203rd Air Refueling Squadron

203rd Air Refueling Squadron
203rd Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker[note 1]
Active	1993–present
Country	United States
Allegiance	Hawaii
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Squadron
Role	Air Refueling
Part of	Hawaii Air National Guard 154th Wing 154th Operations Group
Garrison/HQ	Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Honolulu, Hawaii
Motto(s)	'A'ole Mamao Loa (Hawaiian: Never too Far)
Insignia
203rd Air Refueling Squadron emblem
203d Air Refueling Squadron emblem (c. 1994)[1]
Tail Code	HH

The 203rd Air Refueling Squadron (203 ARS) is a unit of the Hawaii Air National Guard's 154th Wing located at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Honolulu, Hawaii. The 203rd ARS is equipped with the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker.

Overview

The 203rd Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the 154th Wing. It is an associate Unit with the 96th Air Refueling Squadron at Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam.

The squadron flies the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker, which provides the core aerial-refueling capability for the Air Force and has been in this role for more than 50 years. It also provides aerial-refueling support to Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and allied-nation aircraft. The KC-135 is also capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients using patient support pallets during aeromedical evacuations.

History

Established in 1993 to provide the Hawaii Air National Guard an air refueling mission and to establish an air refueling capability over the middle Pacific Ocean. It began as a small 4 aircraft squadron until 1995 when it was authorized to grow to 8 aircraft and increased personnel.

From late February to April 1998, four KC-135R aircraft from the 203rd, and over 200 154th Wing maintenance and support guard members deployed to Istres Air Base, France, to participate in Operation Deliberate Forge. As real world hostilities began, the focus turned to Operation Allied Force. Seventy combat sorties were flown with a 100 percent mission success rate and zero ground/air mishaps or injuries, and over 3.9 million pounds of fuel were transferred to U.S. and NATO aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

When political and military tensions built up in Southwest Asia, a KC-135R and guard members from the Squadron and 154th Logistics Group were deployed to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, to support Operation Phoenix Scorpion in November 1998. The unit took part in exercise RIMPAC 2000, taking place in June 2000.

In February 2001, a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft from the squadron provided assistance to the U.S. Department of Defense humanitarian aid airlift to earthquake stricken India. A 203rd KC-135 tanker took off from Hickam Air Force Base to refuel the first India-bound Lockheed C-5 Galaxy cargo aircraft laden with relief supplies. The U.S. Air Force C-5 aircraft had departed Travis Air Force Base, California, loaded with heavy equipment and other relief supplies needed in the disaster areas.

On 4 February 2003, two squadron KC-135R Stratotankers from the squadron refueled two Air Combat Command Rockwell B-1B Lancers over the Pacific Ocean while the bombers finished up a 19-hour, more than 15,000-mile, global power mission.

Lineage

• Constituted as the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron and allotted to the Air National Guard in 1993

Received federal recognition and activated on 16 January 1993

Assignments

• 154th Group, 16 January 1993
• 154th Operations Group, 1 January 1994 – present

Stations

• Hickam Air Force Base (later Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam), 16 January 1993 – present

Aircraft

• Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker, 1993 – present

References

Notes

Explanatory notes

Citations

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Rogers, B. (2006). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. ISBN 1-85780-197-0

External links

• 154th Wing units webpage
• 203rd Air Refueling Squadron @Globalsecurity.org

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Wings and Groups

Wings Composite 108th 113th 118th 119th 127th 140th 154th 175th 176th 178th 188th Air Control 116th Airlift 103d 105th 107th 109th 120th 123d 130th 133d 136th 139th 143d 145th 146th 152d 153d 156th 164th 165th 166th 167th 172d 179th 182d 189th Air Refueling 101st 117th 121st 126th 128th 134th 137th 141st 151st 155th 157th 161st 168th 171st 185th 186th 190th Attack 110th 174th Bomb 131st Fighter 52d* 53d* 54th* 55th* 60th* 61st* 62d* 63d* 66th* 67th* 71st* 86th* 104th 106th* 111th 114th 115th 122d 124th 125th 132d 138th 142d 144th 148th 149th 150th 159th 162d 169th 173d 177th 180th 183d 187th 192d Intelligence 102d 181st 184th Reconnaissance 147th 163d Regional Support 194th Rescue 106th 129th Special Operations 150th 193d Groups Composite 170th Airlift 135th* Air Operations 102d 152d 157th Air Refueling 112th* 127th 160th* Combat Communications 162d 163d 201st 226th 252d 254th 281st* Cyberspace Engineering Installation 251st 253d Operations 140th Reconnaissance 214th

Squadrons

Flying Air Command and Control 128th Airlift 109th 115th 118th 130th 135th* 137th 139th 142d 143d 144th 155th 156th 158th 164th 165th 167th 169th 180th 181st 183d 186th 187th 189th* 192d 198th* 200th 201st 204th 249th Air Refueling 106th 108th 116th 117th 126th 132d 133d 141st 145th* 146th 147th 151st 153d 166th 168th 171st 173d 174th 191st 197th 203d Attack 103d 105th 111th 124th 136th 138th 160th 162d 172d 178th 184th 196th 214th Bomb 110th Fighter 100th 104th 107th 112th 114th 119th 120th 121st 122d 123d 125th 131st 134th 148th 149th 152d 157th 159th 163d 170th* 175th 176th 179th 182d 190th 194th 195th 199th Rescue 101st 102d 103d 129th 130th 131st 188th 210th 211th 212th Special Operations 150th 185th 193d Training 154th Non-Flying Air Control 103d 109th 116th 117th 123d 128th 133d 134th 141st 176th 255th Air Operations 112th Air Support 113th ASOS 172d Air Traffic Control 243rd 245th 270th Civil Engineering 285th Civil Engineering Squadron Combat Communications 143d 147th 149th 206th 221st 222d 223d 225th 228th 231st 232d 234th 236th 239th 240th 242d 244th 256th 261st 262d 263d 264th 265th 267th 269th 271st 272d 280th 282d 283d 291st 292d 293d Command and Control 119th 127th 153d 222d Engineering Installation 130th 202d 205th 210th 211th 212th 213th 214th 215th 217th 218th 219th 220th 241st 243d 270th 272d Force Support 187th Information Warfare Aggressor 177th Intelligence 101st 117th 123d 152d 161st 194th 234th Joint Communications Support 224th 290th Logistics Readiness 187th RED HORSE 202d 203d 819th Security Forces 187th Space Control 114th Space Operations 111th 148th Space Warning 137th 213th Special Operations Communications 193d 280th Special Tactics 125th Asterisk (*) denotes an inactive unit