the war in August 1945, attacking major Japanese cities and causing massive destruction of urbanized areas. The 483rd also conducted raids against strategic objectives, bombing aircraft factories, chemical plants, oil refineries, and other targets in Japan. The squadron flew its last combat missions on 14 August when hostilities ended. Afterwards, its B-29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps in Japan and Manchuria. The squadron was largely demobilized on Tinian during the fall of 1945. It remained in Western Pacific as part of

Twentieth Air Force The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. 20 AF's primary mission is Interco ...

. The 483rd moved to

Clark Field Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

in the Philippines along with the 313th Bombardment Wing in March 1946. It was inactivated at Clark in June. Its low-hour aircraft were flown to storage depots in the United States.

Strategic Air Command

The 303rd Air Refueling Squadron was activated in 1951 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, but was inactivated seven months later. It was activated again in 1953. In February 1956, the squadron moved from Davis-Monthan to

Kindley Air Force Base Kindley Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Bermuda from 1948–1970, having been operated from 1943 to 1948 by the United States Army Air Forces as ''Kindley Field''. History World War II Prior to American entry into th ...

, Bermuda and was relieved from the 303rd Bombardment Wing, At Kindley it was positioned to support

Boeing B-47 Stratojet The Boeing B-47 Stratojet (Boeing company designation Model 450) is a retired American long-range, six-engined, turbojet-powered strategic bomber designed to fly at high subsonic speed and at high altitude to avoid enemy interceptor aircraft ...

aircraft deploying to Europe and Morocco on Operation Reflex and to provide forward refueling in the event of war. While stationed at Kindley the squadron was assigned to several headquarters located in the United States. The 303rd performed air refueling to support SAC and USAF operations on a worldwide basis until it was inactivated in 1963 with the phaseout of the propeller-driven KC-97 from SAC.

Lineage

303rd Transport Squadron * Constituted as 303rd Transport Squadron, c. 4 June 1943 : Activated on 21 June 1943 : Disbanded on 1 December 1943 * Reconstituted 19 September 1985 and consolidated with the 483rd Bombardment Squadron and the 303rd Air Refueling Squadron as 303rd Air Refueling SquadronDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 Sep 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons (remained inactive) 483rd Bombardment Squadron * Constituted as 483rd Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 28 Feb 1944 : Activated on 11 Mar 1944 : Inactivated on 30 Jun 1946 * Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 303rd Transport Squadron and the 303rd Air Refueling Squadron as 303rd Air Refueling Squadron (remained inactive) 303rd Air Refueling Squadron * Constituted as 303rd Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 4 April 1951 : Activated on 4 September 1951 : Inactivated 8 April 1952 * Activated on 18 February 1953 : Inactivated on 15 Jun 1963 * Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 483rd Bombardment Squadron and the 303rd Transport Squadron as the 303rd Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy (remained inactive)

Assignments

* 30th Transport Group, 21 June 1943 – 1 December 1943 *

505th Bombardment Group The 505th Bombardment Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Thirteenth Air Force, stationed at Clark Field, Philippines. It was inactivated on 30 June 1946. The unit served primarily in the Pacific Oce ...

, 11 March 1944 – 30 June 1946 * 303rd Bombardment Group, 4 April 1951 – 8 April 1952 * 303rd Bombardment Wing, 18 February 1953 *

, 1 February 1956 * 38th Air Division, 1 January 1959 *

823rd Air Division The 823d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command (SAC)'s Second Air Force at McCoy Air Force Base, Florida, where it was inactivated on 30 June 1971. The division was f ...

, 1 October 1959 *

19th Bombardment Wing The 19th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. The wing is also the host unit at Little Rock. The Wing provides the ...

, 1 November 1959 * 4050th Air Refueling Wing, 1 April 1961 *

, 1 January–15 June 1963

Stations

Mohanbari Airport Dibrugarh Airport , is located at Mohanbari, which is situated at a distance of 15 km (9 mi) east from Dibrugarh, Assam, India. The airport covers an area of 386 acres. There are 2 aerobridges linked with the terminal. The runway of t ...

, Assam, India, 21 June 1943 – 1 December 1943 *

Dalhart Army Air Field Dalhart Army Air Base is a former World War II military airfield complex near the city of Dalhart, Texas. It operated three training sites for the United States Army Air Forces from 1943 until 1945. The majority of the namesake city of Dalhart, ...

, Texas, 11 March 1944 *

Harvard Army Airfield Harvard State Airport (Harvard State Airfield) is two miles northeast of Harvard, in Clay County, Nebraska. It has no airline flights. History Harvard Army Airfield was built in 1942 as a United States Army Air Forces training airfield. It is ...

, Nebraska, 12 March 1944 – 6 November 1944 * North Field, Tinian, Mariana Islands, 24 December 1944 – 5 March 1946 * Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, 14 March 1946 – 30 June 1946 * Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, 4 April 1951 – 8 April 1952 * Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, 18 February 1953 * Kindley AFB, Bermuda, 1 February 1956 – 15 June 1963

Aircraft

, 1943 *

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

, 1944 *

, 1944–1946 * KB-29M Superfortress tanker, 1951–1952 *

KC-97F Stratotanker The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a four-engined, piston-powered United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It replaced the KB-29 and was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. Design and developm ...

, 1953-1956 (Also KC-97G) *

KC-97G Stratotanker The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a four-engined, piston-powered United States strategic Tanker (aircraft), tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It replaced the KB-29 and was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. D ...

, 1956–1959; 1959–1963

Awards and Campaigns

References

Notes

Bibliography

*
AF Pamphlet 900-2, Unit Decorations, Awards and Campaign Participation Credits
Department of the Air Force, Washington, DC, 15 Jun 1971, p.

External links

{{USAAF 20th Air Force World War II Air refueling squadrons of the United States Air Force Military units and formations established in 1951 Units and formations of Strategic Air Command 1951 establishments in the United States