The 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 unit. It is assigned to the 379th Air Expeditionary Operations Group

379th Air Expeditionary Operations Group

The 379th Expeditionary Operations Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces Central...

, Al Udeid Air Base

Al Udeid Air Base

Al Udeid Air Base is a military base west of Doha, Qatar. It houses foreign coalition personnel and assets. It is host to a forward headquarters of United States Central Command, headquarters of United States Air Forces Central Command, and home to both No. 83 Expeditionary Air Group RAF and the...

, Qatar

Qatar

Qatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...

.

During the Cold War

Cold War

The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, the squadron was assigned to the 340th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Whiteman AFB, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

. It was inactivated on 15 October 1962

The squadron flew the KC-97 Stratotanker

KC-97 Stratotanker

The Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker was a United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.-Design and development:...

, providing air refueling to USAF units from 1952-1962. It was assigned to the following units

• 340th Bombardment Wing, 20 October 1952-1 July 1953; 18 January 1954-15 October 1962

Attached to the 93d Bombardment Wing, 20 October 1952-18 January 1954 (deployed at: Castle AFB, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

)

The squadron was inactivated in 1965 as part of the phaseout of the KC-97 from SAC. Reactivated as a provisional squadron about 2003 as a part of the Global War on Terrorism

War on Terror

The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...

. Equipped with a mixture of KC-135R/T Stratotankers and conducted effective combat air refueling. Was active as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Patch designed by Bob McMordie 1958