923d Expeditionary Air Refueling Flight

The squadron was first activated during World War II as the 23d Air Corps Ferrying Squadron at Morrison Field, Florida in 1942. The squadron ferried aircraft between Florida and points in western Africa. From 1943, the unit then focused on the air transportation mission as the 23d Transport Squadron. Although the squadron was stationed at Morrison, its personnel were also used to man other stations of the Caribbean Wing. After a little more than a year of trying to use traditional Table of Organization units like the 23d, Air Transport Command (ATC) found them too inflexible for its operations. It, therefore, decided to replace its groups and squadrons and assign personnel directly to each of its stations, based on the needs of the station.[1] Accordingly, in October 1943 the squadron and its parent group were disbanded as ATC combined its units at Morrison into Station 11, Caribbean Wing, Air Transport Command.

MATS C-54 Skymaster

The squadron was reactivated in March 1954 at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina as the 23d Air Transport Squadron[2] with the responsibility of transporting personnel, materiel, mail and other strategic cargo for the Army, Navy and civilian agencies. The squadron was assigned to the 1608th Air Transport Group, which had been activated two months earlier. However, shortages of personnel and equipment delayed the group from reaching operational status upon activation.[3] The squadron operated Douglas C-54 Skymaster aircraft, flying missions to Europe and North Africa until inactivating in July 1955.[4]

The 923d Air Refueling Squadron was activated on 1 May 1960 by Strategic Air Command (SAC) at K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan, where it was assigned to the 4042d Strategic Wing.[5] The 4042d 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.[6] SAC bases with large concentrations of bombers made attractive targets. SAC's response was to break up its wings and scatter their aircraft over a larger number of bases.[7] The squadron was initially nominally manned, but it received its first Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker on 5 August.[8]

The squadron provided air refueling support to USAF units as directed.[note 1] The squadron became fully operationally ready by March 1961 and 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.[9][10]

The squadron inactivated a little less than a year after being activated when its personnel, equipment and aircraft were transferred to the 46th Air Refueling Squadron.[11] In 1985 the 23d Air Transport Squadron and the 923d Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated into a single unit.[12] In 2004, the squadron was redesignated the 923d Expeditionary Air Refueling Flight and assigned to Air Mobility Command as a provisional unit to activate or inactivate as needed.

• 15th Ferrying Group (later 15th Transport Group): 21 July 1942 – 13 October 1943
• 1608th Air Transport Group: 8 March 1954 – 1 July 1955[2]
• 4042d Strategic Wing: 1 May 1960 – 1 April 1961[5]

• Morrison Field, Florida, 3 April 1942 – 13 October 1943
• Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, 8 March 1954 – 18 March 1955[13]
• K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan, 1 December 1959 – 30 September 1975[14]

• Douglas C-54 Skymaster, 1954–1958
• Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker, 1960–1961

Explanatory notes

Footnotes

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

• Carter, John D (1958). "The Air Transport Command". In Craven, Wesley F; Cate, James L (eds.). The Army Air Forces in World War II. Vol. VII, Services Around the World. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. OCLC 704158.
• Knaack, Marcelle Size (1988). Encyclopedia of US Air Force Aircraft and Missile Systems. Vol. 2, Post-World War II Bombers 1945–1973. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-59-5.
• 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.