Active 1942–1943; 1959–1992 Role Air Refueling | Country United States | |
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Branch United States Air Force Decorations Air Force Outstanding Unit Award | ||
The 924th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 93d Operations Group at Castle Air Force Base, California, where it was inactivated on 30 April 1992.
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The earliest predecessor of the squadron was the 24th Transport Squadron which was activated at Morrison Field, Florida in 1942. The squadron supported the South Atlantic ferrying route of Air Transport Command until it was disbanded in 1943.
The 924th Air Refueling Squadron was activated at Castle in 1959. Through most of its existence it served as the tactical refueling component of the 93d Bombardment Wing, while its companion 93d Air Refueling Squadron was the "schoolhouse" for Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker aircrews, although in the 1980s, these roles were reversed. In 1985 the 24th and 924th squadrons were consolidated into a single unit. The unit was inactivated in 1992, shortly before Strategic Air Command was inactivated and responsibility for the air refueling mission transferred to Air Mobility Command.
World War II
The earliest predecessor of the squadron was the 24th Transport Squadron which was activated at Morrison Field, Florida in 1943. The squadron supported the South Atlantic ferrying route of Air Corps Ferrying Command (later Air Transport Command) as Morrison served as the western terminus of the route, processing personnel and equipment for deployment overseas. Although the squadron was stationed at Morrison, its personnel were also used to man other stations of the Caribbean Wing. After a little more than a year of trying to use traditional Table of Organization units like the 24th, Air Transport Command found them too inflexible for its operations. It, therefore, decided to replace its groups and squadrons and assign personnel directly to each of its stations, based on the needs of the station. The squadron was therefore disbanded and its personnel transferred to Station 11, Caribbean Wing, Air Transport Command.
Cold War
The 924th Air Refueling Squadron was activated on 1 July 1959 by Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Castle Air Force Base and assigned to the 93d Bombardment Wing. The squadron drew its cadre from the 93d Air Refueling Squadron. It was equipped with Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers and its primary mission was to train KC-135 aircrews for SAC tanker units. It also provided air refueling to the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers of its parent wing as they conducted combat crew training in the "Buff" and to other USAF units as directed. The squadron also deployed aircraft and aircrews to the Pacific, European and Alaskan Tanker Task Forces.
Later, the 93d Air Refueling Squadron assumed the bulk of the tanker training mission and the squadron deployed crews and aircraft to the Western Pacific region to support combat operations during the Vietnam War. The squadron also supported the Pacific, European, and Alaskan Tanker Task Forces. During periods when the 924th was not the primary tanker training unit of the 93d wing, it kept half of the squadron's aircraft on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike.
In 1985 the squadron was consolidated with the World War II 24th Transport Squadron. It deployed personnel and equipment to the Middle East in 1990 as part of Operation Desert Shield, and in 1991 for combat operations during Operation Desert Storm.
The 924th had the distinction of having Strategic Air Command's first all-female crew in June 1982, named "Fair Force One". The squadron was inactivated in 1992 as part of drawdown of United States strategic forces after the end of the Cold War and in anticipation of the closure of Castle transfer of air refueling training to Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma.
Lineage
24th Transport Squadron
924th Air Refueling Squadron