| 179th Fighter Squadron | |
|---|---|
.jpg) 179th FS F-16CM91-0420 landing onNellis AFB, 2017. | |
| Active | 26 May 1943 – 7 Nov 1945 24 May 1946 – 1 Dec 1952 1 Dec 1952 – present |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  Minnesota |
| Branch |  Air National Guard |
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Fighter |
| Part of | Minnesota Air National Guard |
| Garrison/HQ | Duluth Air National Guard Base, Minnesota |
| Nickname | Bulldogs |
| Mottos | Cave Canum (Latin for 'Beware of the Dog')[1] |
| Engagements | World War II |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Insignia | |
| 179th Fighter Squadron emblem |  |
| 179th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron emblem |  |
| Tail Markings | Blue tail stripe "Duluth" in white letters Tail Code:MN |
| World War II Fuselage Code | 8L |
The179th Fighter Squadron (179 FS) is a unit of theMinnesota Air National Guard148th Fighter Wing located atDuluth Air National Guard Base, Minnesota, United States. The 179th is equipped with theGeneral Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon.
.jpg)
Thesquadron was first organized as the393d Fighter Squadron atHamilton Field, California, on 15 July 1943, as one of the original squadrons of the367th Fighter Group.[2][3] Several members of its initialcadre were formerFlying Tigers with prior combat experience. It was not until late August, however, that the group received its firstBell P-39 Airacobra.[4] After building up its strength, the squadron moved in October toSanta Rosa Army Air Field, California.[3] In December group headquarters and the squadron moved toOakland Municipal Airport,[2] while the other squadrons of the group were at other locations in northern California. The squadron moved temporarily toTonopah Army Air Field, Nevada, where it performeddive bombing andgunnery training. Training accidents with the Bell P-39 Airacobra cost several pilots their lives. In January 1944, as it prepared for overseas movement, the 393d was further reinforced with personnel from the328th and368th Fighter Groups.[5] The squadron staged throughCamp Shanks, and sailed for England aboard theSS Duchess of Bedford.[6] The "Drunken Duchess"[note 1] docked atGreenock, Scotland on 3 April and the group was transported by train to its airfield atRAF Stoney Cross, England.[5]
Having trained on single engine aircraft, the squadrons's pilots were surprised to findLockheed P-38 Lightnings sitting on Stoney Cross's dispersal pads.[7] Only members of the advance party had any experience flying the Lightning. These pilots had flown combat sorties with the55th Fighter Group.[8] The change from single engine to twin engine aircraft required considerable retraining for both pilots and ground crew.[7] Although some pilots entered combat with as little as eight hours of flying time on the P-38, in late April the squadron was reinforced by pilots who had trained on the Lightning in the States and were more experienced on the type.[9] However, the lack of instrument training in the P-38 took its toll on the 393d as weather, not enemy action, caused the loss of pilots and airplanes.[10]
On 9 May, the squadron flew its first combat mission, a fighter sweep overAlençon, France.[11] For the remainer of the month, the unit flew fighter sweeps, bomber escort anddive bombing, missions and suffered its first combat losses.[12]
OnD-Day and the next three days the squadron flew missions maintaining air cover over shipping carrying invasion troops.[7] These missions continued for the next three days. The 393d and other P-38 units stationed in England were selected for these missions with the expectation that the distinctive silhouette of the Lightning would prevent potential friendly fire incidents by anti-aircraft gunners mistaking them for enemy fighters.[13] Shortly after the Normandy invasion, on 12 June, the 367th Group was selected to test the ability of the P-38 to carry a 2,000 lb bomb under each wing. The selected target was arailroad yard, and results were mixed.[14] However, on this mission, the squadron scored its first air-to-air victory when Lts James Pinkerton and James Mason combined to shoot down aMesserschmitt Me 410 flying near the assigned target.[14]
By mid JuneGerman ground forces had withdrawn to defend a perimeter aroundCherbourg Harbour, a major port whose capture had become more important to the allies with the destruction ofMulberry A, one of the artificial harbors constructed near the Normandy beachhead. An attack byVII Corps on 22 June was to be preceded by low level bombing and strafing attack byIX Fighter Command. Briefed by intelligence to expect a "milk run" The 394th flew at low altitude through what turned out to be a heavily defended area. Within two to three minutes after beginning the attack the squadron lost five pilots. Seven group pilots were killed in action. Nearly all surviving aircraft received battle damage and the entire 367th Group was out of action for several days.[7][15]
Ninth Air Force moved its medium bomber forces to bases closer to the Continent in July, so they would be able to strike targets near the expanding front in France. The387th Bombardment Group was moved to Stoney Cross, forcing the 394th to vacate their station and move the short distance toRAF Ibsley.[16] From Ibsley the group struck railroads, marshaling yards, and trains to prevent enemy reinforcements from reaching the front duringOperation Cobra, the Allied breakthrough atSaint-Lô in July 1944.[2]
Starting on 19 July, the 367th Group's forward echelon crossed theEnglish Channel to take up stations inNormandy, France.[17] Group headquarters sharedBeuzeville Airfield with the371st Fighter Group, while the 393d Squadron was atCricqueville Airfield,[3] advanced landing grounds made frompierced steel planking. After the breakout of ground forces in the Saint-Lô area, the squadron concentrated on close air support ofGeneral Patton'sThird Army. In late August, the squadron attackedGerman Seventh Army convoys which, to prevent being surrounded, were withdrawing eastward from theFalaise pocket. Five convoys and 100Tiger Tanks were destroyed on one day.[7]
On 22 August the group attacked threeLuftwaffe airfields nearLaon. The392d Fighter Squadron dive bombed and destroyed two hangars on one airfield but were jumped by twelveFocke-Wulf Fw 190s as they completed their attack. EighteenMesserschmitt Bf 109s and Fw 190s engaged the 393d as it reformed from its dive bomb run. After bombing its target, the394th Fighter Squadron turned to reinforce the 392d. The squadrons of the 367th Group claimed fourteen enemy aircraft in total against a loss of one Lightning.[7]
The 393d received aDistinguished Unit Citation when it returned to the Laon area three days later. That day, the 367th Group attackedLuftwaffe airfields atClastres,Péronne andRosières-en-Haye through an intenseflak barrage. The group then engaged more than thirty Focke-Wulf 190 fighters that had just taken off. Group claims were 25 enemy aircraft destroyed, one probably destroyed and 17 damaged against the loss of 6 group aircraft.[note 2] Then, despite a low fuel supply, the unitstrafed a train and convoy after leaving the scene of battle. Captain Larry Blumer of the 393d destroyed five enemy aircraft becoming anace on one mission. In the afternoon the squadron conducted a long range fighter sweep of more than 800 miles to airfields in theDijon-Bordeaux area.[2][7][18]
As Allied forces moved forward across France the squadron began leap-frogging to new bases. In early September they relocated atPeray Airfield, but moved again a week later toClastres Airfield.[3] From Clastres The 393d supportedOperation Market-Garden by escorting troop carrier aircraft and attacking flak positions. For its attacks that Fall, the squadron was cited in the Order of the Day by the Belgium Army.[7]
In late October, as the Ninth Air Force brought its medium bombers to bases in France, the 393d was bumped from its station for the second time by the 387th Bombardment Group, when it moved toJuvincourt Airfield, north ofReims.[2][19] Juvincourt was a former Luftwaffe base with permanent facilities, in contrast to the advanced landing grounds where the squadron had been based since moving to France.[20] The squadron attacked German strong points to aid the Allied push against theSiegfried Line throughout the fall of 1944.[2]
The GermanArdennes Offensive occurred as the holidays approached. A planned move to a field in Belgium was canceled. During the Battle of the Bulge, the 394th, after escorting C-47s on a resupply drop to encircled troops at Bastogne, conducted an armed reconnaissance of theTrier area. The group was engaged by Fw 190s and a 40-minute air battle ensued in which the group claimed eight destroyed, two probably destroyed and nine damaged.[7]
Early in 1945 a desire to standardize the fighter-bombers in Ninth Air Force, the squadron transitioned intoRepublic P-47 Thunderbolts. Pilots flew Lightnings on combat missions while training at the same time with the Thunderbolt. The 393d was the first squadron of the 367th Group to fly a combat missions with the P-47s. Using the Thunderbolt the squadron was again cited in a Belgium Army Order of the Day, earning theBelgian Fourragere.[7]
The 393d received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for action on 19 March 1945. The 367th Group's target was the headquarters ofField Marshal Kesselring, the German Commander-ln-Chief, West,[note 3] at Ziegenburg nearBad Nauheim, Germany. Aircraft of the leading 394th Fighter Squadron would attack at low level to achieve surprise, carrying a 1,000-pound bomb under each wing. The P-47s of the 392d Fighter Squadron would be similarly armed, but woulddive bomb from a higher altitude. The bombs were equipped with time-delay fuses intended to crack the concrete roofs of the bunker. The 393d carriednapalm intended to seep into the bunkers and burn what remained. The attack was scheduled for a time that intelligence reports indicated would find senior staff and commanders at lunch, the only time they would not be in the reinforced tunnels underneath the castle that housed the headquarters. The target was located in mountainous terrain well defended by antiaircraft artillery. Moreover, to avoid alerting the Germans to the pending attack, photographic reconnaissance aircraft had avoided the area, so detailed target photography was not available. The day of the attack the castle was concealed by ground haze which caused the 394th Fighter Squadron to stray off course at the last minute, preventing them from executing the attack as planned and reducing the element of surprise.[21] Although senior German officers reached the underground bunkers and survived the attack, the group reduced the military complex to ruins, disrupting communications and the flow of intelligence at a critical time.[7]
The squadron struck tanks, trucks, flak positions, and other objectives in support of the assault across theRhine late in March and the final allied operations in Germany.[2] It was commended by the commanding generals ofXII Corps and the11th Armored Division for the close air support the unit provided for their commands. On 10 April the squadron moved toEschborn Airfield on the northwest side ofFrankfurt, Germany. The 393d flew its last combat mission, a defensive patrol, one year after entering combat on 8 May.[22] During its combat tour, the squadron was credited with 22.5 air-to-air victories over enemy aircraft.[23]
All hostilities ceasedthe following day, exactly one year after the squadron became operational. On 4 June, the 367th Group led a flyby forGeneral Weyland.[7] On 1 July it was announced the 393d was to redeploy to thePacific Theater after it was re-equipped with and trained with long range P-47Ns in preparation forOperation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.[2] The squadron moved to Camp Detroit in France then to a staging area nearMarseille. Here it boarded two ships, theUSS General C. G. Morton, and theUSNS John Ericsson (T-AO-194). When Japan surrendered, theMorton was diverted toNewport News, Virginia, while theEriccson sailed forStaten Island, New York.[7] Following leave for everyone, the few personnel that remained in the squadron after transfers and discharges reassembled atSeymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, on 2 November and the 393d was inactivated there on 7 November 1945.[2][7]
The wartime 393d Fighter Squadron was redesignated the179th Fighter Squadron and was allotted to theNational Guard on 24 May 1946. It was organized atDuluth Municipal Airport and was extended federal recognition on 17 September 1948. The squadron was equipped withNorth American F-51D Mustangs and was assigned to the133d Fighter Group atWold-Chamberlain Field, Minneapolis.
On 1 March 1951, the 179th was federalized and brought to active duty due to theKorean War. Shortly after activation it was redesignated the179th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and became part ofAir Defense Command. On active duty it assumed anair defense mission and initially remained assigned to the 133d Fighter-Interceptor Group at Duluth Municipal Airport.[24] However, ADC experienced difficulty under the existingwing base organizational structure in deploying its fighter squadrons to best advantage.[25] As a result, in February 1952 the 133d Group was inactivated and the squadron was reassigned to the31st Air Division. The squadron was inactivated and returned to the control of the State of Minnesota on 1 December 1952.[24]
The unit was organized by 1 January 1953 and ADC became its gaining command upon call to active duty. It resumed its peacetime training mission. The squadron upgraded in 1954 to theradar equippedLockheed F-94 Starfire all-weather interceptor, armed with .50 caliber machine guns. With this new aircraft, the 179th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron became an all-weather interceptor unit. In 1957, the 179th again upgraded to the improvedNorthrop F-89C Scorpion then in 1959, the unit converted to the F-89J model of the Scorpion, which was not only equipped withdata link for interception control through theSemi-Automatic Ground Environment system, but which carried the nuclear armedAIR-2 Genie.[26]
On 1 July 1960, the 179th was authorized to expand to a group level, and the148th Fighter Group (Air Defense) was established along with supporting squadrons.[26] The 179th became the new group's flying squadron. The other squadrons assigned to the group were the 148th Material Squadron, 148th Air Bse Squadron and the 148th USAF Dispensary. The same day, the squadron assumed a 24-hour air defensealert status at Duluth alongside the regular Air Force11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.[26]
In 1967, the supersonicConvair F-102A Delta Dagger replaced the squadron's F-89J. TheMcDonnell F-101B Voodoo came aboard in April 1971 and remained until January 1976 when the unit was redesignated, becoming the179th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron withMcDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom II Mach-2 unarmed reconnaissance aircraft. Its new mission entailed all weather, high or low altitude, day or night, reconnaissance. This mission also required the unit to have the capability to deploy to a wide variety of operating locations. The 179th TRS deployed seven RF-4Cs toErding Air Base inWest Germany between 3 and 23 August 1979 as part of Exercise Coronet Bridle.[27]
In October 1983, the mission changed again and the 179th returned to air defense becoming the179th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. The return to alert and air defense was accompanied by the McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II tactical fighter,[26] most of the unit's aircraft being veterans of the Vietnam War. Between 1 March 1986 and 6 April 1987, three F-4Ds (65-0585,65-0593 and65-0648) from the 179th FIS were deployed toRamstein Air Base, West Germany, alongside Phantoms of the178th FIS and194th FIS as part of Exercise Creek Klaxon,[28] which saw the ANG units take QRA responsibilities while the526th TFS converted to theGeneral Dynamics F-16C Fighting Falcon.[29]
On 10 March 1990, the 179th FIS received the first variants of the F-16A Fighting Falcon air defense fighter (ADF) to take over from the F-4D Phantom II. The early F-16 markings included "Duluth" on a tail stripe as well as an image of the Big Dipper. The last flight of a 179th FIS F-4D was under taken by65-0608 on 17 April 1990.[30] On 17 March 1992, the 179th was renamed the179th Fighter Squadron. A few years later, in October 1995, the unit was tasked with maintaining a detachment (Detachment 1, 148th Fighter Wing), which maintained alert status atTyndall Air Force Base, Florida.[26]
To fit the needs of a shrinking air force, the squadron dropped the air superiority role and became a general purpose tactical fighter squadron. Already proficient in the air-to-air mission, the 179th had to be brought up to speed with both using guided and unguided bombs. Live bombs were dropped for the first time in March 2000 during a training exercise. Due to the role change, the squadron's base facilities also had to be renovated.[26]
On 11 September 2001, the squadron became very busy as a result of the attack on the twoWorld Trade Center towers inNew York City. As an immediate aftermath, the 148th was again tasked with air defense, providingcombat air patrols over the capital and New York City, and with deploying personnel and aircraft back to its detached alert facility at Tyndall.[26]
Towards the end of 2003 the Bulldogs began conversion to the F-16C/D block 25. Most F-16A/Bs were retired straight to theAerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center. During the course of the conversion, Detachment 1 at Tyndall was discontinued. With the newer Fighting Falcons, the squadron began combat deployments, sometimes operating as an expeditionary fighter squadron. As part ofOperation Iraqi Freedom, the 179th was one of the first F-16 units to be based inBalad Air Base, Iraq. The 179th deployed more than 200 personnel between April and June 2005. The squadron was tasked with both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat operations. Another deployment to Balad was set up between September and December 2008.
On 27 April 2010, the squadron began another conversion being the first Air National Guard unit to operate the block 50 F-16C/D when five aircraft arrived fromSpangdahlem Air Base, Germany when22d and23d Fighter Squadrons at Spangdahlem were replaced by the480th Fighter Squadron, with the surplus aircraft going to the 179th. The majority of the block 25s were sent to retirement atDavis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona.[31]
Between April and July 2016, the 179th deployed toOsan Air Base,South Korea, as the 179th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron,[32] being replaced by the157th Fighter Squadron.[33] The 179th EFS deployed to Southwest Asia as part ofOperation Inherent Resolve between April and August 2018, flying nearly 3,500 hours across over 600 sorties.[34][35] From 1 to 12 April 2019, the 179th FS deployed toLeeuwarden Air Base in theNetherlands to participate inExercise Frisian Flag 2019.[36]
|
|
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
| Leadership |  | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Structure |
| ||||||||||
| Personnel and training | |||||||||||
| Uniforms and equipment | |||||||||||
| History and traditions |
| ||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
State ofMinnesota | |
|---|---|
Saint Paul (capital) | |
| Topics |
|
| Society | |
| Regions | |
| Largest cities pop. over 25,000 |
|
| Counties |
|
.svg)
.svg)