In May, it moved to MacDill Field, Florida, where it was equipped with a mix of pre-production YB-17s and early model Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and Douglas B-18 Bolos.

The squadron was still at MacDill when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and it began to fly antisubmarine patrol missions in the Gulf of Mexico from January 1942.

However, standard military units, like the 6th Squadron, were based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, and were not proving well adapted to the training mission.

[3][9][10] The AAF was organizing new Boeing B-29 Superfortress very heavy bombardment units, and the squadron was activated the same day at Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas.

The campaign against Japan switched that month and the squadron began to conduct low altitude night raids, using incendiaries against area targets.

The squadron received a Distinguished Unit Citation (DUC) for a 31 March attack against an airfield at Omura, Japan.

The squadron earned a second DUC in June for an attack on an industrial area of Shizuoka Prefecture, which included an aircraft factory operated by Mitsubishi and the Chigusa Arsenal.

Following VJ Day, the squadron dropped food and supplies to Allied prisoners of war and participated in several show of force missions over Japan.

[19] The squadron also flew worldwide air refueling missions, including support of tactical aircraft flying in Southeast Asia.

The squadron again flew worldwide air refueling missions, including support of deployments to Southwest Asia from 1990 through 1991.

As a result of the turnover to the reserves, the 22d Wing moved to McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas in January 1994.

Since 2001, the squadron has provided air refueling support for the Global War on Terrorism[1] In the Summer of 1990, following the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq Dictator Saddam Hussein, 43 KC-10 Extenders were deployed to the Persian Gulf.

This proved immensely valuable in both the Gulf War, and later conflicts which involved a large variety of receiver aircraft from different branches, and coalition partners.

[26] According to a report by the Government Accountability Office, by the end of the war, U.S. tankers flew 14,000 sorties, offloading 725 million pounds of fuel to roughly 50,000 receiver aircraft throughout the conflict.