The 151st Air Refueling Squadron (151 ARS) is a unit of the

Tennessee Air National Guard The Tennessee Air National Guard (TN ANG) is the aerial militia of the Tennessee, State of Tennessee, United States, United States of America. It is, along with the Tennessee Army National Guard an element of the Tennessee National Guard of the la ...

134th Air Refueling Wing located at

McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base is a joint military facility located at McGhee Tyson Airport. It is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of the central business district of Knoxville, near Alcoa, Tennessee. It was the site o ...

, Knoxville, Tennessee. The 151st is equipped with the

KC-135R Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

History

The squadron was constituted and allotted to the

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

in 1957 to replace the active-duty

469th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 469th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 80th Flying Training Wing and is based at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. The first predecessor of the squadron, the 469th Bombardment Squadron, served during World War II as an Operational T ...

McGhee Tyson Airport McGhee Tyson Airport is a public/military airport south of Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville,. Federal Aviation Administration. effective April 17, 2025. in Alcoa, Tennessee. It is named for United States Navy pilot Charles McGhee Tyson, who wa ...

, Knoxville, Tennessee. It was activated on 15 December 1957 and federally recognized the next day as part of the new 134th Fighter-Interceptor Group.

Air Defense

The 151st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was the third

flying squadron. It was equipped with

North American F-86D Sabre The North American F-86D/K/L Sabre (initially known as the YF-95 and widely known informally as the "Sabre Dog") is an American transonic jet interceptor aircraft, interceptor. Developed for the United States Air Force in the late 1940s, it was ...

interceptors with a mission of air defense in the area including the

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is a federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1943, the laboratory is sponsored by the United Sta ...

and the strategic

Alcoa Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary alu ...

aluminum manufacturing facilities in the area. The active-duty Air Force 469th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated on 8 January 1958, with the 151st taking over the

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air De ...

(ADC) daytime alert mission in October, a status that was estimated to take two years. ADC released all its supersonic Lockheed F-104A Starfighters to the

in 1960 because its fire control system was not sophisticated enough to make it an all weather interceptor. The 151st was one of the Guard squadrons that re-equipped with these aircraft. The unit was federalized in November 1961 as a result of the

1961 Berlin Crisis The Berlin Crisis of 1961 () was the last major European political and military incident of the Cold War concerning the status of the German capital city, Berlin, and of post–World War II Germany. The crisis culminated in the city's ''de fact ...

and deployed to

Ramstein Air Base Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force installation located in Rhineland-Palatinate, southwestern Germany. It serves as the headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and NATO Alli ...

, West Germany. At Ramnstein the squadron was assigned to the

86th Air Division The 86th Air Division (86 AD) is a former designation of the 86th Airlift Wing, a United States Air Force organization. It was assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany. It was inactivated on 14 November 1 ...

United States Air Forces Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

. In May 1962 while still deployed to Ramstein, the unit set an all-time US Air Force jet fighter monthly flying hour record of 836 hours 5 minutes. In addition, the unit had the highest flying time per aircraft assigned ever recorded in the Air Force for jet fighters in any one month to that date. Following the defusing of the Berlin crisis, the 151st returned to Knoxville in August 1962 and reverted to state control. Following the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

. ADC decided to station a permanent F-104 unit at

Homestead Air Force Base Homestead Air Reserve Base (Homestead ARB), previously known as Homestead Air Force Base (Homestead AFB) is located in Miami–Dade County, Florida, to the northeast of the city of Homestead. It is home to the 482nd Fighter Wing (482 FW) o ...

, Florida because of the plane's superior fighter on fighter performance. The lack of an all weather capability not a factor at Homestead because Cuba lacked a bomber force. To equip the 319th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Homestead and a training squadron at

Webb Air Force Base Webb Air Force Base , previously named Big Spring Air Force Base, was a United States Air Force facility of the Air Training Command that operated from 1951 to 1977 in West Texas within the current city limits of Big Spring. Webb AFB was a maj ...

, Texas, the F-104s with the 151st were returned to the active Air Force.McMullen. p. 17

Air Refueling

The gaining command for the squadron and its parent 134th Fighter Group was transferred from ADC to

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Lang ...

and it was equipped with the

Boeing KC-97G Stratotanker The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a four-engined, piston-powered United States strategic Tanker (aircraft), tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It replaced the KB-29 and was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. De ...

with an

air refueling Aerial refueling (American English, en-us), or aerial refuelling (British English, en-gb), also referred to as air refueling, in-flight refueling (IFR), air-to-air refueling (AAR), and tanking, is the process of transferring aviation fuel from ...

mission. Despite its lack of previously qualified aircrew or maintenance personnel, the 134th was still the first Air National Guard flying unit equipped with KC-97's to achieve operational status. It did so in eight months, the previous "normal" time for the conversion was two years. In 1966 the squadron began a rotational deployment to Ramstein Air Base in support of Operation Creek Party, which provided USAFE an air refueling capability. Creek Party deployment rotations lasted until 1976, and over the decade the 151st saw millions of pounds of jet fuel off-loaded and millions of miles flown, all accident free. In July 1976 the KC-97s were retired and replaced by jet

Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling tanker aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It has a narrower fuselage and is shorter than the 707. Boeing gave ...

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...

then became the squadron's gaining command on mobilization. Once again the squadron achieved combat operational status in record time. These squadron's aircraft were later upgraded to KC-135E models in 1982 and finally replaced with KC-135R models in 2006. The Volunteer spirit has always been alive and well in east Tennessee. This spirit was highlighted by former base commander Gen. Frederick H. Forster (Ret.) when he noted that at the beginning of the call up for

Operation Desert Shield , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

Tennessee had more volunteers than they needed. The unit has also played an enormous part in

Operation Noble Eagle Operation Noble Eagle (ONE) is the United States and Canadian military operation related to homeland security and support to federal, state, and local agencies. The operation began 11 September 2001, in response to the September 11 attacks.. ...

Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...

and

Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...

by deploying numerous times to several Continental United States and Middle East locations. This deployment marks the first time a Traditional Air Guard band has been tasked to deploy.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 151st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and allotted to the National Guard on 7 December 1957 : Activated on 15 December 1957 : Extended federal recognition on 16 December 1957 : Federalized and placed on active duty on 1 November 1961 : Released from active duty and returned to Tennessee state control on 15 August 1962 : Redesignated 151st Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 18 April 1964 : Redesignated 151st Air Refueling Squadron, Heavy on 1 November 1976 : Redesignated 151st Air Refueling Squadron on 16 March 1992

Assignments

* 134th Fighter-Interceptor Group, 15 December 1957 *

, 25 November 1961 * 134th Fighter-Interceptor Group (later 134th Air Refueling Group), 11 July 1962 * 134th Operations Group, 1 October 1995

Stations

* McGhee Tyson Airport (later

), Tennessee, 15 December 1957 : Operated from:

, West Germany, Nov 1961-15 Aug 1962 : Designated:

, Tennessee, 1991-Present

Aircraft

* North American F-86D Sabre, 1957–1960 * Lockheed F-104A Starfighter, 1960–1963 *

Convair F-102A Delta Dagger The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger is an interceptor aircraft designed and produced by the American aircraft manufacturer Convair. A member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter ope ...

, 1963–1964 * Boeing KC-97L Stratotanker, 1964–1976 * Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker, 1976–1982 * Boeing KC-135E Stratotanker, 1982–2006 * Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker, 2006–Present

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * McMullen, Richard F. (1964) "The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962-1964" ADC Historical Study No. 27, Air Defense Command, Ent Air Force Base, CO (Confidential, declassified 22 Mar 2000) *

External links

134th Air Refueling Wing history page

* {{USAF air refueling units Squadrons of the United States Air National Guard Military units and formations in Tennessee Air refueling squadrons of the United States Air Force Military units and formations established in 1964