911th Air Refueling Squadron
The 911th Air Refueling Squadron is part of the 305th Operations Group, and is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina. The squadron was the Air Force's first active duty squadron under the command of a reserve wing. In October 2016, the 911th, formerly geographically separated from the 6th Air Mobility Wing at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida and operated as the active duty associate to the 916th Air Refueling Wing, became the first "I-Wing" or Integrated Wing. In July 2020, it was reassigned to the 305th Operations Group at the McGuire AFB entity of Joint Base McGuire–Dix–Lakehurst, New Jersey.
The squadron is one of the oldest in the United States Air Force. Its origins date to 15 May 1917, when it was organized at Kelly Field, Texas. The 21st Aero Squadron served in France as part of the 3d Aviation Instruction Center, American Expeditionary Forces, as a pilot training squadron during World War I.
The squadron was activated as the 21st Observation Squadron in 1923, but received few, if any, personnel before being disbanded in 1933. In 1935 a new 21st Observation Squadron was organized at Langley Field, Virginia. In 1939, it moved to Florida and began to fly Neutrality Patrol missions over the adjacent waters.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor it flew antisubmarine patrols in the Gulf of Mexico and off the Atlantic Coast. It then became a heavy bomber training unit until 1999. In 1944 it converted to Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and saw combat in the Pacific during World War II, where it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions during the strategic bombing campaign against Japan.
It became part of Strategic Air Command during the Cold War, maintaining a portion of its strength on alert. It frequently deployed a portion of the unit to support SAC operations, including combat operations in Southeast Asia. Members of the squadron participated Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. In 1991 it transferred to Air Combat Command as the United States Air Force reassigned and combined units to maintain a single wing on each base. It continued to support contingency operations after transferring to Air Mobility Command until it was inactivated in 2007.
Today, the squadron operates the Boeing KC-46 "Pegasus" aircraft conducting air refueling missions worldwide as an active component of the Air Force's first Integrated Wing, flying the aircraft of the reserve 916th Air Refueling Wing.
History
World War I
The 911th Air Refueling Squadron traces its origins to early May 1917 when newly arrived recruits arrived at Kelly Field, Texas and were formed into 1st Company "B", 1st Regiment, Kelly Field. On 15 May these recruits became the 16th Aero Squadron. However, on 13 June it was redesignated as the 21st Aero Squadron.When the first soldiers arrived at Kelly, there were no tents or cots for them so they slept on the ground. When the first tents arrived, the men were assigned locations for them and pitched them. The men received their indoctrination into the Army as soldiers, standing guard duty and other rudimentary duties. The lack of sanitary facilities and of uniforms meant most men worked in the civilian clothing they arrived in. They slept in them without bathing until latrines and washing facilities were constructed. The men dug ditches for water mains and erected wooden buildings for barracks. On 4 August, the squadron was ordered to proceed to Scott Field, near Belleville, Illinois, arriving on the 11th. There the squadron worked with the 11th Aero Squadron, preparing the field for training. Training was received in various aircraft engines, and the men were classified as mechanics.
In November the squadron received orders for overseas duty. However, an epidemic of sickness put the 21st into quarantine status. It remained quarantined until 21 December when it was cleared by the medical department to move to the Aviation Concentration Center, Garden City, Long Island, arriving on the 23d. It was not long before the squadron was ordered to proceed to the New York Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey, where the squadron sailed for France on 4 January 1918, arriving at Saint-Nazaire on the 17th. After a few days at a rest camp, it traveled by train to the Air Service Replacement Concentration Center, located at the St. Maixent Replacement Barracks, arriving on 23 January. The 21st was classified as a school squadron, and was ordered to proceed to the 3d Aviation Instructional Center at Issoudun Aerodrome. It arrived at Issoudun on 21 February.
3d Aviation Instruction Center
The 3d Aviation Instruction Center was established by the Training Section, American Expeditionary Forces to train pursuit pilots prior to their assignment to combat on the front. The 21st Aero Squadron, was assigned to Issoudun Field #7, where Nieuport 28 aircraft were used for formation flying training. On 18 March, it moved to the main camp, where Fields #1, #2 and #3 were used for initial training in Nieuport 15s and 18s and 21s. When additional squadrons of mechanics arrived, the 21st concentrated at Field #3 and on maintaining the school's Nieuport 21s. The field strength grew until nearly 100 airplanes were in use, with solo flying, cross-country flying, and basic aerobatics being taught. The squadron handled all of these. The 21st's efficiency was commented on by the post commander when a record was established with 69 launches on one day, with several hundred hours of flying recorded.Training was given to many members of the pursuit squadrons of the First Army Air Service as they arrived in France; and beginning in August 1918, to new pilots for the planned Second Army Air Service as they began to arrive for training.At the time of the Armistice on 11 November, the men of the 21st Aero Squadron remained on duty completing the training of the pilots assigned to Field #3. Although it did not enter combat, the unit trained the men who went to the front and gave them the best of training so they might accomplish their work.
Demobilization
The AEF was notoriously slow in returning men to the United States after the end of hostilities, and men who served on the front had priority over those who served in the rear areas. The 21st, therefore, remained at Issoudun until January 1919 when orders were received to proceed to the 1st Air Depot, Colombey-les-Belles Airdrome, France, for demobilization. From Colombey, the squadron moved to a staging camp under the Services of Supply at Bordeaux, waiting for a date to board a troop ship for transportation home. On 18 March, the squadron boarded a troop ship, arriving in New York on 5 April. From there, the 21st moved to Hazelhurst Field, New York where the men were demobilized and returned to civilian life. The 21st Aero Squadron itself was demobilized on 14 April.Inter-war years
On 24 March 1923, the 21st Aero Squadron was reconstituted as the 21st Observation Squadron of the United States Army Air Service. The Army activated the unit as a "Regular Army Inactive" squadron, meaning that although it was a Regular Army unit, it was manned with reserve personnel. It was assigned to the 9th Observation Group in the Sixth Corps Area. The 21st's designated Active Associate unit was the 15th Observation Squadron, at Chanute Field, Illinois, which was also its designated mobilization station. In 1927 it was withdrawn from the Sixth Corps Area and reassigned to the Fourth Corps Area. Its designated mobilization station during this period was Carlstrom Field, Florida, a training field. In 1928, it was moved to the Eighth Corps Area at Dodd Field, Texas, which was also designated as its mobilization station. It was not organized at Dodd and it was disbanded on 1 October 1933.The 21st Observation Squadron was activated on 1 March 1935 at Bolling Field, District of Columbia and was assigned to the 2d Wing. In 1936 it was consolidated with the earlier 21st Observation Squadron. The 21st Observation Squadron flew light reconnaissance aircraft in support of Army maneuvers primarily in northern Virginia. The squadron operated land-based aircraft as well as amphibian seaplanes using the Potomac River for landings and takeoffs. In 1936 it moved to Langley Field, Virginia and was equipped with heavier attack aircraft as well as medium bombers.
The squadron was redesignated a long range reconnaissance squadron and received early model Boeing B-17C/D Flying Fortresses and Douglas B-18 Bolos in 1939. It moved to the 36th Street Airport, Miami, Florida, where it was attached to the Navy and began to fly Neutrality Patrol, sea search, and weather reconnaissance missions. It operated from several locations along the Atlantic Coast, flying coastal patrol missions. On 3 September 1941 it was attached to the 29th Bombardment Group at MacDill Field, Florida, flying antisubmarine patrols from various locations in south Florida over the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida Straits along the Atlantic Coast.
World War II
Heavy Bomber training
After the attack on Pearl Harbor the squadron remained in south Florida flying antisubmarine patrols against any German U-boats approaching the United States coast.On 1 February 1942, the 21st was finally assigned to the 29th Bombardment Group. In June 1942, I Bomber Command took over the antisubmarine mission and the 21st became part of II Bomber Command. It was redesignated as the 411th Bombardment Squadron and moved to Gowen Field, Idaho. At Gowen, the squadron was an Operational Training Unit, first with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and, after 1943, with Consolidated B-24 Liberators.
The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups" prior to their deployment overseas. In 1943, the squadron became a Replacement Training Unit. The RTU was also an oversized unit. but if focused on training individual pilots or aircrews. However, the 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, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, while the groups and squadrons acting as RTUs were disbanded or inactivated. This resulted in the 411th, along with other units at Gowen, being inactivated in April 1944 and being replaced by the 212th Army Air Forces Base Unit.