303rd Air Refueling Squadron

History

Flying the Hump

The 303rd Transport Squadron was activated in India in June 1943 at Mohanbari Airport, India, where it was assigned to the 30th Transport Group. The squadron drew its cadre from the 6th Transport Squadron. It operated Douglas C-47 Skytrain and Curtiss C-46 Commando transports in the China-Burma-India theater for the India-China Wing, Air Transport Command. It flew supplies, equipment and personnel over the Hump from the Assam Valley of India to airfields in southeast China, primarily to support Fourteenth Air Force combat operations. It was a short-lived organization for it was disbanded in December 1943 and replaced, along with other elements of the 30th Transport Group, by Station 9, India-China Wing, Air Transport Command.

B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan

Organization and training

The second 483rd Bombardment Squadron was activated at Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas in March 1944 as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment squadron, drawing its initial cadre from the 9th Bombardment Group. It moved to Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska the following day, where the squadron began training with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses on 1 July until B-29s became available.

The squadron's ground echelon sailed from the Seattle Port of Embarkation for the Pacific on 14 November. The air echelon staged through Hamilton Field and Mather Field, California with its B-29s.

Combat Operations

The squadron arrived at its combat station, North Field, Tinian in the Mariana Islands on 24 December 1944. Three days later, it began flying training missions, including an attack on Moen Airfield in January. It flew its first combat mission on 24 January 1945 against targets on Iwo Jima and the Truk Islands.

The squadron conducted area raids with incendiaries until August 1945. During April 1945, the squadron was diverted from the strategic campaign against Japan to support Operation Iceberg, the invasion of Okinawa. It struck Miyazaki Airfield and Kanoya Airfield,

The squadron also conducted aerial mining operations against Japanese shipping. The 505th was the only group in XXI Bomber Command to carry out these missions, which began on 27 March. The squadron flew its last mission on the night of 14 and 15 August 1945. Following V-J Day its B-29s carried relief supplies to Allied prisoner of war camps. It also flew show of force flights and conducted bomb damage assessment flights over Japan. It moved to Clark Field in the Philippines in March 1946, and was inactivated there on 15 June 1946.

Strategic Air Command

The 303rd Air Refueling Squadron was activated in April 1951 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona and assigned to the 303rd Bombardment Group, but attached to the 303rd Bombardment Wing. it was nominally a KB-29 Superfortress unit, but never became operational and was inactivated seven months later.

The squadron was activated again in February 1953, again at Davis Monthan, where it was assigned to the 303rd Bombardment Wing and equipped with Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters. The following month the wing's first Boeing B-47 Stratojets arrived and the squadron trained to refuel these jet bombers. The squadron deployed with the wing to RAF Greenham Common from 4 March to 28 April 1954, moving to RAF Fairford until 5 June 1954, when Greenham Common's runway was closed for repair. During the deployment with the wing, the squadron's aircraft also served as transports, carrying extra air crew, support personnel, and spare parts. In November 1954, it participated in Operation Green Point, which tested the 303rd Wing's air refueling capability. From February through April 1955, the squadron deployed to a Harmon Air Force Base in Operation Sand Truck.

SAC had begun to include refueling in its war plans, and decided to deploy its KC-97s to forward locations, placing them ahead of the faster B-47 Stratojets they would refuel. In February 1956, the squadron moved from Davis-Monthan to Kindley Air Force Base, Bermuda and was assigned to Second Air Force. At Kindley, it received administrative and logistic support from the 1604th Air Base Wing of Military Air Transport Service, which also supported additional KC-97s deployed to Kindley on temporary rotations. It supported B-47 Stratojets deploying to Europe and Morocco on Operation Reflex and provided forward refueling in the event of war. While stationed at Kindley the squadron was assigned to several headquarters located in the United States. The 303rd performed supported SAC and USAF operations on a worldwide basis until it was inactivated in 1963.

Lineage

303rd Transport Squadron

• Constituted as 303rd Transport Squadron, c. 4 June 1943 : Activated on 21 June 1943 : Disbanded on 1 December 1943
• Reconstituted 19 September 1985 and consolidated with the 483rd Bombardment Squadron and the 303rd Air Refueling Squadron as 303rd Air Refueling Squadron (remained inactive)

483rd Bombardment Squadron

• Constituted as 483rd Bombardment Squadron, Very Heavy on 28 Feb 1944 : Activated on 11 Mar 1944 : Inactivated on 30 Jun 1946
• Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 303rd Transport Squadron and the 303rd Air Refueling Squadron as 303rd Air Refueling Squadron (remained inactive)

303rd Air Refueling Squadron

• Constituted as 303rd Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 4 April 1951 : Activated on 4 September 1951 : Inactivated 8 April 1952
• Activated on 18 February 1953 : Inactivated on 15 June 1963
• Consolidated on 19 September 1985 with the 483rd Bombardment Squadron and the 303rd Transport Squadron as the 303rd Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy (remained inactive)

Assignments

• 30th Transport Group, 21 June 1943 – 1 December 1943
• 505th Bombardment Group, 11 March 1944 – 30 June 1946
• 303rd Bombardment Group, 4 April 1951 – 8 April 1952 (attached to 303rd Bombardment Wing)
• 303rd Bombardment Wing, 18 February 1953 (detached 19 April – 2 June 1955)
• Second Air Force, 1 February 1956
• 38th Air Division, 1 January 1959
• 823rd Air Division, 1 October 1959
• 19th Bombardment Wing, 1 November 1959
• 4050th Air Refueling Wing, 1 April 1961
• 499th Air Refueling Wing, 1 January–15 June 1963

Stations

• Mohanbari Airport, Assam, India, 21 June 1943 – 1 December 1943
• Dalhart Army Air Field, Texas, 11 March 1944
• Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska, 12 March 1944 – 6 November 1944
• North Field, Tinian, Mariana Islands, 24 December 1944 – 5 March 1946
• Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, 14 March 1946 – 30 June 1946
• Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, 4 April 1951 – 8 April 1952
• Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, 18 February 1953
• Kindley Air Force Base, Bermuda, 6 February 1956 – 15 June 1963

Aircraft

• Douglas C-47 Skytrain, 1943
• Curtiss C-46 Commando, 1943
• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1944
• Boeing B-29 Superfortress, 1944–1946
• KB-29 Superfortress, 1951–1952
• Boeing KC-97F Stratofreighter, 1953-1956
• Boeing KC-97G Stratofreighter, 1956–1959; 1959–1963

Awards and campaigns

Notes

; Explanatory notes

; Citations

Bibliography

:: ::

• (renumbered AF Pamphlet 36-2801, Vol. I)

References

1. No byline. "Abstract, History 30th Transport Group, Jun-Nov 1943". Air Force History Index.
2. Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 Sep 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons
3. Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 581
4. "505th Bombardment Group History, Part 1".
5. Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 368-69
6. "505th Bombardment Group History, Part 2".
7. bases from which [[kamikaze]] attacks were being launched. These bases were located on [[Kyushu]], only 300 miles from Okinawa. The attacks directly impacted kamikaze launches, but also forced the Japanese military to retain [[fighter aircraft]] to defend the [[Japanese Special Attack Units]] that otherwise might have been used to challenge [[air superiority]] over Okinawa.Cate & Olson p. 641
8. Mueller, p. 102
9. Strategic Air Command General Order 69, 30 August 1951
10. Ravenstein, pp. 149-150
11. Strategic Air Command General Order 20, 15 April 1952
12. No byline. "Abstract, History 303 Bombardment Wing Feb 1953". Air Force History Index.
13. No byline. "Abstract, History 303 Bombardment Wing Mar 1953". Air Force History Index.
14. No byline. "Abstract, History 36 Air Division Mar 1954". Air Force History Index.
15. Smith, p. 39
16. No byline. "Abstract, History 303 Bombardment Wing Nov 1954". Air Force History Index.
17. Smith, p. 31
18. ''See'' Smith, p. 39
19. No byline. "Abstract, History 36 Air Division Feb 1956". Air Force History Index.
20. No byline. "Abstract, History 1604 Air Base Wing Jan-Jun 1963". Air Force History Index.
21. Lineage through 1946 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 581
22. Strategic Air Command General Order 5, 3 February 1953
23. Strategic Air Command General Order 89, 24 December 1958
24. (5 October 2007). "Factsheet 38 Air Division". Air Force Historical Research Agency.
25. Strategic Air Command General Order GO-84, 29 September 1959; Strategic Air Command General Order GO-91, 21 October 1959
26. Ravenstein, p. 36
27. Strategic Air Command Special Order G-13, 5 February 1961
28. Ravenstein, p. 272
29. Mueller, p. 103
30. AF Pamphlet 900-2, 15 Jun 1971, p. 293