| Unit Name: | 44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron |
| Dates: | 1942–1946; 1953–1964; after 2002 |
| Role: | Air Refueling |
| Motto: | Versatility and Dependability |
| Battles: | European Theater of Operations Mediterranean Theater of Operations[1] |
| Identification Symbol Label: | 44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron emblem |
| Identification Symbol 2 Label: | 44th Air Refueling Squadron emblem [2] |
The 44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit that was assigned to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. It was last known to be stationed at Al-Udeid Air Base, Qatar, where it engaged in air refueling operations in support of United States Air Forces Central.
The earliest predecessor of the squadron was the 44th Troop Carrier Squadron, which served in the European and Mediterranean Theaters of Operations during World War II, where it earned three Distinguished Unit Citations. After the war, it served briefly as an airlift unit in the United States and Hawaii.
The 44th Air Refueling Squadron served with Strategic Air Command from 1953 to 1964 with Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighters at Chennault Air Force Base, Louisiana and Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan. The two squadrons were consolidated into a single unit in 1985. The consolidated unit was converted to provisional status in 2002.
The 44th Transport Squadron was activated in June 1942 under I Troop Carrier Command at Patterson Field, Ohio. It trained at various stations in the southeast and Texas with Douglas C-47 Skytrain transports. The squadron, by now the 44th Troop Carrier Squadron, deployed to Egypt in November 1942 as part of President Roosevelt's decision to aid the Western Desert Air Force of the Royal Air Force. There it became part of the newly established Ninth Air Force, headquartered in Cairo.
The 44th transported supplies and evacuated casualties in support of the British Eighth Army, operating from desert airfields in Egypt and Libya. It was reassigned in May 1943 to the Twelfth Air Force in Algeria, where it supported United States Fifth Army forces in the Tunisian Campaign. The squadron began training for the invasion of Sicily. It dropped paratroops over the assault area of the island on the night of 9 July. It carried reinforcements to Sicily on 11 July and received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for carrying out that mission although severely attacked by ground and naval forces. It dropped paratroops over the beachhead south of the Sele River on the night of 14 September 1943. The squadron remained in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations until February 1944, when it again joined Ninth Air Force in England. It became part of IX Troop Carrier Command, participating in the buildup of forces prior to the Allied landings in France.
The Squadron engaged in combat operations by dropping paratroops into Normandy near Ste-Mere-Eglise on D-Day (6 June 1944) and releasing gliders with reinforcements on the following day. The unit received a third DUC and a French citation for these missions.
After the Normandy invasion the squadron ferried supplies in the United Kingdom. The squadron also hauled food, clothing, medicine, gasoline, ordnance equipment, and other supplies to the front lines and evacuated patients to rear zone hospitals. It dropped paratroops near Nijmegen and towed gliders carrying reinforcements during Operation Market Garden, the airborne attack on the Netherlands. In December it participated in the Battle of the Bulge by releasing gliders with supplies for the 101st Airborne Division near Bastogne.
The squadron returned to the United States in May 1945, becoming a domestic airlift squadron for Continental Air Forces. It was reassigned to VI Air Service Area Command in Hawaii in September 1945, where it operated until being inactivated in early 1946.
The 44th Air Refueling Squadron was established as a Strategic Air Command (SAC) Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter squadron, providing aerial refueling for Boeing B-47 Stratojets of the 44th Bombardment Wing. With the retirement of the B-47 at Chennault Air Force Base, Louisiana in 1960, the squadron moved to Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan as part of SAC's 4045th Air Refueling Wing. It was inactivated in 1964.
The squadron was converted to provisional status and reactivated as the 44th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, an Air Combat Command McDonnell Douglas KC-10 Extender air refueling squadron in 2002 as part of the Global War on Terrorism.
44th Troop Carrier Squadron
Activated on 15 June 1942
Redesignated 44th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942
Inactivated on 25 March 1946
44th Air Refueling Squadron
Constituted as the 44th Air Refueling Squadron, Medium on 13 February 1953
Activated on 20 April 1953
Discontinued and inactivated on 15 December 1964
379th Air Expeditionary Wing, 25 January 2002 – unknown