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93rd Air Refueling Squadron
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The 93rd Air Refueling Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, where it is assigned to the 92nd Operations Group and operates the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting air refueling missions.
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The earliest predecessor of the squadron is the 493rd Bombardment Squadron, which was activated in India in October 1942 and was equipped with Consolidated B-24 Liberators in January 1943. It participated in combat in the China Burma India Theater with the Liberator until V-J Day, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation in March 1945. Dring the period in which Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers operated from India, it also transported gasoline to forward bases in China. After the end of hostilities, it returned to the United States for inactivation in January 1946.
The 93rd Air Refueling Squadron was activated in March 1949 and equipped with Boeing KB-29 Superfortress tankers. It upgraded to the Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter in 1953, and the KC-135 in 1957. For most of its time at Castle Air Force Base, California, it served as the training unit for KC-135 aircrews, but also maintained combat readiness to execute Strategic Air Command (SAC) missions. In September 1985 the two squadrons were consolidated into a single unit. When SAC inactivated in 1992, the squadron became part of Air Mobility Command. In March 1995, the squadron moved on paper to Fairchild.
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Mission
History
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World War II
The 7th Bombardment Group was deploying to the Philippines when the Japanese struck Pearl Harbor. With the air bases in the Philippines in Japanese hands, it engaged in combat in Australia and the Netherlands East Indies. By late spring 1942, it had moved to India.[5] In India, it was assigned two medium bomber squadrons, the 11th and 22d Bombardment Squadrons,[6] and two heavy bomber squadrons, the 9th and 436th Bombardment Squadrons.[7] In September, the two medium squadrons were reassigned to form the cadre for the new 341st Bombardment Group,[6] while the 492nd and 493rd Bombardment Squadrons were organized to take their places and make the 7th Group an all heavy bomber unit.[8]
The 493rd Bombardment Squadron was activated at Camp Malir near Karachi, India (now Pakistan).[2] It initially was nominally manned, but after moving to Pandaveswar Airfield, India in January 1943, it drew its cadre from the 9th Bombardment Squadron and received substantial manning by the end of the month.[1] The squadron flew its first combat mission on 26 January 1943 when it bombed docks, shipping, and warehouses at Rangoon, Burma.[1]
The squadron engaged in strategic bombardment operations, primarily directed against Japanese forces in Burma. with attacks on airfields, fuel and supply dumps, docks, shipping and warehouses. In particular the Burmese rail system was a focus with attacks on railways, locomotive works, and bridges. The squadron also attacked oil refineries and railroads in Thailand and power production facilities in China. It conducted strikes on enemy shipping in the Andaman Sea.[5]
As the 1944 monsoon began in June, the squadron moved to Tezgaon Airfield, India (now Bangla Desh). There, it ceased combat operations and began ferrying fuel over the Hump to Fourteenth Air Force in China. Supply operations continued until September, when it returned to Pandaveswar. On 27 December a detachment of the squadron moved to Luliang Airfield, China, where it resumed airlift operations, hauling gasoline to Suichwan Airfield, China until late January 1945.[2][5]
The squadron began practice with VB-1 Azon ("Azimuth only") controllable bombs. B-24s using the Azon were specially equipped with electronics to control the bombs. Azon bombs were radio controlled and could be steered left or right, although their trajectory could not be changed to shorten or lengthen their flight to target. The VB-1 was particularly suited to long and narrow targets like bridges or railways where range errors would be irrelevant. For this reason, the squadron used them almost exclusively for attacks on bridges. 27 bridges in Burma were destroyed with the bomb, including the Bridge on the River Kwai. Perhaps the greatest success with the VB-1 was on 27 December 1944, when 9 of the bombs destroyed the rail bridge at Pyinmana, Burma, which had stood despite a rain of thousands of bombs in the two previous years. On 30 December 1944, the squadron launched four B-24s equipped with Azon bombs along with two regular Liberators. The primary target was the Nyaungchudauk bridge in Burma with its bypass bridge as the first alternate target and the Taungup bridge as second alternate. Direct hits demolished the primary and bypass bridge. The regular B-24s failed in their attempt to destroy the nearby Okshitpin bridge, but the Azon crews destroyed it in two passes. The Azon equipped planes then crossed the mountains to drop a span of the Taungup road bridge. In all, four major bridges were disabled with a few Azon bombs still remaining.[9] The squadron made its first Azon attack on 27 December 1944.[10]
On 19 March, the 493rd earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for attacks against rail lines and bridges in Thailand.[5] The squadron also dropped propaganda leaflets in Thailand from June through September 1945 for the Office of War Information.[11]
After V-J Day the 493rd Squadron staged through Dudhkundi Airfield, India, Kanchrapara Airfield, India, and Camp Angus (near Calcutta), India, departing Calcutta aboard the USS General W. M. Black[citation needed] on 7 December 1945. The vessel reached the Port of Embarkation on 5 January 1946 and the squadron inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, the following day[2]
Strategic Air Command
KB-29 operations
The second predecessor of the squadron was the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron, which activated at Castle Air Force Base, California on 1 March 1949 and was assigned to the 93rd Bombardment Group.[2] The squadron remained unmanned for over a year, finally receiving personnel in September 1950. It started receiving Boeing KB-29 Superfortress tankers the following month, but was not considered combat ready until October 1951. It primarily provided air refueling for the 93rd Bombardment Wing's bombers for their wartime mission, training, exercises and overseas deployments. The 93rd deployed with its KB-29s to RAF Upper Heyford, England from 6 Dec 1951 to 6 Mar 1952.[12] In June 1952, the squadron was reassigned from the 93rd Bombardment Group, which had not been operational since February 1951, directly to the 93rd Bombardment Wing.[2].[13] The squadron supported Operation Fox Peter II, the movement of the 31st Fighter-Escort Wing from the United States to Japan, in July 1952 using KB-29Ps flying from Guam and Kwajalein to refuel 58 Republic F-84G Thunderjet fighters on their way to the Korean War.[citation needed]
KC-97 operations
The squadron began to convert from KB-29s to Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters in November 1953 and completed the conversion in December.[12] The squadron frequently deployed its tankers, beginning with a deployment to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona from 1 April to 15 May 1954. It deployed twice to forward locations overseas, including to Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland, from 19 June to 14 August 1954 and to Thule Air Base, Greenland, from 19 January to March 1955. It also deployed twice to Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, from 2 November 1955 to 5 January 1956 and from 27 September to December 1956.[2] The 93rd began training its aircrews to operate Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers in May 1957.[12]
KC-135 operations
The squadron was the first Stratotanker squadron in the Air Force.[14] It Began receiving KC-135s on 28 Jun 1957, three days after converting to KC-135 aircrew training as primary mission. It possessed 19 tankers in December 1957 and 39 by May 1958.
Effective 1 Jul 1959, the resources of the 93rd were divided with the 924th Air Refueling Squadron, which assumed the Strategic Air Command (SAC) KC-135 aircrew training mission with 15 aircraft. The 93rd, at the same time, resumed full-time air refueling with 20 KC-135s. This status lasted until 21 Aug 1963, when the 93rd ceased standing alert and prepared to resume full-time KC-135 aircrew training. On 26 August the 93rd once again began KC-135 aircrew training as its primary mission. It retained Emergency War Order (EWO) commitments along with its training mission, but did not stand alert.
Current operations
The squadron's mission remained basically the same until March 1995. Thousands of SAC and some Air Mobility Command KC-135 aircrews received flight training from the 93rd. Each crew (pilot, copilot, navigator, and boom operator), after academic training with the 4017th Training Squadron at Castle Air Force Base, received 45 days of flight training from the 93rd. The squadron also provided specialized training of shorter duration to senior officers (such as wing commanders). For a period the 93rd also sent instructor teams to locations where Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units were converting to KC-135 tanker operations to help in-house training programs. On rare occasions the 93rd had deployed some of its aircraft and crews to meet its own EWO commitments or to meet needs exceeding the capability of the 924th Squadron. A few such deployments occurred in 1980. With the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission directed closure of Castle, On 31 Mar 1995, the 93rd moved to Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, and became a deployable air refueling squadron under the 92nd Air Refueling Wing.
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Lineage
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Perspective
- 493rd Bombardment Squadron
- Constituted as the 493rd Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 19 September 1942
- Activated on 25 October 1942
- Redesignated 493rd Bombardment Squadron, Heavy on 6 March 1944
- Inactivated on 6 January 1946
- Consolidated with the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron as the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron on 19 September 1985[2]
- 93rd Air Refueling Squadron
- Constituted as the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 2 February 1949
- Activated on 1 March 1949
- Redesignated 93rd Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy on 1 February 1955
- Redesignated 93rd Air Refueling Squadron on 1 September 1991
- Inactivated on 31 March 1995
- Consolidated with the 493rd Bombardment Squadron on 19 September 1985
- Activated on 31 March 1995[2]
Assignments
- 7th Bombardment Group, 25 October 1942 – 6 January 1946
- 93rd Bombardment Group, 1 March 1949 (attached to 93rd Bombardment Wing, 15 July 1950 – 30 January 1951 and after 10 February 1951)
- 93rd Bombardment Wing, 16 June 1952
- 93rd Operations Group, 1 September 1991
- 398th Operations Group, 1 June 1992 – 31 March 1995
- 92nd Operations Group, 31 March 1995 – present[2]
Stations
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Aircraft
- Consolidated B-24 Liberator (1943–1945)
- Boeing KB-29 Superfortress (1950–1953)
- Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter (1953–1957)
- Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker (1957–1995, 1995–present)[2]
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References
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