341st Air Refueling Squadron

World War II The 641st Bombardment Squadron was activated in June 1943 at Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma The squadron trained under Third Air Force in Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana with Douglas A-20 Havoc light bombardment aircraft. After completing training with the 93d Bombardment Wing at Castle, the squadron moved to its permanent home at Dow Air Force Base, Maine where it was assigned to the 4060th Air Refueling Wing. The squadron mission was to provide air refueling for Strategic Air Command (SAC) units. The squadron flew KC-97F and KC-97G Stratofreighters from activation in 1955 until it was discontinued in 1963. The 341st provided refueling support for SAC wings deploying and redeploying from Europe and North Africa during Operation Reflex. It also deployed to locations such as Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland and Thule Air Base, Greenland. In 1960 the squadron transferred to the 4038th Strategic Wing, which replaced the 4060th wing at Dow as part of a SAC 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. During October and November 1962 the 341st temporarily curtailed training and assumed an increased alert posture in response to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The squadron became non-operational on 15 July 1963 and was inactivated on 1 September as part of the phaseout of the KC-97 from SAC. The 641st Bombardment Squadron and the 341st Air Refueling Squadron were consolidated into a single unit on 19 September 1985 but the consolidated squadron has not been active. In 2001, the squadron was converted to provisional status as the 341st Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron. ==Lineage==