The 314th Air Refueling Squadron is an active

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, 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 ...

unit within the Air Force Reserve Command. It is currently assigned to the

940th Air Refueling Wing The 940th Air Refueling Wing is part of the Air Reserve Component of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Fourth Air Force of the Air Force Reserve Command, is operationally-gained by the Air Mobility Command, and is home stationed ...

, based at

Beale Air Force Base Beale Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located approximately east of Marysville, California. It is located outside Linda, about east of the towns of Marysville and Yuba City, and about north of Sacramento. The host ...

, California. It was inactivated on 1 July 2009 and reactivated on 1 June 2016.

Mission

It operates the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting aerial refueling missions.

History

World War II

Activated in late 1943 as a

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troop carrier squadron, trained under I Troop Carrier Command in the United States. Was not deployed until the spring of 1945 to England, being assigned to the IX Troop Carrier Command. Was not used in combat operations, however did transport supplies and equipment to the front-line ground forces primarily into Germany and evacuated casualties to rear areas. Returned to the United States in September 1945 and was a transport squadron for

Continental Air Forces Continental Air Forces (CAF) was a United States Army Air Forces major command, active 1944–1946. It was tasked with combat training of bomber and fighter personnel, and for Continental United States (CONUS) air defense after the Aircraft Wa ...

until its inactivation in September 1946.

Reserve troop carrier operations

It trained in the reserve for troop carrier missions from, 1949–1951, for fighter-bomber missions from, 1952–1957, and resumed its current role as an airlift squadron in 1957 until 1976.

Reserve air refueling operations

The squadron has performed air refueling missions worldwide since 1977 and maintained an alert responsibility for Strategic Air Command until the command's inactivation in June 1992. It deployed aircraft and personnel to

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and

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an locations in support of the

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

and later contingency operations in

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

and the

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. The squadron was inactivated in 2009 pursuant to 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission action that eliminated the

's KC-135 flying mission and redesignated it as the 940th Wing as an associate unit to the

9th Reconnaissance Wing The 9th Reconnaissance Wing (9 RW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command and Sixteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Beale Air Force Base, California. The wing is also the host unit at Beale. Its mission is to ...

in support of

RQ-4 Global Hawk The Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk is a high-altitude, remotely-piloted surveillance aircraft of the 1990s–2020s. It was initially designed by Ryan Aeronautical (now part of Northrop Grumman), and known as Tier II+ during development. The ...

remotely piloted (e.g., unmanned) aircraft operations. In 2016, the wing returned to its former designation as an air refueling wing and reacquired its manned flying mission and KC-135R aircraft, with the reactivation of the squadron occurring the same year.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 314th Troop Carrier Squadron on 23 October 1943 : Activated on 1 November 1943 : Inactivated on 31 July 1946 * Redesignated 314th Troop Carrier Squadron'['', Medium on 10 May 1949 : Activated in the reserve on 27 June 1949 : Ordered to active service on 1 April 1951 : Inactivated on 2 April 1951 * Redesignated 314th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 26 May 1952 : Activated in the reserve on 13 June 1952 : Redesignated 314th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 1 September 1957 : Ordered to active service on 28 October 1962 : Released from active service on 28 November 1962 : Redesignated 314th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 1 April 1965 : Redesignated 314th Air Transport Squadron, Heavy on 1 December 1965 : Redesignated 314th Military Airlift Squadron on 1 January 1966 : Redesignated 314th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 April 1972 : Redesignated 314th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy on 1 January 1977 : Redesignated 314th Air Refueling Squadron on 1 February 1992 : Inactivated on 1 July 2009 * Activated 29 April 2016

Assignments

* 349th Troop Carrier Group, 1 November 1943 – 31 July 1946 * 349th Troop Carrier Group, 27 June 1949 – 2 April 1951 * 349th Fighter-Bomber Group (later 349th Troop Carrier Group), 13 June 1952 * 349th Troop Carrier Wing, 14 April 1959 * 940th Troop Carrier Group (later 940th Air Transport Group, 940th Military Airlift Group, 940th Tactical Airlift Group, 940th Air Refueling Group), 11 February 1963 * 940th Operations Group, 1 August 1992 – 1 July 2009 * 940th Operations Group, 29 April 2016 – present

Stations

* Sedalia Army Air Field, Missouri, 1 November 1943 * Alliance Army Air Field, Nebraska, 20 January 1944 *

Pope Field Pope Field is a U.S. military facility located 12 miles (19 km) northwest of the central business district of Fayetteville, in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States.. Federal Aviation Administration. effective 15 November 2012 ...

, North Carolina, 11 March 1944 * Baer Field, Indiana, 7–15 March 1945 * RAF Barkston Heath (AAF-483), England, 30 March 1945 * Roye-Amy Airfield (A-73), France, 18 April – 13 July 1945 *

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