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376th Air Refueling Squadron
(later 376th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron)
KC-97 Stratofreighter as flown by the squadron[note 1]
Active1943–1945; 1951–1952; 1953–1966
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
RoleFighter, Air Refueling
EngagementsEuropean Theater of Operations[1]
Insignia
Patch with 376th Air Refueling Squadron emblem
376th Fighter Squadron emblem[note 2][1]
World War II fuselage code[2]E9

The 376th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 4081st Strategic Wing at Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland, where it was inactivated in June 1966.

History

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World War II

Squadron P-51 Mustang

Established in early 1943 as the 376th Fighter Squadron and equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts, the squadron trained under I Fighter Command in the mid-Atlantic states. Also flew air defense missions as part of the Philadelphia Fighter Wing. Deployed to the European Theater of Operations, being assigned to VIII Fighter Command in England, November 1943.

The unit served primarily as an escort organization, covering the penetration, attack, and withdrawal of Boeing B-17 flying Fortress and Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber formations that the United States Air Forces in Europe sent against targets on the Continent. The squadron also engaged in counter-air patrols, fighter sweeps, and strafing and dive-bombing missions. Attacked such targets as airdromes, marshalling yards, missile sites, industrial areas, ordnance depots, oil refineries, trains, and highways. During its operations, the unit participated in the assault against the Luftwaffe and aircraft industry during Big Week, 20–25 February 1944, and the attack on transportation facilities prior to the Normandy invasion and support of the invasion forces thereafter, including the Saint-Lô breakthrough in July.

The squadron supported the airborne attack on the Netherlands in September 1944 and deployed to Chievres Airdrome, (ALG A-84), Belgium between February and April 1945 flying tactical ground support missions during the airborne assault across the Rhine. The unit returned to RAF Little Walden and flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945. Demobilized during the summer of 1945 in England, inactivated in the United States as a paper unit in October.

Cold War

The squadron flew the Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, first, the KC-97F, then the KC-97G. stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base, providing air refueling to USAF units from 1953 to 1960. In August 1960, the squadron moved to Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland

Expeditionary unit

The 376th Fighter Squadron and 376th Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated into a single unit in September 1985.[3] The consolidated squadron was converted to provisional status and redesignated the 376th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron in June 2002.[4]

Lineage

Assignments

Stations

Aircraft

References

Notes

Explanatory notes
  1. ^ Aircraft is Boeing KC-97G Stratofreighter, serial 53-151.
  2. ^ Approved 17 June 1943.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 465-466
  2. ^ Watkins, pp. 82-83
  3. ^ a b c Department of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 September 1985, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons
  4. ^ a b c Department of the Air Force/XPM Letter 303s, 12 June 2002, Subject: Air Mobility Command Expeditionary Units
  5. ^ See Ravenstein, p. 201 (assignment to 376th Bombardment Wing)
  6. ^ Robertson, Patsy (21 September 2009). "Factsheet 376 Air Expeditionary Wing (ACC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 12 September 2021.
  7. ^ DAF/XPM Letter 303s-3, 19 March 2003, Subject: Air Mobility Command Expeditionary Units
  8. ^ Station number in Anderson, p. 26
  9. ^ a b Station number in Anderson, p. 22
  10. ^ Station number in Johnson, p.49
  11. ^ Station information through 1945 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 465-466, except as noted.
  12. ^ a b Mueller, p. 22

Bibliography

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

Category