The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 600th Bombardment Squadron. The squadron saw combat in the European Theater of Operations with Eighth Air Force and returned to the United States, where it was inactivated in the fall of 1945.
The squadron was activated again under Strategic Air Command in 1962 as the 900th Air Refueling Squadron. It maintained aircraft on alert at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas and deployed aircraft and crews to support Operation Arc Light and Operation Young Tiger in Southeast Asia. It was inactivated in 1966.
In 1985, the two squadrons were consolidated, but remained inactive until activated as the 900th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron.
History
World War II
398th Bombardment Group B-17s on a bombing run to Neumünster, Germany
The 600th Bombardment Squadron was activated at Ephrata Army Air Base, Washington in early 1943 as one of the four original squadrons of the 398th Bombardment Group.[1][3] The squadron trained under II Bomber Command with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses.[1] The squadron's training was interrupted in July 1943, when it became a Replacement Training Unit.[3] Replacement training units were oversized units which trained aircrews prior to their deployment to combat theaters.[4] In November, replacement training ended and the squadron resumed its preparation for overseas deployment.[3]
In June 1944, prior to Operation Overlord, the Normandy invasion, the squadron temporarily suspended its strategic bombing to attack coastal defenses and enemy troop concentrations on the Cherbourg peninsula.[3]Eighth Air Force took advantage of the diversion from strategic bombing to allow newly arrived units like the 600th to fly attacks against nearby targets to gain combat experience. The first target assigned was a V-1 flying bomb launch site near Sottevast, but the unit's inexperience and overcast conditions in the target area caused it to return to its home station without bombing.[6]
The squadron also struck gun positions near Eindhoven to support Operation Market Garden, the airborne attacks in the Netherlands, in September and attacked power stations, railroads and bridges during the Battle of the Bulge from December until January 1945. It attacked airfields in March 1945 during Operation Varsity, the airborne assault across the Rhine River.[3]
The squadron flew its last combat mission on 25 April 1945 when it attacked the airfield at Plzeň, Czechoslovakia. After the German surrender it transported liberated prisoners of war from Germany to France.[3] It left Europe in May and returned to the United States aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth, arriving at the New York Port of Embarkation on 29 June.[5] Squadron members were given thirty days leave, and a cadre assembled at Drew Field, Florida, where the squadron was inactivated in August 1945.[1][5]
Cold War
KC-135 as flown by the 900th Air Refueling Squadron
The 900th Air Refueling Squadron was established under Strategic Air Command (SAC) on 9 April 1962 and organized on 1 October at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas,[7] where it was assigned to the 4245th Strategic Wing and equipped with Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers.[8] The 4345th wing was established by SAC in a program to disperse its Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike.[9] The squadron provided air refueling primarily to the B-52s of the 4245th wing. Half of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled and ready for combat.[10] The 4245th (and later the 494th) continued to maintain an alert commitment until shortly before inactivation in 1966.
In February 1963, The 494th Bombardment Wing assumed the aircraft, personnel and equipment of the discontinued 4245th wing. The 4245th was a Major Command controlled (MAJCON) wing, which could not carry a permanent history or lineage,[11] and SAC wanted to replace it with a permanent unit. The 900th was assigned to the newly activated 494th wing.[12] In 1966 the squadron deployed aircraft and aircrews to the Pacific to support Operation Arc Light and Operation Young Tiger.[13]
In April 1966 the 494th wing was discontinued[12] as SAC began to retire its older B-52s and withdraw its forces from areas far from the borders of the United States. As a result, the 900th left Sheppard for Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire,[14][15] where it was reassigned by SAC to the 509th Bombardment Wing, which had disposed of its Boeing B-47 Stratojets and was converting to B-52s.[16] The 900th was inactivated on 25 June 1966 and its mission, personnel and equipment were reassigned to the 34th Air Refueling Squadron, which moved on paper to Pease from Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.[15][17]
In September 1985, the 600th Bombardment Squadron and the 900th Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated into a single unit, but remained inactive.[18]
Provisional unit
Patch used by Kansas ANG deployed to 900th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron
^Approved 20 January 1944. Description: Over and through a light turquoise blue disc, "Daffy Duck" in flight, dark gray, bill, feet, and band around neck yellow, riding a dark red aerial bomb, shaded black palewise, all beneath a white cloud formation in chief and emitting black speed lines to rear.
^ abcDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 September 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons
^From September to December the squadron was commanded by Major Michael V. Krueger
Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L, eds. (1955). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN48-3657.
Freeman, Roger A. (1970). The Mighty Eighth: Units, Men and Machines (A History of the US 8th Army Air Force). London, England, UK: Macdonald and Company. ISBN978-0-87938-638-2.
Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). A Guide to Air Force Lineage and Honors (2d, Revised ed.). Maxwell AFB, AL: USAF Historical Research Center.
Watkins, Robert (2008). Battle Colors: Insignia and Markings of the Eighth Air Force in World War II. Vol. I (VIII) Bomber Command. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-1987-7.
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