151st Air Refueling Squadron The 151st Air Refueling Squadron ( 151 ARS ) is a unit of the Tennessee Air National Guard 134th Air Refueling Wing located at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base , Knoxville , Tennessee . The 151st is equipped with the KC - 135R Stratotanker . History . Authorized by the National Guard Bureau in 1957 to replace the active - duty 469th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron at McGhee Tyson Air Force Base , Knoxville , Tennessee . Extended recognition as a new unit on 15 December 1957 and assigned to the new 134th Fighter - Interceptor Group . Air Defense . The third Tennessee Air National Guard unit was equipped with F - 86D Sabre Interceptor s with a mission of air defense over the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the strategic Alcoa aluminum manufacturing facilities in the area . The active - duty Air Force 469th FIS was inactivated on 8 January 1958 , with the 151st taking over the ADC daytime readiness alert mission in October , a status that was estimated to take two years . The F - 86Ds were replaced by supersonic F - 104A Starfighter interceptors in 1960 . Was federalized in November 1961 as a result of the 1961 Berlin Crisis , deployed to Ramstein Air Base , West Germany , and assigned to the USAFE 86th Air Division . In May 1962 while still deployed to Ramstein AB , the unit set an All - Time US Air Force jet fighter flying record of 836 hours 5 minutes . In addition , the unit had the highest flying time per aircraft assigned ever recorded in the Air Force for a jet fighter in any one month to that date . Following the defusing of the Berlin crisis , the 151st was returned to Knoxville in August 1962 and reverted to Tennessee state control . Air Refueling . In April 1964 the F - 104s were transferred to active ADC squadrons , the 319th and 331st FIS at Homestead AFB , Florida as part of the 32d Air Division . The parent 134th was transferred from Air Defense Command to Tactical Air Command and was equipped with the Boeing KC - 97G Stratotanker , and assumed an air refueling mission . With no previously qualified aircrew or maintenance personnel assigned , the 134th was still the first Air National Guard flying unit equipped with KC - 97 ' s to achieve operational status . They did so in eight months , the previous " normal " time for the conversion was two years . In 1966 the squadron began a rotational deployment to Ramstein Air Base in support of Operation Creek Party . which provided USAFE an air refueling capability . The Creek Party deployment rotations lasted until 1976 , and over the decade the 151st saw millions of pounds of jet fuel off - loaded and millions of miles flown , all accident free . In July 1976 the KC - 97s were retired and the parent 134th was transferred to Strategic Air Command , receiving jet KC - 135A Stratotanker s . Once again the 134th achieved combat operational status in record time . These aircraft were later upgraded to " E " models in 1982 and finally replaced with " R " models in 2006 . The Volunteer spirit has always been alive and well in east Tennessee . This spirit was highlighted by former base commander Gen . Frederick H . Forster ( Ret . ) when he noted that at the beginning of the call up for Operation Desert Shield we had more volunteers than we needed . The unit has also played an enormous part in Operation Noble Eagle , Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom by deploying numerous times to several CONUS and Middle East locations including a deployment for the 572d Band . This deployment marks the first time a Traditional Air Guard band has been tasked to deploy .