22d Air Refueling Wing The 22d Air Refueling Wing ( 22 ARW ) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command ' s Eighteenth Air Force . It is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base , Kansas and also functions as the host wing for McConnell AFB . Its primary mission is to provide global reach by conducting air refueling and airlift where and when needed . It is one of only three " supertanker " wings in the Air Force , with four Regular Air Force air refueling squadrons , one " Associate " Air Force Reserve Command air refueling squadron , and 63 KC - 135R Stratotanker aircraft . Its origins date to 1940 as the 22d Bombardment Group . The group was one of the first United States Army Air Forces units to be deployed into the Pacific Theater after the Pearl Harbor Attack with the Martin B - 26 Marauder medium bomber . The 22d Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit . Active for over 60 years , the 22 ARW and its earlier designation as the 22d Bombardment Wing , was a component wing of Strategic Air Command ' s deterrent force during the Cold War . The 22d Air Refueling Wing is commanded by Colonel Ricky N . Rupp . Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Kaleth O . Wright . Mission . In addition to its primary mission to provide global reach by conducting air refueling and airlift where and when needed , the 22 ARW is also the Operational Command Unit of the 931st Air Refueling Group , which is administratively assigned to the 507th Air Refueling Wing , Fourth Air Force , Air Force Reserve Command . The 931 ARG is the first Associate air - refueling unit in the Air Force Reserve Command . As an associate unit , the 931st does not have operational control of any KC - 135R aircraft . Instead , the host unit at McConnell AFB , the 22 ARW , provides a designated number of aircraft for mission taskings assigned to the 931st . Upon mobilization of the 931 ARG , the 22 ARW and the Air Mobility Command would operationally gain the 931st . The 931 ARG ' s flying unit , the 18th Air Refueling Squadron ( 18 ARS ) is also designated as a " super squadron " with 32 flight crews . This is twice the number of flight crews as found in a typical USAF air refueling squadron . Subordinate organizations . 22d Operations Group ( 22 OG ) 22d Maintenance Group ( 22 MXG ) 22d Mission Support Group ( 22 MSG ) 22d Medical Group ( 22 MDG ) Additionally , the 22d Comptroller Squadron ( 22 CPTS ) reports directly to the wing staff . History . Established as 22d Bombardment Wing , Medium , on 28 July 1948 . Activated on 1 August 1948 . The new wing was assigned to March AFB , California on 10 May 1949 . It was not operational , so it shared a commander with the 1st Fighter Wing . The 22d Bomb became operational on 1 July 1949 . The 1st Fighter Wing was attached to it and both wings shared the same commanding officer . Korean War . Detached from the wing , the 22d Bombardment Group deployed its B - 29s in early July 1950 to Kadena AB , Okinawa , where it came under control of FEAF Bomber Command ( Provisional ) . On 13 July , the group flew its first mission , against the marshalling yards and oil refinery at Wonsan , North Korea . By 21 October , it had amassed fifty - seven missions against the enemy , attacking bridges , factories , industrial targets , troop concentrations , airfields , marshalling yards , communications centers , and port facilities . During four months of combat , the group flew 335 sortie s with only fourteen aborts and dropped over 6 , 500 tons of bombs . It redeployed to the United States in late October and November 1950 . Cold War . Following the return of the Bombardment Group the wing re - equipped the propeller - driven B - 29s with new B - 47E Stratojet swept - wing bomber medium bombers in 1953 , capable of flying at high subsonic speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union . Ittrained for proficiency in global strategic bombardment , adding air refueling to its mission in 1952 . The wing deployed at RAF Mildenhall , England , September – December 1951 , and at RAF Upper Heyford , England , December 1953 – March 1954 . From April to July 1957 , it deployed to Andersen Air Force Base , Guam . SAC began phasing the B - 47 out of the inventory beginning in 1962 , sending the last of the wing ' s aircraft to Davis - Monthan AFB , Arizona in 1963 . The wing was not tactically operational 11 March 1963 – 15 September 1963 , while converting to B - 52D bombers and KC - 135A tankers . The wing supported Fifteenth Air Force ' s post - attack command and control system with EC - 135s from , September 1964 – March 1970 . The 22d was a " super " wing from 1966 – 1971 , with two bombardment and two tanker squadrons . From 10 March to c . 1 October 1967 the wing was reduced to a small " rear - echelon " non - tactical organization with all tactical resources and most support resources loaned to SAC organizations involved in combat operations in Southeast Asia . The wing continued to support SAC operations in the Far East and Southeast Asia through 1975 , and from 10 April 1972 to 29 October 1973 again the wing had all its bomber resources loaned to other organizations for combat and contingency operations . The wing ' s KC - 135 resources were also on loan from 10 April to September 1972 ; afterwards , a few tankers returned to wing control . The wing maintained a strategic bombardment alert posture from , 1973 – 1982 , but in 1978 it added conventional warfare missions , including mine - laying and sea reconnaissance / surveillance . In 1982 , the wing retired its B - 52D aircraft and converted from a bombardment wing to an air refueling wing . It was the first USAF unit to operate the new KC - 10A along with KC - 135E and KC - 135Q aircraft . From 1982 , the wing provided strategic air refueling and airlift in support of worldwide U . S . Air Force and other Department of Defense operations and training exercises . In 1983 , the wing moved personnel and cargo in support of Chadian resistance to Libyan incursions and conducted airlift and refueling missions during rescue of U . S . nationals in Grenada . The wing also provided specialized refueling support to SR - 71 aircraft reconnaissance operations with KC - 135Q aircraft worldwide from , c . 1985 – 1990 . In 1989 , the 22 ARW transferred its KC - 135E and KC - 135Q aircraft and became solely a KC - 10 unit . Modern era . The 22 ARW supported F - 117 deployments to Saudi Arabia and contributed aircraft and personnel to logistics efforts in support of the liberation of Kuwait from , 1990 – 1991 . On 1 June 1992 , Strategic Air Command was inactivated and the 22d ARW was assigned to the newly established Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) . From the end of 1992 to 1994 , the wing flew humanitarian airlift missions to Somalia and it also provided air refueling in support of deployments to Haiti in 1994 . On 1 January 1994 , the wing was reassigned w / p / o / e from March AFB ( upon the transfer of March AFB to the Air Force Reserve Command ) to McConnell AFB , Kansas , replacing the inactivating 384th Bomb Wing and assuming control of the 384th ' s KC - 135R aircraft . The 22 ARW ' s former KC - 10A aircraft assets were subsequently transferred to the 60th Airlift Wing at Travis AFB , California , that unit being redesignated as the 60th Air Mobility Wing ( 60 AMW ) . Various air refueling squadrons were reassigned to the reconstituted 22 ARW from other units as follows : After the realignment , the 22 ARW deployed crews and aircraft to support no - fly missions over northern and southern Iraq and over Bosnia and Herzegovina . In 1999 , wing aircraft and crews deployed to the Mediterranean to refuel NATO aircraft over Serbia . After the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 , wing - supplied tanker crews and aircraft air - refueled combat aircraft on missions to the Afghanistan area . The wing provided deployed KC - 135R support during Operation Iraqi Freedom and continues to provide aerial refueling and air mobility support under Operation Noble Eagle in the United States , Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation New Dawn overseas , and other AMC , USTRANSCOM , other combatant command , and associated national taskings as required . Components . Wings Groups Squadrons