344th Air Refueling Squadron
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The 344th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the
US 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 Sig ...
, part of the
22d Air Refueling Wing The 22d Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas and also functions as the host wing for McConnell. Its primary missi ...
Air Mobility Command at
McConnell Air Force Base McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States., effective 2007-12-20 The airbase was named in ...
, Kansas. It operates the
Boeing KC-46 Pegasus The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus is an American military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft developed by Boeing from its Boeing 767, 767 jet airliner. In February 2011, the tanker was selected by the United States Air Force (US ...
aircraft conducting aerial refueling missions.


History


World War II


Training in the United States

The squadron was first activated at
MacDill Field MacDill Air Force Base (MacDill AFB) is an active United States Air Force installation located 4 miles (6.4 km) south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The "host wing" for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Refueling Wing (6 ARW), assig ...
, Florida as one of the original three squadrons assigned to the 98th Bombardment Group. The 344th soon moved to
Barksdale Field Barksdale may refer to: Places * Barksdale, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Barksdale, Texas, an unincorporated community * Barksdale, Wisconsin, a town ** Barksdale (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community *Barksdale Air Forc ...
, Louisiana, where it began to train as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator
heavy bomber Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...
squadron under
Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in ...
.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 169–170 The squadron's training was short and it deployed to Egypt in July 1942 over the South Atlantic Ferrying Route transiting from Morrison Field, Florida though the Caribbean Sea to Brazil. It made the Atlantic crossing from Brazil to Liberia, then transited east across central Africa to Sudan. The air echelon of the group reformed with the ground echelon which traveled by the SS ''Pasteur'' around the Cape of Good Hope, joining with the air echelon of the squadron, the 343d Bombardment Squadron and group headquarters at St Jean d'Acre Airfield, in Palestine.


Combat in the Middle East

Upon arrival in the Near East, the squadron became part of United States Army Middle East Air Force, which was replaced by
Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...
in November. It entered combat in August, attacking shipping and harbor installations to cut
Axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis * Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinat ...
supply lines to North Africa. It also bombed
airfield An aerodrome ( Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for pub ...
s and rail transit lines in
Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...
and mainland Italy. The squadron moved forward with Ninth Air Force to airfields in Egypt; Libya and Tunisia supporting the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert Campaign. Its support of this campaign earned the squadron the Distinguished Unit Citation. On 1 August 1943, the squadron participated in Operation Tidal Wave, the low-level raid on oil refineries near
Ploiești Ploiești ( , , ), formerly spelled Ploești, is a city and county seat in Prahova County, Romania. Part of the historical region of Muntenia, it is located north of Bucharest. The area of Ploiești is around , and it borders the Blejoi commune ...
, Romania. Alerted to the vulnerability of the Ploiești refineries by a June 1942 raid by the HALPRO project, the area around Ploesti had become one of the most heavily defended targets in Europe. The squadron pressed its attack on the Asta Romana Refinery through smoke and fire from bombing by another group's earlier attack and heavy
flak Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...
defenses. The squadron's actions in this engagement earned it a second Distinguished Unit Citation. When the forces driving East from Egypt and Libya met up with those moving westward from Algeria and Morocco in Tunisia in September 1943, Ninth Air Force was transferred to England to become the tactical air force for the invasion of the European Continent. The squadron, along with all Army Air Forces units in North Africa became part of
Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to ...
. In November 1943, the squadron moved to
Brindisi Airport Brindisi Airport ( it, link=no, Aeroporto di Brindisi), also known as ''Brindisi Papola Casale Airport'' and ''Salento Airport'', is an airport in Brindisi, in southern Italy, located from the city center. History This airport was originally es ...
, Italy, where it became part of Fifteenth Air Force, which assumed control of strategic operations in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, while Twelfth became a tactical air force.


Strategic operations in Italy

The squadron continued strategic bombardment raids on targets in Occupied France, southern Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and targets in the Balkans. These included industrial sites, airfields, harbors and
lines of communication A line of communication (or communications) is the route that connects an operating military unit with its supply base. Supplies and reinforcements are transported along the line of communication. Therefore, a secure and open line of communicati ...
. Although focusing on strategic bombing, the squadron was sometimes diverted to tactical operations, supporting
Operation Shingle The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The op ...
, the landings at
Anzio Anzio (, also , ) is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of the Lazio region of Italy, about south of Rome. Well known for its seaside harbour setting, it is a fishing port and a departure point for ferries and hydroplanes to the Pontine Islands ...
and the Battle of Monte Cassino. In the summer of 1944, the squadron supported Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France. The unit also assisted the
Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...
advance into the Balkans, and supported
Yugoslav Partisan The Yugoslav Partisans, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Slovene: , or the National Liberation Army, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska (NOV), Народноослободилачка војска (НОВ); mk, Народноослобод ...
s and
guerilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run t ...
s in neighboring countries.


Return to the United States


Return to the United States

The squadron returned to the United States in May 1945. Upon arrival it was redesignated as a very heavy Boeing B-29 Superfortress squadron and began training for deployment to the Pacific to conduct strategic bombardment raids on Japan. In November 1945, the 98th Group was inactivated and the squadron moved to
Merced Army Air Field Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...
, California, where it was assigned to the 444th Bombardment Group, where it replaced the 678th Bombardment Squadron, which was converted into a reconnaissance unit. The squadron was inactivated at what was now Castle Field in March 1946.


Strategic Air Command


Reactivation

The squadron was reactivated in 1947 as a Strategic Air Command (SAC) Superfortress unit at
Spokane Army Air Field Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base, located in the northwest United States in eastern Washington, approximately southwest of Spokane. The host unit at Fairchild is the 92nd Air Refueling Wing (92 ARW) assigned ...
, Washington. The squadron performed strategic bombardment training missions until the outbreak of the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
.


Korean War

In the summer of 1950, when the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
began, the 19th Bombardment Wing was the only
medium bomber A medium bomber is a military bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized bombloads over medium range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers. Mediums generally carrie ...
unit available for combat in the Pacific. In August, SAC dispatched the squadron and other elements of the 98th Bombardment Group to
Yokota Air Base , is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force (USAF) base in the Tama Area, or Western Tokyo. It occupies portions of Akishima, Fussa, Hamura, Mizuho, Musashimurayama, and Tachikawa. The base houses 14,000 perso ...
, Japan to augment FEAF Bomber Command, Provisional. The group flew its first combat mission on 7 August against
marshalling yards A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard ( British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...
near
Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...
, capital of North Korea. The squadron's missions focused on
interdiction Interdiction is a military term for the act of delaying, disrupting, or destroying enemy forces or supplies en route to the battle area. A distinction is often made between strategic and tactical interdiction. The former refers to operations whose ...
of enemy lines of communications, attacking rail lines, bridges and roads. The squadron also flew missions that supported
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
ground forces.Endicott, ''The USAF in Korea''p. 74 SAC’s mobilization for the Korean War highlighted that SAC wing commanders were not sufficiently focused on combat operations. Under a plan implemented for most wings in February 1951 and finalized in June 1952, the wing commander focused primarily on the combat units and the maintenance necessary to support combat aircraft by having the combat and maintenance squadrons report directly to the wing and eliminating the intermediate group structures. This reorganization was implemented in April 1951 for the 98th Wing, when wing headquarters moved on paper to Japan, taking over the personnel and functions of the 98th Group, which became a paper organization, and the squadron began operating under wing control.Ravenstein, pp. 138–141 Starting in January 1952, the threat posed by enemy
interceptors An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are ca ...
forced the squadron to fly only night missions. The unit flew its last mission, a propaganda leaflet drop, on the last day before the
armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...
was signed. The squadron remained in combat ready status in Japan until July 1954 when it moved to
Lincoln Air Force Base Lincoln Airport (formerly Lincoln Municipal Airport) is a public/military airport northwest of downtown Lincoln, the state capital, in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States. It is owned by the Lincoln Airport Authority and is the second- ...
, Nebraska.


Conversion to jet bombers

The squadron disposed of its B-29s to storage at
Davis–Monthan Air Force Base Davis–Monthan Air Force Base (DM AFB) is a United States Air Force base southeast of downtown Tucson, Arizona. It was established in 1925 as Davis–Monthan Landing Field. The host unit for Davis–Monthan AFB is the 355th Wing (355 WG) assi ...
, Arizona. At Lincoln, the squadron was equipped with new
Boeing B-47E 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 ...
s. it engaged in strategic bombardment training with the B-47 throughout the rest of the 1950s, into the early 1960s. From November 1955 through January 1966, the squadron deployed to
RAF Lakenheath Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the village of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, UK, north-east of Mildenhall and west of Thetford. The base also sits close to Brandon. Despite being an RAF sta ...
as part of Operation Reflex, standing alert at the forward deployment site. From 1958, the 344th began to assume an alert posture at its home base, reducing the amount of time spent on alert at overseas bases to meet General
Thomas S. Power General Thomas Sarsfield Power (June 18, 1905 – December 6, 1970) was a United States Air Force officer who served as commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command. He was an active military flier for more than 30 years. Early career Thomas ...
's initial goal of maintaining one third of SAC’s planes on fifteen minute ground alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.Schake, p. 220 (note 43) The alert commitment was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.


Cuban Missile Crisis

Soon after detection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, on 22 October 1962 the squadron's B-47s dispersed. On 24 October the 343d went to
DEFCON The defense readiness condition (DEFCON) is an alert state used by the United States Armed Forces. (DEFCON is not mentioned in the 2010 and newer document) The DEFCON system was developed by the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and unified and spec ...
2, placing all its aircraft on alert. Most dispersal bases were civilian airfields with AF Reserve or Air National Guard units. The unit's B-47s were configured for execution of the Emergency War Order as soon as possible after dispersing. On 15 November 1/6 of the squadron's dispersed B-47s were recalled to Lincoln. The remaining B-47s and their supporting tankers were recalled on 24 November. On 27 November SAC returned its bomber units to normal alert posture. The squadron was inactivated in June 1966 with the phaseout of the B-47 and closure of Lincoln.


Air refueling

The squadron was redesignated the 344th Air Refueling Squadron and reactivated in May 1986 at
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Seymour Johnson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) base located in Goldsboro, North Carolina. The base is named for U.S. Navy Lt. Seymour A. Johnson, a test pilot from Goldsboro who died in an airplane crash near Norbeck, Maryland, ...
, North Carolina. The squadron was assigned to SAC's 68th Air Refueling Wing until the implementation of the objective wing organization, which called for one wing to control all units an each base. The 68th Wing was inactivated and the squadron transferred to the
4th Operations Group The 4th Operations Group (4 OG) is the flying component of the 4th Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. The 4 OG is a direct descend ...
as the 4th Wing added the air refueling mission to its fighters. After the formation of Air Mobility Command (AMC) in 1992, the squadron moved to
McConnell Air Force Base McConnell Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located four miles (6 km) southeast of the central business district of Wichita, a city in Sedgwick County, Kansas, United States., effective 2007-12-20 The airbase was named in ...
, Kansas and became part of AMC's 22d Operations Group. On 25 January 2019, McConnell received the first two (''15-46009'' and ''17-46031'') of a planned 36
KC-46 Pegasus The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus is an American military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft developed by Boeing from its 767 jet airliner. In February 2011, the tanker was selected by the United States Air Force (USAF) as the w ...
aircraft that will eventually replace the KC-135 as the primary Air Force tanker aircraft. June 4, 2019 the 334th performed the first KC-46 Pegasus IOT&E (initial operations testing and evaluation) flight, refueling two F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft four times with around 29,000lb of fuel.


Lineage

* Constituted as the 344th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 28 January 1942 : Activated on 3 February 1942 : Redesignated 344th Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 1 July 1943 * Redesignated 344th Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 23 May 1945 : Inactivated on 27 March 1946 * Activated on 1 July 1947 : Redesignated 344th Bombardment Squadron, Medium on 28 May 1948 : Discontinued and inactivated, on 25 June 1966 * Redesignated 344th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy on 7 May 1986 : Activated on 1 October 1986 * Redesignated 344th Air Refueling Squadron on 1 July 1992


Assignments

* 98th Bombardment Group, 3 February 1942 * 444th Bombardment Group, 10 November 1945 – 27 March 1946 * 98th Bombardment Group, 1 July 1947 * 98th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 * 98th Strategic Aerospace Wing, 1 February 1964 – 25 June 1966 * 68th Air Refueling Wing, 1 October 1986 * 4th Operations Group, 22 April 1991 * 22d Operations Group, 29 April 1994 – Present


Stations

* MacDill Field, Florida, 3 February 1942 * Barksdale Field, Louisiana, c. 9 February 1942 *
Page Field Page Field is a public airport three miles (4.8 km) south of Fort Myers, in Lee County, Florida, United States. It is owned by the Lee County Port Authority; the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a ...
, Florida, 30 March 1942 * Drane Field, Florida, 17 May 1942 – 3 July 1942 * RAF Ramat David, British Palestine, 25 July 1942 * St Jean d'Acre Airfield, Palestine, 21 August 1942 * RAF Kabrit, Egypt, 11 November 1942 * Lete Airfield, Libya, 4 March 1943 *
Hergla Airfield Hergla Airfield is an abandoned military airfield in Tunisia, which was located approximately 12 km north-northwest of Harqalah in al Janubiyah Wilayat province, about 90 km south-southwest of Tunis. During World War II it was used ...
, Tunisia, 24 September 1943 *
Brindisi Airport Brindisi Airport ( it, link=no, Aeroporto di Brindisi), also known as ''Brindisi Papola Casale Airport'' and ''Salento Airport'', is an airport in Brindisi, in southern Italy, located from the city center. History This airport was originally es ...
, Italy, 18 November 1943 * Manduria Airfield, Italy, 19 December 1943 * Lecce Airfield, Italy, 18 January 1944 – 19 April 1945 * Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska, 8 May 1945 * McCook Army Airfield, Nebraska, 25 June 1945 * Merced Army Air Field (later Castle Field), California, 10 November 1945 – 27 March 1946 * Andrews Field, Maryland, 1 July 1947 * Spokane Army Air Field (later, Spokane Air Force Base; Fairchild Air Force Base), Washington, 24 September 1947 (deployed to
Kadena Air Base (IATA: DNA, ICAO: RODN) is a highly strategic United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. It is often referred to as the "Keystone of the Pacific" because of its highl ...
, Okinawa, 22 August–7 December 1948;
RAF Sculthorpe The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
, England, 25 May – 29 August 1949) * Yokota Air Base, Japan, c. 5 August 1950 – 22 July 1954 (deployed until 14 August 1953, then permanently stationed) * Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska, 24 July 1954 – 25 June 1966 (deployed to RAF Lakenheath, England, 12 November 1955 – 28 January 1956) * Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, 1 October 1986 * McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, 29 April 1994 – present


Aircraft

* Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1942–1945 * Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1945, 1947–1954 *
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 ...
, 1954–1966 *
McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender The McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender is an American aerial refueling tanker aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). A military version of the three-engine DC-10 airliner, the KC-10 was developed from the Advanced Tanker Cargo A ...
, 1986–1993 * Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, 1994 – 2017 *
Boeing KC-46 Pegasus The Boeing KC-46 Pegasus is an American military aerial refueling and strategic military transport aircraft developed by Boeing from its Boeing 767, 767 jet airliner. In February 2011, the tanker was selected by the United States Air Force (US ...
2017 – present


References

; Notes ; Citations


Bibliography

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External links


AFHRA 344th Air Refueling Squadron History
{{USAF air refueling units Air refueling squadrons of the United States Air Force Military units and formations in Kansas Units and formations of Strategic Air Command