The 7th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive

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. It was last assigned to the 19th Operations Group, stationed at

Robins Air Force Base Robins Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force installation located in Houston County, Georgia, United States. The base is located just east of the city of Warner Robins, south-southeast of Macon and approximately south-southeast o ...

, Georgia, where it was inactivated on 1 January 1993.

History

World War II Established in 1943 by

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 ...

in India, the squadron flew Curtiss C-46 Commando transports from the Assam Valley in India over the 'Hump' to bases in China, flying supplies, personnel and equipment to support Fourteenth Air Force combat units in the China Burma India Theater (CBI).

MATS airlift

Reactivated as part of Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in 1952, it flew

Douglas C-54 Skymaster The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian a ...

s from

McChord Air Force Base McChord Field is a United States Air Force base in the northwest United States, in Pierce County, Washington. South of Tacoma, McChord Field is the home of the 62d Airlift Wing, Air Mobility Command, the field's primary mission being worldw ...

, Washington to Elmendorf and

Ladd Air Force Base Ladd Army Airfield is the military airfield located at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, Alaska. It was originally called Fairbanks Air Base, but was renamed Ladd Field on 1 December 1939, in honor of Major Arthur K. Ladd, a pilot in the U.S. Ar ...

s, Alaska. It moved to

Travis Air Force Base Travis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base under the operational control of the Air Mobility Command (AMC), located three miles (5 km) east of the central business district of the city of Fairfield, in Solano County, California ...

, California in 1953, where it was re-equipped with Douglas C-124 Globemaster II intercontinental strategic transport aircraft. The unit flew very long range strategic airlift missions within the MATS Western Transport Air Force area from California to Japan, the Philippines, Indochina and

Karachi Airport Jinnah International Airport ( ur, جناح بین الاقوامی ہوائی اڈا) , formerly Drigh Road Airport or Karachi Civil Airport, is Pakistan's busiest international and domestic airport, and handled 7,267,582 passengers in 2017� ...

in West Pakistan during the 1950s. It was inactivated in July 1955 due to budget reductions.

Air refueling

It was re-activated at

Carswell Air Force Base Carswell Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force (USAF) base, located northwest of Fort Worth, Texas. For most of its operational lifetime, the base's mission was to train and support heavy strategic bombing groups and wings. Carswe ...

, Texas on 1 April 1958 when its parent unit, the

7th Bombardment Wing The 7th Bomb Wing (7 BW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Global Strike Command Eighth Air Force. It is stationed at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, where it is also the host unit. The 7 BW is one of only two B-1B Lancer strateg ...

received Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses. The unit provided

air refueling Aerial refueling, also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from one aircraft (the tanker) to another (the receiver) while both aircraft ...

on a worldwide basis for over 30 years with Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers. The squadron was not operational 6 May – 1 December 1965 and 10 December 1969 – 31 March 1970Ravenstein, pp. 19-20 due to operations in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainlan ...

. All aircrews and aircraft were deployed or on loan to provisional units at

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 is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

, Andersen Air Force Base,

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

or U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield, Thailand. On 19 September 1985 the 7th Air Refueling Squadron was consolidated with the 77th Air Transport Squadron. It remained assigned to the 7th Wing at Carswell until 1 June 1992. Reassigned to the 19th Operations Group at Robins AFB, the squadron was inactivated in 1993 as part of the post Cold War drawdown of the USAF.

Lineage

; 77th Air Transport Squadron * Constituted as the 77th Air Corps Ferrying Squadron on 30 January 1943 : Activated on 22 February 1943 : Redesignated 77th Transport Squadron on 1 July 1943 : Disbanded on 1 December 1943 * Reconstituted on 16 September 1952 as the 77th Air Transport Squadron, Heavy : Activated on 24 September 1952 : Inactivated on 1 July 1955 * Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 7th Air Refueling Squadron as the 7th Air Refueling SquadronDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 September 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons ; 7th Air Refueling Squadron * Constituted as the 7th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy on 28 January 1958 : Activated on 1 April 1958 * Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 77th Air Transport Squadron : Redesignated 7th Air Refueling Squadron on 1 September 1991 * Activated on 1 June 1992 : Inactivated on 1 January 1993

Assignments

* 22d Ferrying Group (later 22d Transport Group), 22 February 1943 – 1 December 1943 *

1705th Air Transport Group The 1705th Air Transport Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the Western Transport Air Force, Military Air Transport Service, stationed at McChord Air Force Base, Washington. It was inactivated on 18 June ...

, 24 September 1952 * 1501st Air Transport Group, 20 November 1953 – 1 July 1955 * 7th Bombardment Wing, 1 April 1958 * 19th Operations Group, 1 June 1992 – 1 January 1993

Stations

Chabua Airfield Chabua Air Force Station is an Indian Air Force base located at Chabua of Dibrugarh district in the state of Assam, India. History US Air Force This Base was built in 1939. During World War II it was a major supply point for the ferrying of ...

, Assam, India, 22 February 1943 * Jorhat Airfield, Assam, India, April – December 1943 *

, Washington, 24 September 1952 *

, California 20 November 1953 – 1 July 1955 *

, Texas, 1 April 1958Mueller, p. 68 *

, Georgia, 1 June 1992 – 1 January 1993

Aircraft

* Curtiss C-46 Commando 1943 * C-54 Skymaster, 1952-1953 *

Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter was a long-range heavy military cargo aircraft developed from the B-29 and B-50 bombers. Design work began in 1942, the first of three prototype XC-97s flew on 9 November 1944 (none saw combat), and the first of s ...

, 1953-1955 * KC-135 Stratotanker, 1958-1992, 1992-1993

References

; Notes

Bibliography

* * {{Strategic Air Command 007 1943 establishments in India 1993 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)