50 Years Ago - 93rd ARS receives USAF's first KC-135 Published June 21, 2007 By Dan Simmons 92nd Air Refueling Wing Historian FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Last August, the Air Force celebrated the 50th anniversary of the roll-out of the KC-135 Stratotanker. Fairchild held a week-long celebration, to include a heritage flight involving local civic leaders and media. It was an appropriate homage to the venerable aircraft that has meant so much to this nation and this wing. But roll-out of an aircraft is one thing; getting it into the hands of Air Force personnel so they can use to help defend our nation is another. The latter event occurred on June 28, 1957, and it involved a squadron in the 92nd Air Refueling Wing - the 93rd Air Refueling Squadron. In 1957, the 93rd ARS was stationed at Castle Air Force Base near Merced, Calif. At the time it was flying the propeller-driven Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter, a tanker aircraft that could no longer keep up with the new jet bombers coming off the assembly line. The Air Force made the decision the squadron would receive the world's first jet tanker, and equally significant, the 93rd ARS would be responsible for training all Strategic Air Command tanker crew members in the new aircraft. As the tanker "schoolhouse" squadron for Strategic Air Command, the 93rd trained thousands of Cold War KC-135 aircrew members - pilots, navigators and boom operators - before they signed in at their home bases spread all over the country. In addition, those same crewmembers would return to Castle for upgrade, instructor and re-qualification training as they progressed in their aviation careers, with all flight training and evaluations conducted by the 93rd ARS. As SAC's teachers of KC-135 flight training, it should be no surprise that squadron members were held in high regard throughout the command. From 1957 until Castle AFB closed in 1995 and KC-135 training transferred to Air Education and Training Command at Altus Air Force Base, Okla., the 93rd was a unique unit. Made up entirely of instructors, it had considerably more KC-135 experience and expertise than any other squadron in the Air Force. As a result, the squadron earned the reputation as the "best of the best" in the command. KC-135 units around the world would call the 93rd to get guidance on a wide variety of tanker flight issues. In the late 1980s, General John T. Chain, commander of SAC, took a step to ensure the 93rd remained the elite tanker unit in the command. He asked all of his wings to identify their best flight instructors, instructors whom he then directed for assignment to the 93rd at Castle. Clearly, the 93rd ARS members lived up to their motto, Domini Artis - "Masters of the Art." After almost four decades of training a generation of KC-135 crewmembers--a generation that won the Cold War--the 93rd ARS moved to Fairchild on March 31, 1995 and became a part of the 92nd ARW. It's great to have such a legendary unit in our wing, and it's a pleasure to celebrate with them on this special occasion. Congratulations to the "Masters of the Art" for 50 years of excellence in KC-135 air refueling operations.
