100th Air Refueling Wing: Difference between revisions

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===Assignments===
===Assignments===
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break|width=50%}}
* [[III Bomber Command]], 1 Jun 1942
* [[Second Air Force]], 18 Jun 1942
* [[II Bomber Command]], 26 Jun 1942
* 15 Bombardment (later, 15 Bombardment Training; 15 Bombardment Operational Training) Wing, 30 Nov 1942
* Eighth Air Force, c. 2 Jun 1943
* VIII Bomber Command, c. 4 Jun 1943
* [[4th Bombardment Wing]], 6 Jun 1943
: Attached to: 402d Provisional Combat Bombardment Wing, 6 Jun 1943
* [[3d Bombardment Division]], 13 Sep 1943
* [[13th Combat Bombardment Wing]] (Heavy), 14 Sep 1943
* [[3d Air Division]], 18 Jun 1945
* [[1st Air Division]], 12 Aug 1945
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* [[3d Air Division]], 28 Sep 1945
* [[VIII Fighter Command]], 1 Nov-Dec 1945
* [[49th Air Division|49th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy (later, 49 Air Division, Bombardment)]], 29 May 1947-27 Jun 1949
* [[Eighth Air Force]], 1 Jan 1956
* [[817th Air Division]], 1 Feb 1956
: Attached to [[7th Air Division]], 29 Dec 1957-1 Apr 1958
* [[12th Strategic Aerospace Division]], 25 Jun 1966
* [[14th Strategic Aerospace Division]], 30 Jun 1971
* [[12th Air Division|12th Strategic Missile (later, 12 Air) Division]], 1 Aug 1972
* [[14th Air Division]], 30 Sep 1976-15 Mar 1983
* [[Eighth Air Force]], 1 Jul 1990-26 Jul 1991
* [[Third Air Force]], 1 Feb 1992-Present
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===Components===
===Components===

Revision as of 07:40, 12 July 2009

100th Air Refueling Wing
100th ARW Emblem
ActiveJanuary 28, 1942 – present
CountryUnited States
BranchAir Force
TypeAir Refueling
Part ofUnited States Air Forces Europe
Garrison/HQRAF Mildenhall
Nickname(s)Bloody 100th
Motto(s)Peace Through Strength
Engagements
 
  • World War II
European Campaign (1943–1945)
Decorations DUCtation
AFOUA
FCdG w/ Palm
Commanders
Current
commander		Colonel Eden Murrie
100 ARW KC-135s lined up on the taxiway at RAF Mildenhall
Tail of a 100ARW Boeing KC-135A-BN Stratotanker, Serial 58-0100, displaying the crest of RAF Mildenhall and the historic "Square D" badge as used by the unit during the second world war

The 100th Air Refueling Wing is USAFE’s only KC-135 air refueling wing composed of 15 permanently assigned aircraft, and is responsible for U.S. aerial refueling operations conducted throughout the European theater. The unit supports some 16,000 personnel, including Third Air Force, four geographically separated units, and 15 associated units.

The wing has been bestowed by the Air Force with the lineage, honors, and history of the 100th Bomb Group. One of these honors is that it is the only modern American operational wing allowed to bear the sign of a Second World War squadron.

Units

100th Operations Group (100 OG)

100th Maintenance Group (100 MXG)

  • 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (100 AMXS)
  • 100th Maintenance Squadron (100 MXS)
  • 100th Maintenance Operations Squadron (100 MOS)

100th Mission Support Group (100 MSG)

  • 100th Civil Engineering Squadron (100 CES)
  • 100th Communications Squadron (100 CS)
  • 100th Contracting Squadron (100 CONS)
  • 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron (100 LRS)
  • 100th Mission Support Squadron (100 MSS)
  • 100th Security Forces Squadron (100 SFS)
  • 100th Services Squadron (100 SVS)

History

Lineage

  • Established as 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) on January 28, 1942.
    • Activated on June 1, 1942.
    • Inactivated on December 21, 1945.
  • Redesignated 100th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy, on May 13, 1947.
    • Activated in the Reserve on May 29, 1947.
    • Inactivated on June 27, 1949.
  • Consolidated (January 31, 1984) with the 100th Bombardment Wing, Medium, which was established on March 23, 1953.
  • Activated on January 1, 1956.
    • Redesignated: 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing on June 25, 1966
    • Redesignated: 100th Air Refueling Wing, Heavy on September 30, 1976.
    • Inactivated on March 15, 1983.
  • Redesignated: 100th Air Division on June 15, 1990.
    • Activated on July 1, 1990.
    • Inactivated on July 26, 1991.
  • Redesignated 100th Air Refueling Wing, and activated, on February 1, 1992.

Assignments

Components

Stations

Aircraft/Missiles assigned

Operations

World War II

Emblem of the 100th Bombardment Group
Boeing B-17G-70-BO Fortress 43-37812 (EP-A) 351st BS lost Mar 23, 1945
Boeing B-17F-110-BO Fortress 42-30604 (LN-T) 350th BS, *Badger's Beauty V*. Crashed landed in Normandy near Villers, France Oct 4, 1943 All crew survived, 5 POW, 5 evaded.

On June 1, 1942, the Army Air Forces activated the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) (100th BG) as an unmanned paper unit assigned to III Bomber Command. The group remained unmanned until October 27, 1942, when a small number of men transferred from the 29th Bombardment Group to Gowen Field, Idaho, to serve as the group’s initial cadre. Within four days, on November 1, the small cadre forming the 100 BG moved the unit to Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington, where it received its first four aircrews and four B-17Fs from the Boeing factory in Seattle. Following receipt of crews and aircraft, the 100th BG relocated to Wendover Field, Utah, on November 30 where it added additional personnel, aircraft, crews, and began operational training (bombing, gunnery, and navigation).

With the first day of 1943, members of the fledgling group again transferred operations to two separate bases, with the aircraft and aircrews moving to Sioux City AAB, Iowa, while the ground echelon went to Kearney Field, Nebraska. In both instances, members of the 100th BG assisted in air and ground training for other groups bound for overseas. In mid-April, the aircrew element joined its ground echelon at Kearney Field, and received new B-17s. After additional training, the group’s aircrews departed Kearney on May 25, 1943, flying the North Atlantic route to England and into the war in Europe. Prior to the departure of aircraft and aircrews from Kearney, the 100 BG’s ground echelon departed for the East Coast on May 2. On May 27, 1943, the ground personnel set sail aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth bound for Podington, England from New York. At Podington the ground crews rendezvoused with the air echelon, and together moved to Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk, where they remained throughout World War II, operating as a strategic bombardment organization.

On June 25, 1943, the 100 BG flew its first Eighth Air Force combat mission in a bombing of the Bremen U-boat yards -- the beginning of the "Bloody Hundredth"’s legacy. The group inherited the "Bloody Hundredth" nickname from other bomb groups due to the amount of losses it took. In the early summer of 1943, 100 BG became a "marked outfit" by Luftwaffe fighters after a B-17 pilot first lowered his landing gear to surrender to three Messerschmitt Bf 109s, started to descend after the fighters stopped shooting, then changed his mind and the B-17 gunners shot the three fighter aircraft (one Bf 109 pilot bailed out and presumably reported the event).[1]: 94  The group experienced several instances where it lost a dozen or more aircraft on a single mission, and for the next six months, the group focused its bombing attacks against German airfields, industries, and naval facilities in France and Germany.

In August 1943, the group received its first Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) after attacking the German aircraft factory at Regensburg on August 17, 1943, resulting in serious disruption to German fighter production. From January-May 1944, the 100th BG regularly bombed airfields, industries, marshaling yards, and missile sites in Western Europe. The group participated in the Allied campaign against German aircraft factories , Operation Argument, during "Big Week" in the last week of February 1944. In March 1944, aircrews completed a succession of attacks on Berlin and received its second DUC of the war.

While bombing during the Oil Campaign of World War II as the summer of 1944 approached, the group also conducted interdictory missions such as the June bombing of bridges and gun positions to support the Invasion of Normandy. The next month aircrews bombed enemy positions at St Lo, followed by similar campaigns at Brest in August and September. In October 1944, the 100th BG attacked enemy and ground defenses in the allied drive on the Siegfried Line, then bombed marshaling yards, German occupied villages, and communication targets in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. For its extraordinary efforts in attacking heavily defended German installations in Germany and dropping supplies to the French Forces of the Interior from June through December 1944, the 100 BG received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.

The 100 BG flew its last combat mission of World War II on April 20, 1945. The following month the unit’s aircrews dropped food to the people in the west of the Netherlands, and in June transported French Allied former prisoners of war from Austria to France. In December 1945, the group returned to the U.S., where it inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on December 21, 1945.

Cold War

Emblem of the 100th Bombardment Wing

On May 29, 1947, Headquarters Army Air Force reactivated the 100 BG at Miami Army Air Field. From the time of its activation the group trained and operated as a reserve B-29 Superfortress unit being attached to the 49th Bombardment Wing (Later Air Division) until it was again inactivated on June 27, 1949.

After approximately five and one-half years of inactivation, the Air Force activated the 100th Bombardment Wing (Medium) on January 1, 1956, at Portsmouth Air Force Base, New Hampshire, and assigned again to Eighth Air Force. For the next ten years the wing performed global strategic bombardment training, and global air refueling.

Following a brief nonoperational period (April–June 1966), the Air Force redesignated the wing as the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, and moved it without personnel or equipment to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, on June 25, 1966. After its move, the wing absorbed the resources of the 4080th Strategic Wing. From 1966 until 1976, it performed strategic reconnaissance with the U-2 and drone aircraft. It used one overseas-based squadron (99th SRS), and deployed operating locations as needed, 1972–1976, earning the P.T. Cullen Award as the reconnaissance unit that contributed most to the photo and signal intelligence efforts of SAC in 1972.[2] In mid-1976 the wing changed missions again when it transferred its drone operations and associated DC-130 launchers and CH-3 recoveries to Tactical Air Command, and its U-2s to the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (9 SRW) at Beale AFB, California.

After completing the transfer of its aircraft in September 1976, while simultaneously phasing down operations at Davis-Monthan, the Air Force redesignated the wing as the 100th Air Refueling Wing, and relocated it to Beale AFB without personnel or equipment, where on September 30, 1976 it absorbed the resources of the 17th Bombardment Wing, Heavy. While at Beale, the 100 ARW assumed responsibility for providing worldwide air refueling support to the 9 SRW with its KC-135Q's from September 30, 1976 until its inactivation on March 15, 1983.

After an inactive status for over seven years, the Air Force again reactivated the 100th, but this time as the 100th Air Division at Whiteman AFB, Missouri, on July 1, 1990. However, as has been the wing’s past fate, the Air Force inactivated it once again on August 1, 1991.

Modern era

Six months after its inactivation as an Air Division, and over 46 years after departing England at the end of World War II, the Air Force activated the 100 ARW, stationed at RAF Mildenhall, United Kingdom, on February 1, 1992. It was assigned to Strategic Air Command, Fifteenth Air Force, 14th Air Division. It was then reassigned to Third Air Force on 1 February 1992. From the time of its reactivation, the 100 ARW has served as the United States Air Forces Europe’s lone air refueling wing. It also serves as the host unit at RAF Mildenhall where it deployed aircraft and managed the European Tanker Task Force.

Unit shields

The 100th In Print

  • Harry H. Crosby, a navigator in the 100th BG ("Bloody Hundredth") during WWII, wrote A Wing and a Prayer: The Bloody 100th Bomb Group of the US Eighth Air Force in Action over Europe in World War II [1] (Harpercollins 1993 / Hdcvr ISBN 0-06-016941-9 / Ppbk ISBN 0-595-16703-9). The account is an insightful look into the life of a typical air officer assigned to one of the 8th Air Force's most revered units.

References

  1. ^ Template:Last=Richards
  2. ^ Battermix publishing material

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

  • Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
  • Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0912799129.
  • Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978.
  • USAAS-USAAC-USAAF-USAF Aircraft Serial Numbers--1908 to present

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=100th_Air_Refueling_Wing&oldid=301659864"