70th Air Refueling Squadron
The 70th Air Refueling Squadron is a United States Air Force Reserve unit based at Travis Air Force Base, California. It is part of the 349th Operations Group and works as an associate unit with the active-duty 9th Air Refueling Squadron. The squadron currently operates the Boeing KC-46A Pegasus for air refueling and mobility missions; it previously operated the KC-10 Extender.
The squadron’s history includes its predecessor, the 470th Bombardment Squadron, activated in July 1942 at Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina, as a B-25 Mitchell replacement training unit. The 470th was disbanded in 1944. The 70th was activated at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, in August 1955, flying KC-97s to support Strategic Air Command, later transitioning to KC-135 missions. It deployed to forward bases during the Cold War and, after 1970, provided airborne command and control for SAC. It supported Desert Storm and, in 1983, Urgent Fury in Grenada. In 1990–1991 it deployed for the Gulf War. The squadron was inactivated in 1993 as Grissom Air Force Base was transferred to the Air Force Reserve Command.
Reactivated on 1 September 1994 at Travis AFB as a reserve associate unit, the 70th did not have its own aircraft and flew KC-10s from the active-duty 9th ARS. Following the September 11 attacks, it supported operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, and aided disaster relief after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The unit has earned Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards, including one with a Combat “V” device. Its motto is Extending Excellence.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:55 (CET).