Country United States Motto(s) Any Time, Any Place | Role Air Refueling | |
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Active 1942–1944; 1944–1946; 1960–1992 Branch United States Air Force Decorations Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | ||
The 920th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 379th Bombardment Wing at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan where it was inactivated on 30 September 1992.
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The first predecessor of the squadron was the 420th Bombardment Squadron which served as a heavy bomber operational and replacement training unit from 1942 until the spring of 1944 when it was inactivated in a general reorganization of United States Army Air Forces training units.
The 420th reformed as a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit four months later. It partly deployed to the Pacific, but the Japanese surrender took place before the air echelon deployed and the squadron was inactivated once the ground echelon returned to the United States.
The 920th Air Refueling Squadron was activated in the spring of 1960 by Strategic Air Command at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, but soon moved to Wurtsmith, where it served for over thirty years. The squadron maintained part of its strength on alert to support the Emergency War Order. It deployed crews and aircraft to support Strategic Air Command (SAC) and Pacific Air Forces operations during the Vietnam War. In the fall of 1985 the 920th and 420th squadrons were consolidated into a single unit. In 1992 the unit was transferred from SAC to Air Mobility Command, but was inactivated shortly after the transfer.
World War II
The 30th Reconnaissance Squadron was constituted in early 1942 as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator reconnaissance unit, but its mission changed to bombardment and it was redesignated the 420th Bombardment Squadron before it was activated at Geiger Field, Washington in June 1942. It became a heavy bomber operational training unit (OTU) as one of the four squadrons of the 302d Bombardment Group, which served with a training wing of Second Air Force. The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups." The 420th later became a replacement training unit (RTU) for deployed combat units. RTUs were oversized units that trained individual pilots or aircrews for units already deployed overseas. At the end of 1943 the squadron moved east with its group headquarters, where it became an element of First Air Force. However, the United States Army Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a more functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. Accordingly, the unit was inactivated in April 1944 and its personnel transferred to the 114th Army Air Forces Base Unit (Bombardment, Heavy).
The squadron became a Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment squadron in August 1944 and was activated again in September 1944 at Dalhart Army Air Field as one of the three squadrons of the 382d Bombardment Group. The squadron again trained with Second Air Force. Training was considerably delayed due to equipment shortages. The unit did not begin combat training with B-29s until March 1945. The ground echelon deployed to Northern Mariana Islands by ship in early August 1945 but the air echelon remained behind until after the Japanese surrender. The ground echelon remained in the Marianas supporting other units' aircraft. The ground echelon returned to the Port of Embarkation in December 1945 and the unit inactivated in early January 1946.
Cold War
The 920th Air Refueling Squadron was organized on 15 April 1960 by Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas and assigned to the 7th Bombardment Wing. The squadron was apparently not equipped or manned before moving to Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan on 15 July 1960, where it was assigned to the 4026th Strategic Wing and equipped with Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers. At Wurtsmith the squadron provided worldwide air refueling for SAC Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers and other USAF aircraft as directed. One third of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.
The squadron deployed aircraft and crews to Alaska to support Operation Chrome Dome airborne alert missions. The squadron also supported SAC reconnaissance operations in Europe. In February 1963, The 379th Bombardment Wing assumed the aircraft, personnel and equipment of the discontinued 4026th wing. The 4026th was a Major Command controlled (MAJCON) wing, which could not carry a permanent history or lineage, and SAC wanted to replace it with a permanent unit. The 920th was transferred to the newly activated 379th wing.
The 920th deployed aircraft and flight crews to the Western Pacific between 1965 and 1975 to support SAC Operation Arc Light and tactical aircraft flying combat missions over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. It also supported fighter aircraft deploying to Southeast Asia in Operations Coronet Town and Coronet Circle. During the Vietnam era, crews from the 920th were deployed to the Young Tiger Tanker Task Force, flying air refueling support from U-Tapao Royal Thai Navy Airfield. In 1968 the squadron absorbed personnel and equipment from the 907th Air Refueling Squadron, which inactivated at Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana.
The squadron returned to normal peacetime operations after 1975. It deployed personnel and aircraft to the Middle East in 1990 in support of Operation Desert Shield and in 1991 in support of Operation Desert Storm. When SAC was inactivated in June 1992, the squadron was reassigned to the 305th Operations Group of Air Mobility Command, (AMC) which was stationed at Grissom Air Force Base, Indiana. The squadron's aircraft were assigned to other AMC units and it was inactivated on 30 September 1992.
Lineage
420th Bombardment Squadron
920th Air Refueling Squadron