508th Air Refueling Squadron

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The squadron's first predecessor was the 608th Bombardment Squadron, which was activated at Pyote Army Air Base, Texas on 1 March 1943, but made four moves before the end of the year. The squadron was one of the four original squadrons of the 400th Bombardment Group. It served as an Operational Training Unit (OTU) for Consolidated B-24 Liberator units until December.Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 683Maurer, Combat Units, p. 285 The OTU program involved the use of an oversized parent unit to provide cadres to "satellite groups"Craven & Cate, Introduction, p. xxxvi

In December, the squadron moved to Charleston Army Air Base, South Carolina, where it became a Replacement Training Unit (RTU). Like OTUs, RTUs were oversize units, however their mission was to train individual pilots and aircrews. With this mission change, the 400th Group and its components were reassigned from Second Air Force to First Air Force.

However, the Army Air Forces was finding that standard military units like the 605th, which were assigned personnel and equipment based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were not proving well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, which was manned and equipped based on the station's requirements.Goss, p. 75 The 608th Squadron was disbanded, and along with operational and supporting units at Charleston was used to form the 113th AAF Base Unit (Bombardment (Heavy)).See Mueller, p. 89 (showing simultaneous disbanding and organization of units).

The squadron was established in 1953 to provide strategic air refueling for the 508th Strategic Fighter Wing. In 1956, the 508th Wing was inactivated and the squadron transferred to SAC's other fighter wing at Turner, the 31st Strategic Fighter Wing. In April 1957, the 31st Wing transferred to Tactical Air Command, which moved the 431st Air Refueling Squadron to Turner. The 508th began transferring its planes to the 431st as it prepared for it inactivation in July.{{cite web |url= http://www.airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/465/124.xml |title=Abstract, History 40 Air Division Jan 1957|publisher=Air Force History Index|access-date=26 October 2015}}

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608th Bombardment Squadron

• Constituted as the 608th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) on 15 February 1943

: Activated on 1 March 1943

• Disbanded on 10 April 1944
• Reconstituted on 19 September 1985 and consolidated with the 508th Air Refueling Squadron as the 508th Air Refueling SquadronDepartment of the Air Force/MPM Letter 662q, 19 Sep 85, Subject: Reconstitution, Redesignation, and Consolidation of Selected Air Force Tactical Squadrons

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508th Air Refueling Squadron

• Constituted as the 508th Air Refueling Squadron, Strategic Fighter ca 4 November 1953

: Activated on 25 November 1953

: Inactivated 1 July 1957

• Consolidated with the 608th Bombardment Squadron on 19 September 1985 as the 508th Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy (remained inactive)

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• 400th Bombardment Group: 1 March 1943 – 10 April 1944
• 508th Strategic Fighter Wing: 25 November 1953Ravenstein, p. 275 (attached to 31st Strategic Fighter Wing 10 February 1954 – 1 June 1954,Ravenstein, pp. 54–57 unknown 4 July 1954 – 15 October 1954){{fact|date=August 2018}}
• 31st Strategic Fighter Wing: 11 May 1956
• 4050th Air Refueling Wing: 1 April 1957 – 1 July 1957{{fact|date=August 2018}}

• Pyote Army Air Base, Texas, 1 March 1943
• Davis–Monthan Field, Arizona, 11 April 1943
• Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado, c. 2 May 1943
• Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas, 31 July 1943
• Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico, 14 September 1943
• Charleston Army Air Base, South Carolina, 15 December 1943 – 10 April 1944Stations from 1943 to 1944 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 683
• Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, 25 November 1953 – 1 July 1957

• Consolidated B-24 Liberator, 1943–1944
• Boeing KB-29 Superfortress, 1953-unknown
• Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, unknown-1957

; Explanatory notes

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; Citations

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• {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 20 December 2016|edition= reprint|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}
• {{cite book|last=Ravenstein|first=Charles A.|title=Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977|url=https://archive.org/details/airforcecombatwi0000rave|access-date=17 December 2016|year=1984|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-12-9|url-access=registration}}

{{USAF air refueling units}}

{{United States Air Force}}

{{Strategic Air Command}}

Category:Air refueling squadrons of the United States Air Force