Seymour Johnson Air Force Base - 916th Air Refueling Wing

916th Air Refueling Wing

The United States Air Force Reserve's 916th Air Refueling Wing (916 ARW) supports routine refueling missions for other Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied aircraft under the direction of the 4th Air Force and Headquarters, Air Force Reserve Command. If recalled to active duty, the wing would integrate into the 18th Air Force and fall under the direction of Air Mobility Command, Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

The 916 ARW has 15 subordinate squadrons among its three groups: the 916th Maintenance Group, 916th Operations Group and 916th Mission Support Group, as well as one unattached squadron, the 916th Aerospace Medicine Squadron. More than 900 Air Force Reservists in the wing train to support worldwide operational commitments.

The unit initially arrived at Seymour Johnson in October 1985 as a small advance team until October 1986. During that first year, Air Force Reservists worked with active duty Air Force units flying the Strategic Air Command's newest tanker, the KC-10A Extender, in an associate program.

The first exclusively Reserve KC-10 crew flew out of Seymour Johnson on 29 October 1985. With the reorganization of the Air Force in 1992 that saw the inactivation of Strategic Air Command, the KC-10 aircraft were temporarily placed under the redesignated 4th Wing (4 WG) at Seymour Johnson, but by 1994, the KC-10s were ultimately reassigned to McGuire AFB, New Jersey as Air Mobility Command assets. The 916 ARW remained at Seymour Johnson as an Air Force Reserve KC-135 Stratotanker unit gained by AMC. Also now part of the 916th ARW is the 911th ARS.