Heavy bomber training The first predecessor of the squadron was the
542d Bombardment Squadron, which was activated at
Salt Lake City Army Air Base, Utah as one of the four original squadrons of the
383d Bombardment Group. Its
cadre moved to
Rapid City Army Air Base a little over a week later, where it began to equip as a
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Operational Training Unit (OTU) the following year. OTUs were oversized parent units that provided cadres to "satellite groups" In October 1943, the squadron moved to
Peterson Field, Colorado, where it flew
Consolidated B-24 Liberator and changed its mission to become a
Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Like OTUs, RTUs were oversized units, but their mission was to train individual
aircrews. As a result, the 383d Group, its elements and supporting units were inactivated or disbanded and the squadron frequently deployed its tankers to forward locations, or deployed as a squadron , placing it ahead of the faster
Boeing B-47 Stratojets it would refuel, and on their programmed route. It deployed to
Thule Air Base, Greenland;
Sidi Slimane Air Base, French Morocco; and
Ernest Harmon and
Goose Air Bases, Labrador. In June 1958, squadron planes began standing
alert. Starting in 1960, one third of the squadron's aircraft were maintained on fifteen minute alert, fully fueled to reduce vulnerability to a Soviet missile strike. This was increased to half the squadron's aircraft in 1962.
Cuban Missile Crisis Soon after detection of Soviet missiles in Cuba, On 22 October 1962, 1/8 of SAC's B-52s were placed on airborne alert. SAC placed additional KC-135s on alert to replace KC-135s devoted to maintaining the B-52 bomber force on airborne alert. On 24 October SAC went to
DEFCON 2, placing all aircraft on alert. Forward tankers at Loring were organized as a tanker task force. Tanker crews from the 42d flew 214 air refueling missions during the crisis.
Refueling support in Southeast Asia and elsewhere In 1965, the squadron began to deploy aircraft and aircrew support for
Operation Young Tiger operations in Southeast Asia. This support for other units refueling combat operations in Southeast Asia continued until 1975. On 5 September 1983, members of the 42d escorted a flight of
McDonnell F-4E Phantom IIs deploying across the Atlantic to a base in Germany. One of the Phantoms experienced failure of one engine, and its second engine began to overheat. It was diverted to
Gander Airport, Newfoundland, but could not maintain level flight. Crew E-113 managed to connect its boom to the Phantom's refueling receptacle and literally tow the fighter back up to 10,000 feet above sea level. The refueling was further complicated by the partial loss of hydraulics by the fighter, which caused it to fly while
yawing. The tanker refueled the fighter four times at speeds one hundred knots slower than normal refueling speed, with both planes near their stalling speed. For its actions, crew E-113 received the
Mackay Trophy from the
National Aeronautic Association for the most meritorious flight of the year, and the Kalberer Trophy for the "Most Outstanding Single Feat of Military Airmanship" by a SAC crew. In 1989, the squadron provided crews and tankers to support
Operation Just Cause, the incursion into Panama to replace
Manuel Noriega's government. The squadron provided this support while converting from the KC-135A to the KC-135R. The first "R" model KC-135 arrived in May 1989, but the full conversion took around 12 months. During
Desert Shield and Desert Storm, the squadron deployed aircrew and tankers to
Lajes Air Base, Azores, where it provided all aircrew and aircraft for the first three weeks of the operation. It also deployed personnel to France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Diego Garcia. In September 1991, SAC implemented the Air Force's Objective Wing organization and the squadron was assigned to the newly-formed 42d Operations Group. This assignment would last less than two years. After SAC was disestablished in 1992,
Air Mobility Command assumed air refueling operations and the squadron was reassigned to the
380th Operations Group. However, the
1991 Base Realignment and Closure Commission had recommended the closure of Loring. The last KC-135R left Loring on 2 March 1994, and the squadron inactivated on 30 April. ==Lineage==