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306th Air Refueling Squadron

Inactive US Air Force unit

Field	Value
unit_name	306th Air Refueling Squadron
image	KC-97Es 306th ARS at MacDill AFB 1951.jpg
image_size	300
caption	306th Air Refueling Squadron KC-97Es at MacDill AFB in July 1951.
dates	1943–1944; 1951–1973; 1984–1994
country
branch
role	Aerial refueling
identification_symbol	[[File:0306 AIR REFUELING SQUADRON (2).jpg	165px]]
identification_symbol_label	306th Air Refueling Squadron emblem
identification_symbol_2	[[File:306th Air Refueling Squadron - SAC - Patch.png	165px]]
identification_symbol_2_label	306th Air Refueling Squadron Patch (showing early emblem)

The 306th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 457th Operations Group at Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, where it was inactivated on 1 August 1994.

The squadron's first predecessor is the 606th Bombardment Squadron, which was activated as a heavy bomber training unit during World War II. It was disbanded in 1944 when the Army Air Forces reorganized its training and support units in the United States to make more effective use of manpower.

The 306th Squadron was activated in 1951 and performed air refueling until it was inactivated in 1973. It was activated a second time in 1984. The two squadrons were consolidated into a single unit the following year.

History

World War II

B-24 Liberator as flown by the 606th Squadron

The squadron's first predecessor was the 606th Bombardment Squadron, which was activated at Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona on 1 March 1943, but made two moves the following month, arriving at Wendover Field, Utah on 27 April. The squadron was one of the four original squadrons of the 399th Bombardment Group. At Wendover, it served as an Operational Training Unit (OTU) for Consolidated B-24 Liberator units until August. The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups"

The squadron became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Like OTUs, RTUs were oversize units, however their mission was to train individual pilots and aircrews. Following this mission change, the 399th Group and its components were reassigned from Second Air Force to Fourth Air Force, then moved to March Field, California in December.

However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units like the 606th, which were assigned personnel and equipment based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, which was manned and equipped based on the station's requirements. The 606th Squadron was disbanded, and along with operational and supporting units at March was used to form the 420th AAF Base Unit (Bombardment Replacement Training Unit-Heavy).

Air refueling

The squadron performed air refueling in support of USAF operations on a worldwide basis, flying the KC-97 and KC-135 Stratotanker.

Lineage

606th Bombardment Squadron

Constituted as the 606th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 15 February 1943 : Activated on 1 March 1943
Disbanded on 31 March 1944
Reconstituted on 19 September 1985 and consolidated with the 306th Air Refueling Squadron as the 306th Air Refueling Squadron 306th Air Refueling Squadron
Constituted as the 306th Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 17 August 1950 : Activated on 1 September 1950 : Redesignated 306th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy on 1 July 1962 : Inactivated 30 September 1973
Activated on 1 October 1984
Consolidated with the 606th Bombardment Squadron on 19 September 1985 : Redesignated 306th Air Refueling Squadron on 1 September 1991 : Inactivated on 1 August 1994

Assignments

399th Bombardment Group: 1 March 1943 – 31 Marcy 1944
306th Bombardment Group, 1 September 1950 (attached to 306th Bombardment Wing after 10 February 1951)
306th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952 (detached 8 November – 22 December 1954, 5 January – 21 February 1955, 20 December 1956 – 9 January 1957, c. 9–15 October 1957, 1 July – 5 October 1958, 5 April – 12 July 1961,
4047th Strategic Wing, 1 July 1962
306th Bombardment Wing, 1 April 1963 – 30 September 1973 (not operational after 1 September 1973)
340th Air Refueling Wing, 1 October 1984
340th Operations Group, 1 September 1991
457th Operations Group, 1 July 1993 – 1 October 1994

Stations

Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 1 March 1943
Gowen Field, Idaho, 10 April 1943
Wendover Field, Utah, 27 April 1943
March Field, California, ca. 1 December 1943 – 31 March 1944
MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, 1 September 1950
McCoy Air Force Base, Florida, 1 July 1962 – 30 September 1973
Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma, 1 October 1984 – 1 October 1994

Aircraft

Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1944
KC-97E Stratofreighter, Aug 1951 – 31 Jun 1962 (Also KC-97F/G)
KC-135A Stratotanker, 1 July 1962 – 30 September 1973; 1 Oct 1984 – unknown
KC-135Q Stratotanker, 1971 - 1973
KC-135R Stratotanker, unknown – 1 October 1994

References

Notes

Bibliography

References

Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 682
Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 285
Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi
Goss, p. 75
''See'' Mueller, p. 370 (showing simultaneous disbanding and organization of units).
Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 Sep 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons
(27 March 2017). "Factsheet, 306th Flying Training Group (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency.
Ravenstein, pp. 151–153
(1 November 2016). "Factsheet, 340th Flying Training Group (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency.
Stations through 1944 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 682
Mueller, p. 352

Info: Wikipedia Source

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