USAF Patch Recon s Wing c 100 SRW Strategic Reconnaissance Wg a

USAF Patch Recon 100 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing SRW Crest Davis Monthan AB Arizona Dets and OLs Worldwide U 2 Dragon Lady 1960s Embroidered on twill cut edge 106mm by 98mm four and three sixteenth inches by four and seven eighth inches.

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Following its WWII combat service over northwest Europe 100 Bomb Group named the Bloody Hundredth due to its high casualty rate in the early part of the Eighth Air Force bombing campaign in 1943 returned to Camp Kilmer NJ and inactivated on 21 December 1945. 100 BG was reactivated at Miami Army Air Field on 29 May 1947 in the reserve equipped with B 29 Superfortress bombers attached to 49 Bombardment Wing before it was inactivated on 27 June 1949 due to budget reductions.

100 Bombardment Wing Medium was activated at Portsmouth AFB New Hampshire on 1 January 1956 assigned to 817 Air Division Eighth Air Force Strategic Air Command with 349 350 and 351 Bombardment Squadrons equipped with B 47E Stratojet medium bombers tasked with penetrating Soviet airspace and bombing strategic targets supported by 100 Air Refueling Squadron with KC 97 Stratotanker air refuelling aircraft. The Wing engaged in global strategic bombardment and air refueling training regularly deploying overseas on temporary duty TDY operations. Portsmouth AFB was redesignated Pease AFB on 7 September 1957. 100 BW participated in the last full wing B 47 TDY deployment in Spring 1958 to operate from RAF Brize Norton and continued TDY deployments to Europe for training. With SACs retirement of the B 47 and supporting tanker force 100 Bomb Wing Medium was inactivated at Pease AFB on 30 April 1966.

The Wing was reactivated as 100 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Davis Monthan AFB Arizona on 25 June 1966 assuming the strategic reconnaissance mission equipment and personnel of the 4080 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing following USAF decision to discontinue Major Command MAJCON Wings concept and renumbering them to continue lineage of historical Wings. 4028 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron equipped with U 2 and WB 57 aircraft was redesignated 349 SRS and 4025 SRS equipped with BQM 34 Firebee recon drones DC 130 Launch aircraft and CH 3 Jolly Green Giant recovery helicopters was redesignated 350 SRS. The Wing continued U 2 combat operations over Vietnam and strategic reconnaissance worldwide.

100 SWS U 2 Detachment at Operating Location OL 20 at Bien Hoa AB South Vietnam was upgraded to full squadron status and designated 99 Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron and relocated to U Tapao RTAFB Thailand designated OL RU on 11 July 1970. 99 SRS was awarded the PT Cullen Award for contributing most to the photo and signal intelligence efforts of SAC in 1972. With the end of combat operation over Vietnam ending in mid 1973 100 SRW was allocated the USAF nuclear air sampling operation with 349 SRS U 2s upgraded to U 2R configuration for atmospheric sampling missions to replace its WB 57s. 100 SRW operated a U 2R detachment from McCoy AFB Florida designated Operating Location OL LF undertaking Olympic Fire missions over Cuba coordinated with the Joint Air Reconnaissance Control Center at NAS Key West Florida.

100 SRW continued worldwide surveillance missions including Olive Harvest the monitoring of the ceasefire between Israel and Egypt following the 1973 Yom Kippur War operating from RAF Akrotiri Cyprus designated Operating Location OL OH. The 349 SRS Olympic Race U 2Rs were deployed to Osan AB South Korea on 18 June 1974 and designated OL A. OL LF Olympic Fire missions were relocated from McCoy to Patrick AFB Florida in 1975. The Wings 99 SRS was one of the last units to be withdrawn from Thailand in March 1976.

With budget reductions SAC consolidated its Strategic Reconnaissance assets reassigning 99 SRS with its U 2s to 9 SRW at Beale AFB California on 1 July 1976 with 100 SRW redesignated 100 Air Refueling Wing Heavy on 30 September 1976 relocating to Beale AFB taking over the assets of the 17 Bombardment Wing and retasked with air refueling in support of 9 SRWs SR 71 and U 2 operations with 349 and 350 AREFSs equipping with KC 135 refueling aircraft of 903 and 922 AREFSs. With the introduction of the one base one wing concept 9 SRW was retained as the Beale AFB composite Wing and was assigned 349 and 350 AREFS with 100 ARW inactivated on 15 March 1983.

SAC reactivated the Wing as 100 Air Division at Whiteman AFB MI on 1 July 1990 as the AFB host unit and to prepare for the introduction of the B 2 Spirit stealth bombers allocated to Whiteman controlling 509 Bombardment Wing while working up construction of B 2 facilities and 351 Missile Wing equipped with Minuteman II Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles ICBM. 351 MW was reassigned to the newly reformed Twentieth Air Force on 29 March 1991 and 100 AD was inactivated on 26 July 1991 when 509 Bomb Wing took over host duties at Whiteman AFB.

100 Air Refuelling Wing was reactivated at RAF Mildenhall on 1 February 1992 equipped with KC 135R Stratotanker aircraft assigned to Third Air Force as USAFE sole air refuelling Wing and became RAF Mildenhalls host wing with the inactivation of 513 Airborne Command and Control Wing. 100 Air Refuelling Wing took responsibility for managing European Tanker Task Force ETTF and its forward operating locations Zaragoza AB Spain ZAB Riyadh AB Saudi Arabia Keflavik AB Iceland Hellenikon AB Greece Lajes Field Azores and Sigonella NAS Italy from 306 Strategic Wing when inactivated on 1 March 1992 utilising its own KC 135R Stratotanker aircraft from 351 Air Refuelling Squadron as well as rotating TDY air refuelling units.

100 ARW with ETTF continued to support operations both for the US and for North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO. 100 ARW increased its permanent KC 135 force from nine to fifteen aircraft in September 1998 which enabled the Wing to undertake all ETTF duties without the need for TDY assets from US based units and the ETTF mission was ended on 28 November 1998.

100 ARW supported numerous USAF and NATO operations and under the USAF Expeditionary Air Force concept the Wings aircraft and personnel deployed are designated as 100 Air Expeditionary Wing AEW since elements deployed for Operation Allied Force with RAF Mildenhall based 100 Expeditionary Operations Groups 351 Air Refueling Squadron augmented with various ANG resources operating from 24 March to 8 April 1999 and 100 Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron from 9 April to 20 June 1999. In addition the Wings RAF Brize Norton based 100 Expeditionary Group with 106 Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron operated from 24 March 1999 and the Wings RAF Fairford based 2 Air Expeditionary Group with 22 Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron operated from 24 March 1999. Deployed operations include Operations Noble Anvil Enduring Freedom Iraqi Freedom Odyssey Dawn Libya Unified Protector Libya and Inherent Resolve against ISIS operations in Africa for AFRICOM.

This patch dates from the 1960s.