| 115th Fighter Wing | |
|---|---|
 F-16s from the 176th FS on a routine training mission in the skies over Wisconsin[1] | |
| Active | 1950–1952, 1952–1958, 1961–present |
| Country |  United States |
| Allegiance |  Wisconsin |
| Branch |  Air National Guard |
| Type | Wing |
| Role | Fighter |
| Part of | Wisconsin Air National Guard |
| Garrison/HQ | Truax Field Air National Guard Base, Madison, Wisconsin |
| Decorations | Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Colonel Benjamin M. Gerds |
| Insignia | |
| 115th Fighter Wing emblem |  |
| Tail Code | WI Red stripe with "Wisconsin" in white letters |
| Aircraft flown | |
| Fighter | F-35A Lightning II |
The115th Fighter Wing is a unit of theWisconsin Air National Guard, which is stationed atTruax Field Air National Guard Base, Madison, Wisconsin. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by theUnited States Air ForceAir Combat Command.
As an Air National Guard unit, it is normally under the command of the Governor, but has a federal role as well. Currently the wing has personnel and/or aircraft assigned toOperation Noble Eagle, and has served onOperation Jump Start and the Air Expeditionary Force in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The 115th Fighter Wing consists of the following units:
Thewing was first activated as the128th Fighter Wing in November 1950, when theAir National Guard converted its units to theWing Base organization, which placed operational and support units under a single wing. Four months later, the wing was federalized in the second wave of Air National Guard callups for theKorean War, and assigned toAir Defense Command.[2] It moved toTruax Field near Madison, Wisconsin where both the126th and176th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron flewair defense training missions until being inactivated in February 1952. The wing returned to Wisconsin state control and to its station near Milwaukee in November.
The wing trained for its air defense mission until 1958. It was again activated in April 1961, remaining in the air defense mission, although its original group at the same station assumed theair refueling mission. In June 1971, the squadron again moved from General Mitchell Field to Truax Field, where the 115th Fighter-Interceptor Group was located.
In September 1972, the wing's 176th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron won the "William Tell Competition" in the F-102 category. The event, held atTyndall Air Force Base, included top Air National Guard,Canadian Air Force and active US Air Force units worldwide. The competition included 12 teams of 48 aircraft, each team scored on aerial marksmanship, weapons control, weapons loading and maintenance.
In November 1974, the wing's gaining command changed from Air Defense Command toTactical Air Command (TAC) and its designation changed to the128th Tactical Air Support Wing. With the realignment to TAC, in December 1974, the unit's F-102s were replaced by theCessna O-2A Skymaster Forward Air Control (FAC) aircraft. The O-2 was the military version of the Cessna 337 Skymaster, a high wing, twin-boom aircraft with a unique centerline pusher/tractor twin engine configuration. The O-2A version was used inforward air control missions, often in conjunction with a ground forward air controller and a radio operator, maintenance, and driver (ROMAD) team.
In November 1979, the O-2s were replaced by theCessna OA-37B Dragonfly forward air control aircraft. It was developed from the A-37 light attack plane which was used extensively in theVietnam War as a counter-insurgency aircraft, with the surviving planes either being sold to theRepublic of Vietnam Air Force or returned to the United States. The OA-37s were received from Air National Guard units in Maryland and New York.
With most of the pilots and maintenance crews having prior jet aircraft experience with the F-102s, the unit was able to transition the OA-37 to C-1 status, (full combat ready), in less than six months. Awards during the OA-37 era included an overall rating of "Excellent" in the unit's Operational Readiness Inspection, the Distinguished Flying Award and its firstAir Force Outstanding Unit Award.
On 1 October 1981, the group was redesignated the128th Tactical Fighter Wing. Along with the mission change came a new aircraft, theFairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, nicknamed the "Warthog". The OA-37s were sent to other Air National Guard units; its survivability made the A-10 an excellent weapons delivery system for ground targets. The A-10's most dominant feature is its seven-barrel GAU-8/A 30 mm cannon, capable of firing at up to 70 "tank busting" rounds per second.
During the A-10 era, the unit received two Outstanding Unit Awards, three Air Force Flight Safety Awards, and in 1991 an "Outstanding" in its Unit Effectiveness Inspection. Deployments with the A-10 included Operation Coronet Cove to Panama, and "Checkered Flag" missions to NATO bases in West Germany and England.
With the end of theCold War, the early 1990s marked several changes. On 16 March 1992, the wing became the '128th Fighter Wing and shortly thereafter changed its mobilization command change from Tactical Air Command to the newly createdAir Combat Command.
In 1993, the wing began transitioning from the A-10A to theF-16C/D block 30 Fighting Falcon airframes with the enlarged inlet, the A-10s were transferred to other Air National Guard units. The first F-16s arrived at Truax Air National Guard Base on 1 April 1993. The current role of the 176th FS is air-interdiction and close air support (CAS). This was the same task as when they flew the A-10, although the transition to the F-16 meant a huge change in the overall execution of this mission when comparing the A-10 with the F-16.
On 11 October 1995, the 128th Fighter Wing was renamed the 115th Fighter Wing and converted to the Objective Wing organization with its operational squadron assigned to the 115th Operations Group. The 128th designation duplicated that of the128th Air Refueling Wing atGeneral Mitchell Air National Guard Base, another Wisconsin Air National Guard unit, which upgraded from group status.
Operations participated in by the 115th Fighter Wing include: Operation Coronet Chariot,Karup AS,Denmark 1994,Operation Northern Watch,Incirlik AB,Turkey 1997,Operation Southern Watch,Al Jaber AB,Kuwait 1997–98, Operation Southern Watch,Prince Sultan AB,Saudi Arabia 1999,Operation Coronet Nighthawk,Curacao,Netherlands Antilles 2001,Operation Enduring Freedom,Al Udeid AB,Qatar 2004–05,Balad AB,Iraq, 2006, 08, & 09, Africa, 2013 andOperation Noble Eagle, from 11 September 2001 to the present.
In its2005 Base Realignment and Closure Recommendations, the Department of Defense recommended to closeCannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. As a result, three of the27th Fighter Wing's F-16s were to be distributed to the 115th Fighter Wing amongst other aircraft moves.
The 176th Fighter Squadron celebrated its 60th anniversary in October 2008.
Today the wing is capable of air-to-air, close air support and precision guided bombing missions. The wing operates the latest generation of munitions such as theJDAM series bombs and theAIM-9X air-to-air missile.[citation needed]
In December 2017, the Air Force announced that the 115th was one of two Air National Guard wings selected for equipping with theLockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. The conversion to thefifth-generation jet fighter is scheduled for 2023.[3][4] In April 2023, Four F-35 fighter jets were delivered to the 115th fighter wing. Eventually, a total of 20 of those aircraft are scheduled to arrive at the air field in the next year.[5]
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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