171st Air Refueling Wing

171st Air Refueling Wing
171st Air Refueling Wing Boeing KC-135T Stratotanker landing at Pittsburgh AGB
Active	February 1, 1961 – present
Country	United States
Allegiance	Pennsylvania
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Wing
Role	Air Refueling
Part of	Pennsylvania Air National Guard
Garrison/HQ	Pittsburgh IAP Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania
Motto(s)	"Pride Vigilance Honor"
Tail Code	Black tail stripe, "Pennsylvania" in yellow letters
Insignia
171st Air Refueling Wing emblem

The 171st Air Refueling Wing (171 ARW) is a unit of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, stationed at Pittsburgh IAP Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command.

The 171st Air Refueling Wing is an aerial refueling organization which provides Global Reach for the United States Air Force through the in-flight refueling of fighters, bombers and other aircraft using the KC-135T Stratotanker. The 171 ARW presently has 16 aircraft assigned making it the ONLY Super Tanker Wing the Air National Guard.

The 171st Air Refueling Wing consists of the following units:

On 1 February 1961, the Pennsylvania Air National Guard 147th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 171st Air Transport Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 147th being transferred from the 112th Fighter-Interceptor Group and re-designated as the 147th Aeromedical Transport Squadron. The 147th ATS became the 171st ATG's flying squadron. The 147th ATS was converted to twin engine C-119J Flying Boxcar aircraft and began training for its new mission. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 171st Headquarters, 171st Material Squadron (Maintenance), 171st Combat Support Squadron, and the 171st USAF Dispensary.

After two years with the C-119J, the 147th converted to the C-121G Super Constellation. With the Super Constellation the primary mission of the 147th was to perform military airlift, with a secondary mission of aeromedical evacuation.

In 1968, the unit was re-designated as the 171st Aeromedical Airlift Group, the first of its kind in the Air National Guard (ANG). Later that year, the 171st was called to active duty to augment the airlift capability of the 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing, Scott AFB, Illinois. Equipped with C-131 Samaritan aircraft its mission was to move patients from rough combat airfield casualty staging bases and military installations in South Vietnam to destination treatment hospitals. The Group flew 35% of these missions, flying 510 sorties and airlifting 11,947 patients. The unit was finally released from active duty in December 1968 and returned to Pennsylvania Commonwealth control.