376th Air Refueling Squadron

Squadron P-51 Mustang

Established in early 1943 as the 376th Fighter Squadron and equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, the squadron trained under I Fighter Command in the mid-Atlantic states. Also flew air defense missions as part of the Philadelphia Fighter Wing. Deployed to the European Theater of Operations, being assigned to VIII Fighter Command in England, November 1943.

The unit served primarily as an escort organization, covering the penetration, attack, and withdrawal of Boeing B-17 flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber formations that the United States Air Forces in Europe sent against targets on the Continent. The squadron also engaged in counter-air patrols, fighter sweeps, and strafing and dive-bombing missions. Attacked such targets as airdromes, marshalling yards, missile sites, industrial areas, ordnance depots, oil refineries, trains, and highways. During its operations, the unit participated in the assault against the Luftwaffe and aircraft industry during Big Week, 20–25 February 1944, and the attack on transportation facilities prior to the Normandy invasion and support of the invasion forces thereafter, including the Saint-Lô breakthrough in July.

The squadron supported the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September 1944 and deployed to Chievres Airdrome, (ALG A-84), Belgium between February and April 1945 flying tactical ground support missions during the airborne assault across the Rhine. The unit returned to RAF Little Walden and flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945. Demobilized during the summer of 1945 in England, inactivated in the United States as a paper unit in October.

The squadron flew the Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, first, the KC-97F, then the KC-97G. stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, providing air refueling to USAF units from 1953 to 1960. In August 1960, the squadron moved to Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland

The 376th Fighter Squadron and 376th Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated into a single unit in September 1985.[3] The consolidated squadron was converted to provisional status and redesignated the 376th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron in June 2002.[4]

• 361st Fighter Group, 10 February 1943 – 10 November 1945[1]
• 376th Bombardment Group: 1 June 1951 – 20 May 1952 (Not manned or equipped)
• 376th Bombardment Wing: 18 August 1953[6]
• 4th Air Division: 1 December 1957 (attached to 301st Bombardment Wing)
• 4238th Strategic Wing: 1 March 1958 (remained attached to 301st Bombardment Wing until 15 April 1958)
• 4081st Strategic Wing: 1 July 1960 – 25 June 1966
• Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed, 12 June 2002[4]
• Air Combat Command to activate or inactivate as needed, 19 March 2003[7]

• Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1944
• North American P-51D Mustang, 1944–1945
• Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker 1953–1966

Explanatory notes

Citations

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
• Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN 978-0-87938-638-2.
• Johnson, 1st Lt. David C. (1988). U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2015. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Smith, Richard K. (1998). Seventy-Five Years of Inflight Refueling: Highlights, 1923-1998 (PDF). Air Force History and Museums Program. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. Retrieved 17 December 2016.