380th Air Refueling Squadron

The earliest predecessor of the squadron was the 580th Bombardment Squadron, which was activated in early 1943 as one of the original squadrons of the 393d Bombardment Group.[1][2] The squadron served as a training unit until it was disbanded in 1944.[2]

KC-97 refueling B-47 Stratojet

The 380th Air Refueling Squadron was first activated in the summer of 1954 at Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska. It moved to Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York in 1956 with Boeing KC-97 Stratotankers providing air refueling to SAC B-47s and other USAF aircraft as directed. It converted to jet-powered Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers in 1964. In 1985 the two squadrons were consolidated.[3] The squadron deployed aircraft and personnel to forward SAC provisional units in Western Pacific during the Vietnam War.

During the summer of 1988, aircrew from both the 380 AREFS and 310 AREFS of the 380th Bomb Wing deployed for the first time since World War II to Hunter Army Airfield, GA. For this deployment over 300 men and women deployed to their forward operating base in support of "Mighty Warrior 1988", a SAC wide exercise held to prepare and demonstrate the various SAC wings ability to carry out their respective missions under austere conditions.

The unit deployed aircraft and personnel to 1703d Air Refueling Wing, Provisional at King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between September 1990 and March 1991 during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. The squadron remained on duty until shutdown of Plattsburgh and inactivation of parent 380th Bombardment Wing in 1994.

• 393d Bombardment Group: 16 February 1943 – 1 April 1944[2]
• Fifteenth Air Force: 8 July 1964 (attached to 98th Air Base Group)
• 98th Bombardment Wing: 1 August 1954[4]
• Eighth Air Force: 8 November 1954 (attached to 96th Bombardment Wing)[5]
• Second Air Force: 1 April 1955
• 380th Bombardment Wing: 16 August 1956[6]
• 4108th Air Refueling Wing: 1 April 1961
• 497th Air Refueling Wing, 1 January 1963[7]
• 380th Bombardment Wing: 15 September 1964[6]
• 380th Operations Group: 1 September 1991 – 1 October 1994

• Geiger Field, Washington, 26 January 1943
• Gowen Field, Idaho, 3 March 1943
• Wendover Field, Utah, 3 April 1943
• Sioux City Army Air Base. 9 June 1943
• Watertown Army Air Field, South Dakota, 4 July 1943
• Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska, 1 August 1943
• Sioux City Army Air Base, Iowa, ca. 5 November 1943 – 1 April 1944[2]
• Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska, 8 November 1954
• Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, 8 November 1954[8]
• Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York, 16 August 1956[9] – 1 October 1994

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, 1943–1944
• Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker, 1956–1964
• Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, 1964–1995

• Lt Col John Gentry, 1986-1988
• Lt Col Paul Gutman, 1989-1990
• Lt Col Ken Mills, 1990 - 1992

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Mueller, Robert (1989). Air Force Bases, Vol. I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982 (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.