World War I The 911th Air Refueling Squadron traces its origins to early May 1917 when newly arrived recruits arrived at
Kelly Field, Texas and were formed into
1st Company "B", 1st Regiment, Kelly Field. On 15 May these recruits became the
16th Aero Squadron. However, on 13 June it was redesignated as the
21st Aero Squadron. When the first soldiers arrived at Kelly, there were no tents or cots for them so they slept on the ground. When the first tents arrived, the men were assigned locations for them and pitched them. The men received their indoctrination into the Army as soldiers, standing guard duty and other rudimentary duties. The lack of sanitary facilities and of uniforms meant most men worked in the civilian clothing they arrived in. They slept in them without bathing until latrines and washing facilities were constructed. The men dug ditches for water mains and erected wooden buildings for barracks. On 4 August, the squadron was ordered to proceed to
Scott Field, near Belleville, Illinois, arriving on the 11th. There the squadron worked with the
11th Aero Squadron, preparing the field for training. Training was received in various aircraft engines, and the men were classified as mechanics. The 21st Aero Squadron itself was demobilized on 14 April.
Inter-war years On 24 March 1923, the 21st Aero Squadron was reconstituted as the
21st Observation Squadron of the
United States Army Air Service. The Army activated the unit as a "Regular Army Inactive" squadron, It was assigned to the
9th Observation Group in the
Sixth Corps Area. The 21st's designated Active Associate unit was the
15th Observation Squadron, at
Chanute Field, Illinois, which was also its designated mobilization station. In 1927 it was withdrawn from the Sixth Corps Area and reassigned to the
Fourth Corps Area. Its designated mobilization station during this period was
Carlstrom Field, Florida, a training field. In 1928, it was moved to the
Eighth Corps Area at
Dodd Field, Texas, which was also designated as its mobilization station. It was not organized at Dodd and it was disbanded on 1 October 1933. The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide
cadres to "satellite groups" prior to their deployment overseas. In 1943, the squadron became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). while the groups and squadrons acting as RTUs were disbanded or inactivated. This resulted in the 411th, along with other units at Gowen, being inactivated in April 1944
B-29 Superfortress operations against Japan The 411th Bombardment Squadron was activated the same day as a
Boeing B-29 Superfortress squadron at
Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas. However, a little over a month later, it was inactivated again The squadron was activated again on 1 June 1944 In September, the air echelon deployed to
Orlando Army Air Base in Florida for a concentrated course on very heavy bombardment tactics, while the ground echelon preceded it to its new training base at
Grand Island Army Air Field, Nebraska where the squadron prepared for overseas deployment. After completing training the squadron deployed to the central Pacific and became part of
XXI Bomber Command at
Northwest Field (Guam) for operational missions. The mission of the squadron was the strategic bombardment of the
Japanese Home Islands. It entered combat on 30 June 1945 with a bombing raid against enemy installations on
Rota. It bombed
Truk in early July. and afterwards operated principally against the enemy's petroleum industry. The squadron earned a
Distinguished Unit Citation for August 1945 attacks on the
coal liquefaction plant at
Ube, a
tank farm at
Amagasaki and the
Nippon Oil refinery at
Tsuchizaki. The wing was equipped with the B-52G. The squadron flew worldwide training missions with the KC-135s. In early 1960, the 4241st wing deployed its operational squadrons during the reconstruction of the Seymour Johnson runway and main taxiway. During this time the 911th operated from
Goose Air Base in Labrador, Canada. That summer, the squadron supported the deployment of
Nineteenth Air Force from Seymour Johnson to
Clark Air Base, Philippines in Exercise Mobile Yoke. In 1961 a crew from the squadron was named the top refueling crew in SAC during the annual combat competition. The squadron transferred to the
68th Bombardment Wing in April 1963 when SAC replaced its Major Command controlled MAJCON strategic wings with wings carrying the honors of
World War II organizations. The squadron periodically deployed to support the
Eielson and
Spanish Tanker Task Forces. Beginning on 1 May 1972, the 911th deployed to
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam and was attached to the Strategic Wing, Provisional, 72. Its mission was to support B-52 long-range air strikes over
Southeast Asia with air refueling. It remained at Andersen supporting that mission until withdrawn in July 1973, returning to Seymour Johnson. It operated from 31 December 1990 until March 1991 from its forward deployed base, then returned to Seymour Johnson. The squadron's KC-10s were left behind and transferred to the newly activated
711th Air Refueling Squadron and the 911th converted to the KC-135R Stratotanker. In 1997 members of the squadron deployed to
Incirlik Air Base, Turkey to support
Operation Northern Watch the Southwest Asia Task Force operation to monitor and control airspace in northern Iraq. From June through August 2000 the squadron moved its operations to
MacDill Air Force Base, Florida while the runways at Grand Forks were being repaired. After 11 September 2001 attacks, the 911th contributed personnel and aircraft to the
319th Air Expeditionary Group. It was deployed to a makeshift tent city somewhere in the arid desert of Southwest Asia. From the start of air operations over Afghanistan 7 October to 2 November 2001 the 319th had flown over 150 sorties and more than 1050 hours; pumping over 1.4 million US gallons (5,300 m3) of gas into more than 450 planes. The squadron remained in a partially deployed state, supporting
Operation Enduring Freedom and
Operation Iraqi Freedom throughout the 2000s. Implementing the recommendations of the
2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, the 911th was inactivated on 30 June 2007.
Associate unit The 911th Air Refueling Squadron was reactivated on 12 April 2008 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base as a geographically separated unit, the second KC-135 squadron of the
6th Air Mobility Wing at
MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. With its return to its long-time base at Seymour Johnson, the squadron became an "Active Associate" unit, partnering with the
Air Force Reserve Command's
77th Air Refueling Squadron of the
916th Air Refueling Wing. The 911th was the first tanker active associate unit to be formed In July 2020, the squadron was withdrawn from its associate status with the now-redesignated
6th Air Refueling Wing, transitioned to the
KC-46A Pegasus, and was assigned to the
305th Operations Group at
McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey while remaining a geographically separated unit status at Seymour Johnson AFB, flying Air Force Reserve KC-46s assigned to the 916 ARW. ==Lineage==