41st Air Refueling Squadron

501st Bombardment Group B-29 taking off from Northwest Field, Guam 1945

The first predecessor of the squadron was activated on 1 April 1944 as the 41st Bombardment Squadron at Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas for training with Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. however, before it became much more than a "paper" unit, it was inactivated on 10 May.[1] However, the squadron was again activated on 1 June 1944, when it became one of the original squadrons of the 501st Bombardment Group. In August, the 501st Group and its squadrons moved to Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska and began to equip with Superfortresses. The squadron completed its training and departed for the Pacific on 7 March 1945.[1][2]

The squadron was equipped with the Bell Aircraft manufactured B-29B, which was designed to save weight by removing all of the guns and sighting equipment used on other B-29s, except the tail gun, allowing the B-29B to fly a little higher and a little further. The B-29B also had two new radar units installed, the AN/APQ-7 Eagle radar for bombing and navigation and the AN/APG-15 for aiming the tail gun. These two radar units gave the B-29B a distinctive shape as the APQ-7 antenna appeared as a small wing under the fuselage, between the two bomb bay doors and the APG-15 added a ball shaped antenna to the tail of the aircraft below the tail guns.[3]

The squadron arrived at its combat station, Northwest Field on Guam on 14 April 1945. The squadron flew its first combat mission on 19 June 1945, attacking Japanese fortifications on Truk. Later that month, on 26 June, it flew its first mission attacking a target in Japan. For the remainder of the war, it operated principally against the enemy's petroleum industry on Honshu. These attacks included missions against the Maruzen oil refinery at Shimotso, the Utsobo oil refinery at Yokkaichi and the petroleum center at Kawasaki during the week beginning on 6 July 1945. For its performance on these missions, the squadron was awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation.[2]

Following V-J Day, the squadron dropped supplies to Allied prisoners of war in Japan, Korea, Manchuria and China. It remained at Northwest Field until May 1946, when it became non-operational, and was inactivated there on 10 June 1946.[1][2][4]

The squadron was reactivated as a reserve unit under Air Defense Command (ADC) at Long Beach Municipal Airport, California in July 1947, where it was assigned to the 448th Bombardment Group. Its training was supervised by the 416th AAF Base Unit (later the 2347th Air Force Reserve Training Center).[5] Although nominally a B-29 unit, it is not clear whether or not the squadron was fully staffed or equipped.[6] In 1948 Continental Air Command (ConAC) assumed responsibility for managing reserve and Air National Guard units from ADC.[7] In June 1949 ConAC reorganized its reserve units under the wing base organization, and in connection with this reorganization, the squadron was inactivated and replaced by the 711th Bombardment Squadron.[1][8]

During the Cold War, Strategic Air Command (SAC) bases with large concentrations of bombers made attractive targets. SAC’s response was to break up its wings and scatter their aircraft over a larger number of bases.[9] As part of this dispersal program, in August 1958, SAC organized the 4039th Strategic Wing at Griffiss Air Force Base, New York. The 41st Air Refueling Squadron was activated on 5 January 1959 as the wing's first operational flying squadron and began to equip with Boeing KC-135A Stratotankers.[10][11] In October 1959, the 75th Bombardment Squadron moved to Griffiss from Loring Air Force Base, Maine to fill out the 4039th with its Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses.[12]

After it became operational, in 1960, the squadron began to maintain one third of its aircraft on fifteen minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce its vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.[13] It conducted air refueling on a global scale to meet SAC commitments.[14]

Soon after detection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, SAC placed additional KC-135s on alert to replace KC-135s devoted to maintaining 1/8 of the B-52 bomber force on airborne alert.[15] On 24 October 1962, SAC went to DEFCON 2, placing all the squadron's aircraft on alert and increased the size of its forward deployed tanker task forces.[16] [17] On 27 November SAC returned to its normal alert posture.[18]

In February 1963, The 416th Bombardment Wing assumed the aircraft, personnel and equipment of the 4039th wing, which was discontinued. The 4039th was a Major Command controlled (MAJCON) wing, which could not carry a permanent history or lineage,[19] and SAC wanted to replace it with a permanent unit. The 41st was assigned to the newly-activated 416th Wing.[14]

In December 1964, the squadron began deploying crews and aircraft to support the war in Southeast Asia, in Operation Young Tiger. These deployments continued until December 1975.[14] These deployments reduced the alert posture of the squadron, and the ground alert program was finally ended on 17 September 1991.[20] In September 1985, the 41st Bombardment Squadron and the 41st Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated into a single unit.[21] During Operation Desert Storm it deployed an aircraft and crew to the 1702d Air Refueling Squadron (Provisional) at Seeb International Airport.[22]

After SAC was disestablished and the air refueling mission was transferred to Air Mobility Command (AMC), the squadron was assigned to the 380th Operations Group, as AMC consolidated its air refueling operations. It was inactivated on 15 February 1992. In 2002, the squadron was converted to provisional status as the 41st Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron,[23] but has not been active since then.

• 6th Bombardment Group, 1 April – 10 May 1944[lower-alpha 2]
• 501st Bombardment Group, 1 June 1944 – 10 June 1946
• 448th Bombardment Group, 12 July 1947 – 27 June 1949[24]
• 4039th Strategic Wing, 5 January 1959[10]
• 416th Bombardment Wing, 1 February 1963[14]
• 416th Operations Group, 1 September 1991[25]
• 380th Operations Group, 1 June 1992 – 15 February 1993
• Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed, 12 June 2002[23]

• Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 1 April – 10 May 1944
• Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 1 June 1944
• Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska, 23 August 1944 – 7 March 1945
• Northwest Field, Guam, 14 April 1945 – 10 June 1946
• Long Beach Municipal Airport, California, 12 July 1947 – 27 June 1949[24]
• Griffiss Air Force Base, New York, 5 January 1959[11] – 15 February 1993

• Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1944–1946[1]
• Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, 1959–1993[26]

Explanatory notes

Citations

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

• Knaack, Marcelle Size (1978). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems (PDF). Vol. 2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945-1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-59-5. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Marshall, Chester (1996). B-29 Superfortress. Warbird History. Minneapolis, MN: Motorbooks International. ISBN 0879387858.
• 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. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). A Guide to Air Force Lineage and Honors (2d, Revised ed.). Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Historical Research Center.
• Alert Operations and the Strategic Air Command, 1957-1991 (PDF). Offutt AFB, NE: Office of the Historian, Strategic Air Command. 1991. Retrieved 5 September 2023.