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18th Air Refueling Squadron

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Country
  
United States

Type
  
Aerial refueling

18th Air Refueling Squadron

Active
  
11 December 1940 – 31 July 1945 1 August 1948 – 1 March 1949 14 July 1952 – 21 July 1954 3 August 1961 – 25 June 1967 15 October 1969 – 31 August 1972 1 October 1995 - Present

Branch
  
United States Air Force

Part of
  
Air Force Reserve Command Fourth Air Force 507th Air Refueling Wing 931st Air Refueling Group

Garrison/HQ
  
McConnell Air Force Base

The 18th Air Refueling Squadron (18 ARS) is a United States Air Force Reserve squadron, assigned to the 931st Operations Group, stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas.

Contents

Overview

The squadron operates the KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft, conducting aerial refueling missions.

History

During World War II the 18th flew airborne assaults on Sicily, Myitkyina, Burma, and Southern France in addition to supporting partisans in Northern Italy from January to May 1945 and conducting aerial transportation in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) and briefly in the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI). It flew strategic and tactical airlift missions from 1948 to 1954 and 1962 to 1967. The squadron provided tactical airlift training for US and subsequently South Vietnamese pilots and crews from 1969 to 1972.

This unit has flown worldwide air refueling missions since 1995.

Operations

  • World War II
  • Operation Husky (the invasion of Sicily)
  • Operation Dragoon (the invasion of southern France)
  • Operation Joint Endeavor (Peacekeeping in Bosnia Herzegovina)
  • Operation Joint Guard (Peacekeeping in Bosnia Herzegovina), 21 June 1996 – 19 June 1998
  • Operation Joint Forge (Peacekeeping in Bosnia Herzegovina), June 201998 - 12 February 2004
  • Southern Watch (enforcing a no-fly zone in pre-war southern Iraq)
  • Northern Watch (enforcing a no-fly zone in pre-war northern Iraq)
  • Operation Desert Fox (December 1998 bombing of Iraq)
  • Operation Enduring Freedom (The Global War on Terror)
  • Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003 Iraq War)
  • Operation Noble Eagle ( US homeland security)

    • Lineage

  • 18th Transport Squadron (1940–1942)
  • 18th Troop Carrier Squadron (1942–1948)
  • 18th Troop Carrier Squadron, Heavy (1948–1952)
  • 18th Troop Carrier Squadron, Medium (1952–1966)
  • 18th Troop Carrier Squadron (1966–1969)
  • 18th Tactical Airlift Training Squadron (1969–1994)
  • 18th Air Refueling Squadron (1994 – present)

    • Aircraft Operated

  • C-47 Skytrain (1941–1945)
  • C-54 Skymaster (1948–1949)
  • C-82 Packet (1951–1953)
  • C-119 Flying Boxcar (1953–1954)
  • C-130 Hercules (1962–1967)
  • C-7 Caribou (1969–1972)
  • KC-135 Stratotanker (1995 – present)

    • References

    18th Air Refueling Squadron Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA