100th Air Refueling Wing
The 100th Air Refueling Wing, nicknamed the Bloody Hundredth, is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. It is stationed at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It is also the host wing at RAF Mildenhall.
The 100th ARW is the only permanent U.S. air refueling wing in the European theater, operating the Boeing KC-135R/T Stratotanker.
During World War II, its predecessor unit, the 100th Bombardment Group , was an Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England, stationed at RAF Thorpe Abbotts. Flying over 300 combat missions, the group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations. The group suffered tremendous losses in combat, with 177 aircraft missing in action, flying its last mission on 20 April 1945.
One of the wing's honors is that it is the only modern USAF operational wing allowed to display on its assigned aircraft the tail code of its World War II predecessor. The 379th Bomb Wing used its Triangle-K tail code until inactivated in 1993, but when reactivated as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing was assigned a rotating mix of flying squadrons who used their parent unit's tail code. The Triangle-K is retained as an unofficial unit insignia.
Units
USAFE's only Boeing KC-135R/T air refueling wing, it is responsible for U.S. aerial refueling operations conducted throughout the European theater. The unit supports some 16,000 personnel, including Third Air Force, four geographically separated units, and 15 associated units.100th Operations Group
100th Maintenance Group
- 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
- 100th Maintenance Squadron
- 100th Maintenance Operations Flight
- 100th Civil Engineer Squadron
- 100th Communications Squadron
- 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron
- 100th Security Forces Squadron
- 100th Force Support Squadron
History
World War II
On 1 June 1942, the Army Air Forces activated the 100th Bombardment Group and assigned it to III Bomber Command. The group remained unmanned until 27 October 1942, when a cadre for the unit was transferred from the 29th Bombardment Group to Gowen Field, Idaho. Within four days, on 1 November, the cadre moved to Walla Walla Army Air Base, Washington, where it received its first four aircrews and four B-17Fs from the Boeing factory in Seattle. Following this, the 100th BG relocated to Wendover Field, Utah, on 30 November where it added additional personnel, aircraft, and crews, and began bombing, gunnery, and navigation training.On New Year's Day, 1943, members of the fledgling group again transferred operations, this time to two bases. The aircraft and aircrews moved to Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, while the ground echelon went to Kearney Army Airfield, Nebraska. In both instances, members of the 100th BG assisted in air and ground training for other groups bound for overseas. In mid-April, the aircrew joined the ground echelon at Kearney and received new B-17s. After additional training, the group's aircrews departed Kearney on 25 May 1943, flying the North Atlantic route to England and into the war in Europe. Prior to the departure of aircraft and aircrews from Kearney, the 100th BG's ground echelon departed for the East Coast on 2 May 1943. On 27 May 1943, the ground personnel set sail aboard the bound for Podington, England, from New York. At Podington the ground crews rendezvoused with the air echelon, and together moved to RAF Thorpe Abbotts, Norfolk, where they remained throughout World War II, operating as a strategic bombardment organization.On 25 June 1943, the 100th BG flew its first Eighth Air Force combat mission, bombing the U-boat yards at Bremen – the beginning of the "Bloody Hundredth"'s legacy. The group focused its bombing attacks against German airfields, industrial plants, and naval facilities in France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, and Ukraine. The group inherited the "Bloody Hundredth" nickname from other bomb groups due to severe losses it took on several missions during summer and fall 1943. During one such raid on Münster on 10 October 1943, eighteen 100th BG aircraft were sent, of which five aborted and turned back before reaching the target. Twelve of the 13 aircraft that reached Münster were shot down; the only surviving 100th BG B-17 to reach Münster and return was the Royal Flush commanded for this mission by Robert Rosenthal; it returned to base seriously damaged and with several crewmen wounded. Only four of the original thirty-eight co-pilots assigned to the group completed their assigned twenty-five mission tour.In August 1943, the group received its first Distinguished Unit Citation after attacking the German aircraft factory at Regensburg on 17 August 1943, resulting in serious disruption to German fighter production. From January–May 1944, the 100th BG regularly bombed airfields, industries, marshaling yards, and V-weapon sites in Western Europe. In February 1944, the group participated in Operation Argument, the Allied attempt to force a decisive battle with the Luftwaffe and gain air superiority over Western Europe before the invasion of France. In March 1944, the 100th BG completed a succession of attacks on Berlin and received its second DUC of the war. On March 6, 1944 became known as “Black Monday”, due to 15 aircraft were shot down, meaning 150 men were lost and hundreds were wounded.
While bombing during the Oil Campaign of World War II as the summer of 1944 approached, the group also conducted interdictory missions, such as the June bombing of bridges and gun positions in support of the Invasion of Normandy. The next month saw aircrews bomb enemy positions at Saint-Lô, followed by similar attacks at Brest in August and September. In October 1944, the 100th BG attacked enemy defenses in the Allied drive on the Siegfried Line, then bombed marshaling yards, German occupied villages, and communication targets in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge from December 1944 to January 1945. For its extraordinary efforts in attacking heavily defended German installations in Germany and dropping supplies to the French Forces of the Interior from June through December 1944, the 100th BG received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm.
The 100th BG flew its last combat mission of World War II on 20 April 1945. The following month the unit's aircrews dropped food to the people in the west of the Netherlands, and in June transported French Allied former prisoners of war from Austria to France. In December 1945, the group returned to the U.S., where it inactivated at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, on 21 December 1945.
Cold War
On 29 May 1947, Headquarters Army Air Forces reactivated the 100th BG at Miami Army Air Field. From the time of its activation, the group trained and operated as a reserve B-29 Superfortress unit being attached to the 49th Bombardment Wing. It is not clear whether or not the unit was fully manned or equipped. It was inactivated on 27 June 1949 due to budget reductions.100th Bombardment Wing
The 100th Bombardment Wing, Medium was established on 23 March 1953 as part of Strategic Air Command, but the wing was not activated until 1 January 1956. The delay was due to construction at the unit's programmed base, Portsmouth Air Force Base, New Hampshire. Construction was completed in late 1955 and, when activated, the 100th BW was assigned to the Eighth Air Force 817th Air Division.The 100th Bomb Wing was assigned the new B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers in 1954, capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. The 100th Bomb Wing operated from Pease AFB for ten years. In official parlance, the establishment "...performed global strategic bombardment training and air refueling missions." One of the most significant overseas temporary duty assignments took place during the first four months of 1958, when the 100th participated in the last full wing B-47 deployment. During this time, the B-47s from New Hampshire operated from RAF Brize Norton, in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, overseas deployments involved the simultaneous participation of several bomb wings engaging in global strategic bombardment training and global air refueling with the Stratojet.
In the early 1960s, the B-47 was considered to be reaching obsolescence and was being phased out of SAC's strategic arsenal. In October 1965, the Air Force initiated Project Fast Fly to oversee the inactivation of the last five B-47 wings and supporting tanker squadrons. The 100th ARS retired its last tanker on 21 December 1965, when aircraft 53-0282 flew to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona. The following day, the 100th ARS inactivated. The 100th BW retained its ground alert commitment at Pease until 31 December 1965 and inactivated on 25 June 1966.
100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing
Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled units, most of which were inactive at the time, which could carry a lineage and history. On 11 February 1966, the 100th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing assumed the mission, equipment and personnel of the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing. The 349th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron took over the Lockheed U-2 aircraft of the 4028th SRS and the 350th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron took over the Ryan BQM-34 Firebee reconnaissance drones and Lockheed DC-130 launch aircraft of the 4025th SRS. The 4080th was a SAC MAJCOM wing, and its lineage terminated when it was discontinued and could not be continued by reactivation at a later date. The 100th SRW was now at Davis-Monthan AFB in Tucson, Arizona.After its reactivation, the 100th SRW performed strategic reconnaissance with the Lockheed U-2 and drone aircraft. On 11 July 1970, the force was moved from Bien Hoa to U-Tapao RTNAF and then turned to Thailand. Then after the move, in November 1972 they re-activated the 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron. In January 1973, the U-2s of the 99th SRS flew more than 500 combat hours. That was the first time any U-2 unit flew 500 hours in a single month. That was topped in December 1974 when they logged more than 600 hours. The 99th SRS deployed to forward operating locations as needed, earning the P.T. Cullen Award as the reconnaissance unit that contributed most to the photo and signal intelligence efforts of SAC in 1972. The U-2s were one of the last units to be pulled out of Thailand in March 1976,
With the end of United States combat operations in Southeast Asia in mid-1973, the Air Force formally transferred nuclear air sampling operations to the 100th SRW, and the 349th SRS converted its U-2s to the U-2R configuration for atmospheric sampling missions, replacing the WB-57s which it inherited from the 4028th SRS. The air sampling mission would be moved to Osan AB, South Korea, although the deployment of U-2Rs to Osan could not take place until overflight and basing arrangements were concluded with the governments of Japan and the Republic of Korea and hangar facilities made ready at Osan. Not until the Communist Chinese had actually exploded their sixteenth nuclear device on 17 June 1974, could Headquarters USAF announce that all negotiations were concluded. At the same time, it directed Headquarters SAC to deploy the 349th SRS "OLYMPIC RACE" assets to Osan and begin collecting from that location on 18 June 1974. The sampling mission continued at Osan, and the U-2s in South Korea became the 100th SRW OL-A.
In addition to the Drone and Air Sampling missions, the 100th SRW performed worldwide surveillance missions like the monitoring of the ceasefire between the Israelis and the Egyptians following the 1973 Yom Kippur War. This operation was operated from RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus and was named operation OLIVE HARVEST – Operating Location OL-OH.
A detachment also operated from McCoy AFB, Florida until that installation's closure in 1975, followed by a move to nearby Patrick AFB, Florida, designated Operating Location LF. These U-2s engaged in OLYMPIC FIRE missions over Cuba, which were coordinated with the Joint Air Reconnaissance Control Center at NAS Key West, Florida.