14 Tow Target Sq emblem (approved 6 February 1944)[1]
Military unit
The first predecessor of the 914th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron was organized in 1942 as the 8th Observation Squadron. It trained in the United States during World War II as a reconnaissance unit and then provided target support for antiaircraft units until being disbanded in 1944 during a general reorganization of Army Air Forces units in the United States. It was reactivated and deployed to the South West Pacific Theater of World War II and was inactivated in the Philippines in February 1946.
The two squadrons were consolidated in September 1985 but the consolidated squadron was not activated. In 2003 it was redesignated the 914th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, converted to provisional status, and assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed.
However, by 1944 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,[3] while the groups and squadrons acting as training units were disbanded or inactivated.[4] This resulted in the 14th, along with other units at Camp Davis, being disbanded in the spring of 1944[1] and being replaced by an AAF Base Unit which absorbed the squadron's mission, personnel, and equipment.[note 1][5]
The squadron was reconstituted in the fall of 1944 at McChord Field, Washington and equipped with North American B-25 Mitchell bombers modified to serve as target tugs.[1] Its personnel moved to Camp Stoneman, California in November and shipped out to the Pacific Theater of Operations on 12 December.[6] It arrived on Biak, an island north of New Guinea, on 6 January 1945, then moved to Nadzab Airfield on the main island,[note 2] where it began towing targets for artillery and air-to-air gunnery training.[1] The squadron moved to Clark Field on Luzon in the Philippines, where it continued its mission until December 1945.[6] It was inactivated on 1 February 1946.[1]
Cold War
The 914th Air Refueling Squadron was organized in October 1961 by Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Blytheville Air Force Base, Arkansas. The squadron was equipped with Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers and assigned to the 97th Bombardment Wing as part of SAC's plan to disperse its Boeing B-52 Stratofortress units to make it more difficult for the Soviet Union to destroy the entire fleet with a first strike.[7] The 914th ARS received its first KC-135A on 17 January 1962. The aircraft was named Arkansas Traveler, after the Arkansas folklore character.[8] The squadron's mission was to provide air refueling to the B-52s of its parent wing and other USAF units 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 for the Cuban Missile Crisis.[9] The 914th ARS received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for its work during and after the crisis.[10] The squadron trained for this mission until inactivation.[11] The 914th ARS was inactivated in October 1964 to make way for the 97th Air Refueling Squadron, which was transferred from Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana to take over refueling duties for the 97th Wing.[12]
The 14th Tow Target Squadron was consolidated with the 914th Air Refueling Squadron in September 1985 but the consolidated squadron has not been active since.[13]
On 27 March 2003 the squadron was converted to provisional status as the 914th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron and assigned to Air Mobility Command to activate or inactivate as needed for contingency operations.[13]
Lineage
14th Tow Target Squadron
Constituted as the 8th Observation Squadron (Special) on 28 January 1942
Activated on 3 February 1942
Redesignated the 14th Tow Target Squadron on 12 December 1942
^Muller, Robert (1982). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. Office of Air Force History. p. 38. ISBN0-912799-53-6.
Goss, William A (1955). "The Organization and its Responsibilities, Chapter 2 The AAF". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VI, Men & Planes. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. LCCN48003657. OCLC704158.
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