The 7th 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 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 ...

, 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 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 from the

Assam Valley The Brahmaputra Valley is a region situated between hill ranges of the eastern and northeastern Himalayan range in Eastern India. The valley consists of the Western Brahmaputra Valley covering the regions of Goalpara and Kamrup; the Central ...

in India over the 'Hump' to bases in China, flying supplies, personnel and equipment 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 units 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 ...

(CBI).

MATS airlift

Reactivated as part of

Military Air Transport Service The Military Air Transport Service (MATS) is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy's Naval Air Transport Service (NATS) and the United States Air Force's ...

(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 world ...

, 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, Californi ...

, California in 1953, where it was re-equipped with

Douglas C-124 Globemaster II The Douglas C-124 Globemaster II, nicknamed "Old Shaky", is an American heavy-lift cargo aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, California. The C-124 was the primary heavy-lift transport for United States Air Force (USAF ...

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 Stratofortress The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air ...

es. 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 a ...

on a worldwide basis for over 30 years with

Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpor ...

s. 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 United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. 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 Andersen Air Force Base (Andersen AFB, AAFB) is a United States Air Force base located primarily within the village of Yigo in the United States territory of Guam. The host unit at Andersen AFB is the 36th Wing (36 WG), assigned to the Pacific ...

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 ...

U-Tapao Royal Thai Naval Airfield U-Tapao–Rayong–Pattaya International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานอู่ตะเภา ระยอง–พัทยา; ) also spelled ''Utapao'' and ''U-Taphao'', is a joint civil–military public airport serving ...

, 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 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 ...

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, 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 States and territories of India, state of Assam, India. History US Air Force This Base was built in 1939. During World War II it was a major ...

, 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 The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

1943 establishments in India 1993 disestablishments in Georgia (U.S. state)