100th Air Refueling Wing

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100th Air Refueling Wing
100th ARW Emblem
Active	1942–1945, 1947–1949, 1956–1983, 1990–1991, 1992–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Air Refueling
Size	Wing
Part of	United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa
Garrison/HQ	RAF Mildenhall
Nickname(s)	Bloody Hundredth[1]
Motto(s)	Peace Through Strength
Engagements	World War II: European Campaign (1943–1945) Operation Odyssey Dawn Operation Unified Protector
Decorations	DUC AFOUA FCdG w/ Palm
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Gene Jacobus [1]
Notable commanders	Darr H. Alkire

The 100th Air Refueling Wing (100th ARW), nicknamed the Bloody Hundredth, is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. It is stationed at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk, United Kingdom. It is also the host wing at RAF Mildenhall.

The 100th ARW is the only permanent U.S. air refueling wing in the European theater, operating the Boeing KC-135R/T Stratotanker.

During World War II, its predecessor unit, the 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy), was an Eighth Air Force B-17 Flying Fortress unit in England, stationed at RAF Thorpe Abbotts. Flying over 300 combat missions, the group earned two Distinguished Unit Citations (Regensburg, 17 August 1943; Berlin, 4/6/8 March 1944). The group suffered tremendous losses in combat, with 177 aircraft missing in action (MIA), flying its last mission on 20 April 1945.

One of the wing's honors is that it is the only modern USAF operational wing allowed to display on its assigned aircraft the tail code (Square-D) of its World War II predecessor. The 379th Bomb Wing used its Triangle-K tail code until deactivated in 1993, but when reactivated as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing was assigned a rotating mix of flying squadrons who used their parent unit's tail code. The Triangle-K is retained as an unofficial unit insignia.