171st Air Refueling Wing The 171st Air Refueling Wing ( 171 ARW ) is a unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard , stationed at Pittsburgh IAP Air Reserve Station , Pennsylvania . If activated to federal service , the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . Overview . The 171st Air Refueling Wing is an aerial refueling organization which provides Global Reach for the United States Air Force through the in - flight refueling of fighters , bombers and other aircraft using the KC - 135T Stratotanker . The 171st ARW presently has 16 aircraft assigned making it one of only three Super Tanker Wings within the Air National Guard . Units . The 171st Air Refueling Wing consists of the following units : History . Aeromedical Airlift . On 1 February 1961 , the Pennsylvania Air National Guard 147th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level , and the 171st Air Transport Group was established by the National Guard Bureau . The 147th being transferred from the 112th Fighter - Interceptor Group and re - designated as the 147th Aeromedical Transport Squadron . The 147th ATS became the 171st ATG ' s flying squadron . The 147th ATS was converted to twin engine C - 119J Flying Boxcar aircraft and began training for its new mission . Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 171st Headquarters , 171st Material Squadron ( Maintenance ) , 171st Combat Support Squadron , and the 171st USAF Dispensary . After two years with the C - 119J , the 147th converted to the C - 121G Super Constellation . With the Super Constellation the primary mission of the 147th was to perform military airlift , with a secondary mission of aeromedical evacuation . In 1968 , the unit was re - designated as the 171st Aeromedical Airlift Group , the first of its kind in the Air National Guard ( ANG ) . Later that year , the 171st was called to active duty to augment the airlift capability of the 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing , Scott AFB , Illinois . Equipped with C - 131 Samaritan aircraft its mission was to move patients from rough combat airfield casualty staging bases and military installations in South Vietnam to destination treatment hospitals . The Group flew 35 % of these missions , flying 510 sorties and airlifting 11 , 947 patients . The unit was finally released from active duty in December 1968 and returned to Pennsylvania commonwealth control . Air refueling . Conforming to the new policy of the Department of Defense , the Air National Guard began to play an even greater role in fulfilling total U . S . force requirements . An extensive reorganization of the National Guard system was accomplished . As a result of these actions , the 171st Aeromedical Airlift Group was re - designated as the 171st Air Refueling Wing ( ARW ) in October 1972 , transitioning from the C - 121G to the KC - 97L Stratotanker . On 1 July 1976 , the Wing received notice of reassignment to the Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) . A year later , the Wing transitioned to the KC - 135A Stratotanker , a four - engine jet aircraft . This was a significant upgrade , increasing the Wings air refueling capacity and expanding its global mission capability . In 1982 , the ANG increased its mission capability through an interim program by retrofitting commercial Boeing 707 engines to their tankers re - designating the aircraft to the KC - 135E . Members of the 171 ARW volunteered for duty in Saudi Arabia in order to participate in air refueling missions for Operation Desert Shield . These operations were upgraded to a full federal activation in December 1990 through May 1991 . During this period over 300 members of the unit were deployed throughout the world in numerous functions supporting both Desert Shield and combat operations during Operation Desert Storm . During this period the 171st ARW refueled nearly 3 , 000 allied aircraft while stationed near the Iraqi border in support of air combat missions against Iraqi forces . Maintaining a remarkable 100 % mission effectiveness rate , the 171st flew 556 combat missions and offloaded 4 . 6 million gallons of fuel during the 1991 Gulf War . Post Cold War era . Strategic Air Command was inactivated in June 1992 and the 112th ARG became a part of the Air Combat Command ( ACC ) . On 1 October 1993 , with both the 112th Air Refueling Group and the 171st Air Refueling Wing at Pittsburgh , the two tanker units were consolidated with the 146th Air Refueling Squadron being reassigned to the 171st Operations Group and once again reuniting with the 147th under the same group . The 112th Air Refueling Group was inactivated . With the consolidation , The 171st ARW consisted of 16 aircraft assigned to two squadrons , making it one of only three Super Tanker Wings within the Air National Guard . In May 1999 , the 171st activated over 500 members and fourteen aircraft to Budapest , Hungary and Frankfurt , Germany , in support of Operation Allied Force deterring ethnic aggression in Yugoslavia . The 147th became part of the 171st Expeditionary Operations Group that flew 411 sorties and refueled 2 , 157 receivers . All members returned home by the beginning of July 1999 . In November 2000 , the 171st deployed 228 personnel to Istres AB , France in support of Operation Joint Forge , a NATO - led stabilization mission in Bosnia - Herzegovina . During this deployment the crews flew 51 sorties in seven of our KC - 135s , and offloaded 1 . 4 million pounds of fuel . Global War on Terrorism . The 171st found itself among the first units called to duty almost immediately after the 9 / 11 terrorist attacks in New York City , Washington D . C . and in its own backyard in southwestern Pennsylvania on September 11 , 2001 with the hijacking and crash of United Airlines Flight 93 . At the time , almost all of the Wing ' s aircraft were in a stand - down mode , while nearly all of its assigned aircraft were being converted to with the new Pacer - Crag cockpit and navigation upgrade . Within minutes of the first aircraft crashes , the 171st Air Refueling Wing was airborne with its only flyable KC - 135E . Its mission was to provide aerial refueling to the fuel - thirsty jet fighter aircraft that were providing Combat Air Patrol s ( CAPs ) over the skies of the eastern United States as part of Operation Noble Eagle ( ONE ) . On the ground back in Pittsburgh , the maintainers and aircrews made more aircraft airworthy and then keeping them flying . Almost seamlessly , the 171st went into a wartime footing . Within 24 hours after the first attacks , the 171st was flying round - the - clock CAPs support sorties with eight Fully Mission Capable KC - 135s . Before the continuous CAP missions were ended in early 2002 , more than 13 , 000 combat missions were flown over U . S . soil . During the first decade of the 2000s , the 171st was engaged in combat operations in supporting Operation Enduring Freedom , Operation Noble Eagle , Operation Iraqi Freedom , deployed to Guam , participated in the Hurricane Katrina Relief Effort , supported numerous Raven assignments , supported our AEF cycles and other missions . In an effort to support the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 of a no - fly zone over Libya , the 313th Air Expeditionary Wing , with the 171st as the lead unit , was stood up in March 2011 by a blend of active duty , guard and reserve airmen . A total of 1500 sorties , 11000 flying hours , and 70 million pounds of fuel transferred aircraft from more than ten countries was accomplished by this citizen - airmen volunteer milita force . Initially , the operation for the no - fly zone was called Operation Odyssey Dawn . As it transitioned to a full - fledged , NATO - led effort , it became Operation Unified Protector . OUP officially ended Oct . 31 , 2011 .