314th Air Refueling Squadron
KC-135R as flown by the squadron
Active1943–1946 1949–1951 1952–2009; 2016–present
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleAir refueling
Part ofAir Force Reserve Command
Garrison/HQBeale Air Force Base
Motto(s)Strength and Persistence
Mascot(s)Pegasus Burro ("PegBur")[1]
EngagementsEuropean Theater of Operations
Operation Noble Anvil
Desert Storm[2]
DecorationsAir Force Outstanding Unit Award
Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm[2]
Insignia
314th Air Refueling Squadron emblem (approved 28 September 1961)[2]

The 314th Air Refueling Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit within the Air Force Reserve Command. It is currently assigned to the 940th Air Refueling Wing, based at Beale Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 1 July 2009 and reactivated on 1 June 2016.[3]

Mission

It operates the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting aerial refueling missions.

History

World War II

Activated in late 1943 as a Douglas C-47 Skytrain troop carrier squadron, trained under I Troop Carrier Command in the United States. Was not deployed until the spring of 1945 to England, being assigned to the IX Troop Carrier Command. Was not used in combat operations, however did transport supplies and equipment to the front-line ground forces primarily into Germany and evacuated casualties to rear areas. Returned to the United States in September 1945 and was a transport squadron for Continental Air Forces until its inactivation in September 1946.

Reserve troop carrier operations

It trained in the reserve for troop carrier missions from, 1949–1951, for fighter-bomber missions from, 1952–1957, and resumed its current role as an airlift squadron in 1957 until 1976.[2]

Reserve air refueling operations

The squadron has performed air refueling missions worldwide since 1977 and maintained an alert responsibility for Strategic Air Command until the command's inactivation in June 1992. It deployed aircraft and personnel to Saudi Arabia and European locations in support of the Gulf War and later contingency operations in Somalia and the Balkans.[2]

The squadron was inactivated in 2009 pursuant to 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission action that eliminated the 940th Air Refueling Wing's KC-135 flying mission and redesignated it as the 940th Wing as an associate unit to the 9th Reconnaissance Wing in support of RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted (e.g., unmanned) aircraft operations. In 2016, the wing returned to its former designation as an air refueling wing and reacquired its manned flying mission and KC-135R aircraft, with the reactivation of the squadron occurring the same year.[2]

Lineage

Activated on 1 November 1943
Inactivated on 31 July 1946
Activated in the reserve on 27 June 1949
Ordered to active service on 1 April 1951
Inactivated on 2 April 1951
Activated in the reserve on 13 June 1952
Redesignated 314th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium on 1 September 1957
Ordered to active service on 28 October 1962
Released from active service on 28 November 1962
Redesignated 314th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy on 1 April 1965
Redesignated 314th Air Transport Squadron, Heavy on 1 December 1965
Redesignated 314th Military Airlift Squadron on 1 January 1966
Redesignated 314th Tactical Airlift Squadron on 1 April 1972
Redesignated 314th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy on 1 January 1977
Redesignated 314th Air Refueling Squadron on 1 February 1992
Inactivated on 1 July 2009

Assignments

Stations

Categories