306th Air Refueling Squadron

306th Air Refueling Squadron
306th Air Refueling Squadron KC-97Es at MacDill AFB in July 1951.
Active	1943–1944; 1951–1973; 1984–1994
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Air Refueling
Insignia
306th Air Refueling Squadron emblem
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.[1][2] The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups"[3]

The squadron became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU).[2] Like OTUs, RTUs were oversize units, however their mission was to train individual pilots and aircrews.[3] 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.[1][2]

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.[4] 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).[1][5]

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[1] Reconstituted on 19 September 1985 and consolidated with the 306th Air Refueling Squadron as the 306th Air Refueling Squadron[6]

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[6] Redesignated 306th Air Refueling Squadron on 1 September 1991 Inactivated on 1 August 1994

Assignments

• 399th Bombardment Group: 1 March 1943 – 31 Marcy 1944[1]
• 306th Bombardment Group, 1 September 1950[7] (attached to 306th Bombardment Wing after 10 February 1951)[8]
• 306th Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952[8] (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)[8]
• 340th Air Refueling Wing, 1 October 1984[9]
• 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[10]
• March Field, California, ca. 1 December 1943 – 31 March 1944[1]
• MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, 1 September 1950[11]
• 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

1. Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 682
2. Maurer, Combat Units, p. 285
3. Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi
4. Goss, p. 75
5. See Mueller, p. 370 (showing simultaneous disbanding and organization of units).
6. Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 Sep 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons
7. Haulman, Daniel L. (27 March 2017). "Factsheet, 306th Flying Training Group (AETC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
8. Ravenstein, pp. 151–153
9. Haulman, Daniel L. (1 November 2016). "Factsheet, 340th Flying Training Group (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 2 August 2019.
10. Stations through 1944 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 682
11. Mueller, p. 352

Bibliography

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

• Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). The Army Air Forces in World War II (PDF). Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. LCCN 48003657. OCLC 704158. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

  Goss, William A. "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes.

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. p. 682. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.
• 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.