344th Air Refueling Squadron The 344th Air Refueling Squadron ( 344 ARS ) is part of the 22d Air Refueling Wing at McConnell Air Force Base , Kansas . It operates the KC - 135 Stratotanker aircraft conducting aerial refueling missions . History . Established as a B - 24 Liberator heavy bomb squadron and trained by Third Air Force . Deployed to Egypt in June 1942 over South Atlantic Transport Route transiting from Morrision Field , Florida though the Caribbean to Brazil ; performed trans - Atlantic crossing from Brazil to Liberia , then transited east across central Africa to Sudan . Lastly the group reformed with the ground echelon which traveled by ship around the Cape of Good Hope , joining with air echelon in British Palestine . Assigned to the newly formed IX Bomber Command , the squadron operated from airfields in Egypt ; Libya and Tunisia supporting the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert Campaign . Also staged long - range strategic bombardment of enemy military and industrial targets in Sicily ; Italy and the Southern Balkans , including attacking the Nazi - Controlled oilfields at Polesti , Romania . Re - assigned to Fifteenth Air Force in southern Italy ; continuing strategic bombardment raids on Occupied France ; Southern Germany ; Austria and targets in the Balkans . In the summer of 1944 , the squadron participated in the invasion of southern France , assisted in the Soviet advance into the Balkans , and supported the partisans and guerrillas in Yugoslavia and neighboring countries . The squadron returned to the United States in May 1945 where it was redesignated as a Boeing B - 29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment squadron and began training for deployment to the Central Pacific Area . Training continued until November when the unit was transferred to Merced Army Air Field , California and reassigned to the 444th Bombardment Group , where it replaced the 678th Bombardment Squadron , which was converted into a reconnaissance unit . The squadron was inactivated at what was now Castle Field in March 1946 . Reactivated in 1947 as a Strategic Air Command B - 29 Superfortress medium bomb squadron . Performed strategic bombardment training missions during the postwar era . In 1950 the squadron deployed to Far East Air Forces at Yokota Air Base , Japan and flew strategic bombardment missions over North Korea after the breakout of the Korean War . The squadron flew its first combat mission on 7 August , striking marshalling yards at Pyongyang , capital of North Korea . Attacked enemy communication lines and supported United Nations ground forces . Targets included rail facilities , oil centers , bridges , roads , troop concentrations , airfields , and military installations . Engaged in combat operations until the 1953 armistice , however the squadron remained in Japan until July 1954 when reassigned administratively to Lincoln AFB , Nebraska and its B - 29s sent to storage and reclamation . At Lincoln , re - equipped with new B - 47E Stratojet s . Engaged in strategic bombardment training with the B - 47 throughout the rest of the 1950s , into the early 1960s . Inactivated in 1966 with the phaseout of the B - 47 and closure of Lincoln AFB . Reactivated in 1986 as an air refueling squadron .