100th Air Refueling Wing
The 100th Air Refueling Wing (100 ARW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe Third Air Force. It is stationed at RAF Mildenhall, England. It is also the host wing at RAF Mildenhall.
The 100 ARW is the only permanent U.S. air refueling wing in the European theater. The wing provides the critical air refueling "bridge" that allows the Expeditionary Air Force to deploy around the globe on a moment's notice.
During World War II, its predecessor unit, the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), was an Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England, stationed at RAF Thorpe Abbotts. Flying over 300 combat missions, the group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations (Regensburg, 17 August 1943; Berlin, 4/6/8 March 1944). The group suffered tremendous losses in combat, with 177 Aircraft MIA, flying its last mission on 20 April 1945.
The 100th Air Refueling Wing has been bestowed with the lineage, honors, and history of the 100th Bombardment Group. One of these honors is that it is the only modern USAF operational wing allowed to display on its assigned aircraft the tail code (Square-D) of its World War II predecessor.
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Famous quotes containing the words air and/or wing:
“The air was so elastic and crystalline that it had the same effect on the landscape that a glass has on a picture, to give it an ideal remoteness and perfection.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth,
Stolen on his wing my three-and-twentieth year!”
—John Milton (1608–1674)