The 407th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 42nd Bombardment Wing at Loring Air Force Base, Maine, where it was inactivated on 1 October 1990.
The first predecessor of the squadron was activated as the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron in March 1942. It was redesignated the 407th Bombardment Squadron the following month. After participating in the antisubmarine campaign while training, it moved to the United Kingdom in August 1942, where it became a training unit for heavy bombers. From May 1943, it participated in the strategic bombing campaign against Germany. It earned two Distinguished Unit Citation for its actions. After V-E Day, it moved to France, performing airlift missions until it was inactivated in 1946.
The squadron's second predecessor, the 407th Air Refueling Squadron, was activated in 1953 and supported Strategic Air Command's (SAC) fighters until they were transferred to Tactical Air Command, then primarily SAC bomber units until inactivating in 1961. It was activated again in 1962 with jet tankers. The squadron deployed aircrews and aircraft to support the war in Southeast Asia from the late 1960s until 1975. The two units were consolidated in 1985.
History
World War II
Initial organization and training
The squadron's first predecessor was activated at Barksdale Field, Louisiana on 1 March 1942, as the 17th Reconnaissance Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 92nd Bombardment Group. Manned like the three bombardment squadrons of the group, it was designated for the long range reconnaissance mission. Since a reorganization of General Headquarters Air Force in September 1936, each bombardment group of the Army Air Forces (AAF) had an assigned or attached reconnaissance squadron, which operated the same aircraft as that group's assigned bombardment squadrons. That arrangement continued for units that were designated as heavy units.
Later that month it moved to MacDill Field, Florida and trained with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses. While training in Florida, the squadron also flew antisubmarine patrols off the Florida coast. While at MacDill, its distinction from the group's other squadrons ended, and in April, it became the 407th Bombardment Squadron. The air echelon departed Sarasota Army Air Field for Westover Field, Massachusetts on 19 June 1942, flying on to Dow Field, Maine on 29 June. The squadron then ferried their B-17s across the North Atlantic via Newfoundland starting between 12 and 15 August. They flew directly from Newfoundland to Prestwick Airport, Scotland. The 92nd Group was the first to fly their bombers non-stop across the Atlantic. The 407th was the last of the group's squadrons to complete the move, with its last plane arriving at RAF Bovingdon on 28 August. Meanwhile, the ground echelon left Bradenton on 18 July, arriving at Fort Dix, New Jersey in the New York Port of Embarkation two days later. It sailed aboard the on 2 August and docked at Liverpool on 18 August, moving to Bovingdon the same day.
Operations in the European Theater
The buildup of Eighth Air Force in England required the establishment of a combat crew replacement and training center, but a lack of qualified personnel and aircraft hampered its development. As a result, the decision was made to use the 92nd Group and its squadrons as a temporary crew training unit, acting as the main component of what became the 11th Combat Crew Replacement Center Group. However, the 92d was the first group to arrive in England with improved B-17Fs, and with the training mission came an exchange of these newer models for the older B-17Es of the 97th Bombardment Group to use in training. On 6 September, to provide the squadron with combat experience, it flew its first combat mission against the Potez aircraft factory at Meaulte, France. Although remaining a replacement crew training unit until May 1943, the squadron initially flew occasional combat missions. In January 1943, he squadron moved to RAF Alconbury.
In May 1943, the squadron's training mission was transferred and the 407th began flying combat missions. Through May 1944 its targets included shipyards at Kiel, ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt, submarine pens at Wilhelmshaven, a tire manufacturing plant at Hannover, airfields near Paris, an aircraft factory at Nantes and a magnesium mine in Norway.