172nd Fighter Squadron
Encyclopedia
Michigan Air National Guard
The Michigan Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is, along with the Michigan Army National Guard, an element of the Michigan National Guard...
. Its parent unit is the 110th Airlift Wing.
In 2009, the squadron was realigned from a fighter squadron to an Airlift Squadron after 60 years. The squadron has served with distinction and pride in several United Nations Operations and contingencies throughout the world. From Bosnia, to Kosovo, to Alaska and most recently Iraq and Afghanistan, in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, the men and women of the 172nd Airlift Squadron proudly serve and uphold the tradition of the military at home, abroad, or wherever the country needs professionalism, dedication, and the supremacy of air power.
World War II
Established in early-1943 as the 375th Fighter Squadron and equipped with P-47 ThunderboltP-47 Thunderbolt
Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
s, the squadron trained under I Fighter Command
I Fighter Command
The I Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the First Air Force, based at Mitchel Army Airfield, New York...
in the mid-Atlantic states. Also flew air-defense missions as part of the Philadelphia Fighter Wing
Philadelphia Fighter Wing
The Philadelphia Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the I Fighter Command, stationed at Philadelphia Airport, Pennsylvania It was inactivated on 3 April 1946....
. Deployed to the European Theater of Operations
European Theater of Operations
The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed U.S. Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and the...
(ETO), being assigned to VIII Fighter Command
VIII Fighter Command
The VIII Fighter Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, being stationed at RAF Honington, England. It was inactivated on 20 March 1946....
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, November 1943.
The unit served primarily as an escort organization, covering the penetration, attack, and withdrawal of B-17/B-24 bomber formations that the USAAF sent against targets on the Continent. The squadron also engaged in counter-air patrols, fighter sweeps, and strafing and dive-bombing missions. Attacked such targets as airdromes, marshalling yards, missile sites, industrial areas, ordnance depots, oil refineries, trains, and highways. During its operations, the unit participated in the assault against the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
and aircraft industry during the Big Week
Big Week
Between February 20–25, 1944, as part of the European strategic bombing campaign, the United States Strategic Air Forces launched Operation Argument, a series of missions against the Third Reich that became known as Big Week. The planners intended to lure the Luftwaffe into a decisive battle by...
, February 20–25, 1944, and the attack on transportation facilities prior to the Normandy invasion
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
and support of the invasion forces thereafter, including the Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in Normandy.-History:Originally called Briovère , the town is built on and around ramparts. Originally it was a Gaul fortified settlement...
breakthrough in July.
The squadron supported the airborne attack on Holland in September 1944 and deployed to Chievres Airdrome, (ALG A-84), Belgium between February and April 1945 flying tactical ground support missions during the airborne assault across the Rhine. The unit returned to Little Walden and flew its last combat mission on April 20, 1945. Demobilized during the summer of 1945 in England, inactivated in the United States as a paper unit in October.
Michigan Air National Guard
After the war, the squadron was allocated to the Michigan Air National GuardMichigan Air National Guard
The Michigan Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is, along with the Michigan Army National Guard, an element of the Michigan National Guard...
in September 1946. It was equipped with the P-51D Mustangs at Kellogg Field, Battle Creek, Michigan in 1947. This was the same year the United States Air Force became an independent branch of the armed forces and the 172nd Fighter Squadron received federal recognition as an Air National Guard Squadron.
The 172nd Fighter Squadron was federally activated in 1951 for the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
and redesignated as the 172nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron. The 172nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron flew the P/F-51 Mustang until 1954. The 172nd, redesignated as a Fighter-Bomber Squadron, transitioned into the North American F-86 Sabre
F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
Jet. The Unit flew this aircraft only until 1955 when they transitioned into the more sophisticated Northrop F-89 Scorpion
F-89 Scorpion
The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an early American jet-powered fighter designed from the outset as an all-weather interceptor. Though its straight wings limited its performance, it was among the first USAF jet fighters with guided missiles, and notably the first combat aircraft armed with air-to-air...
. In 1956, the National Guard Bureau announced that the 172nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron would become part of the newly created 110th Fighter Group. The Unit flew the F-89 Scorpion until 1958. In 1958 the 172nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron traded its F-89’s for a new mission and a new aircraft, the Martin RB-57A Canberra and the reconnaissance mission.
The 172nd, now designated as the 172nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron flew RB-57A’s until 1971. In 1971, the Unit’s mission changed again to the Forward Air Control (FAC) mission, with the transition to the O-2 Skymaster
O-2 Skymaster
The O-2 Skymaster is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster utilized as an observation and forward air control aircraft...
, which it flew until 1980 when it transition to the OA-37 Dragonfly. The dedicated FAC mission lasted until the 172nd transitioned to the Fairchild/Republic A/OA-10 Thunderbolt II
A-10 Thunderbolt II
The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is an American single-seat, twin-engine, straight-wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic in the early 1970s. The A-10 was designed for a United States Air Force requirement to provide close air support for ground forces by attacking tanks,...
, AKA “Warthog” in 1991 and was redesignated the 172nd Fighter Squadron.
Lineage
- Constituted 375th Fighter Squadron on 28 Jan 1943
- Activated on 10 Feb 1943
- Inactivated on 10 Nov 1945
- Re-designated as 172d Fighter Squadron, and allotted to Michigan Air National Guard, on 24 May 1946
- Received federal recognition and was activated on on 16 September 1947
- Federalized and placed on active duty, 10 February 1951
- Designated as 172d Fighter Squadron (Single Engine0, 10 February 1951
- Released from active duty and returned to Michigan state control, 1 November 1952
- Re-designated as 172d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in 1952
- Re-designated as 172d Fighter-Bomber Squadron in 1954
- Re-designated as 172d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in 1958
- Re-designated as 172d Tactical Air Support Squadron in 1971
- Re-designated as 172d Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1991
- Re-designated as 172d Fighter Squadron on 1 Jun 1992
- Re-designated as 172d Airlift Squadron in 2009
Assignments
- 361st Fighter Group361st Fighter GroupThe 361st Fighter Group was a World War II United States Army Air Forces combat organization. It served primarily in the European Theatre of World War II....
, 10 Feb 1943-10 November 1945 - Michigan Air National GuardMichigan Air National GuardThe Michigan Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is, along with the Michigan Army National Guard, an element of the Michigan National Guard...
, 24 May 1946
- Second Air ForceSecond Air ForceThe Second Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command . It is headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi....
(ADC), 16 September 1947 - First Air ForceFirst Air ForceThe First Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida....
(ADC), 1 July 1948 - First Air ForceFirst Air ForceThe First Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida....
(ConAC), 1 December 1948 - 30th Air Division (ConAC), 1 February 1950
- 30th Air Division (ADC), 1 January 1951
- Federalized and placed on active duty under Air Defense Command, 10 February 1951
- 128th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 10 February 1951
- 56th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 1 May 1951
- 4708th Defense Wing 6 February 1952
- Released from active duty and returned to Michigan state control, 1 November 1952
- 30th Air Division (ADC), 1 November 1952
- 110th Fighter Group (ADC), 1956
- 838th Air Division838th Air DivisionThe 838th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command, assigned to Twelfth Air Force, being stationed at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas. It was inactivated on December 24, 1969....
(TAC), 1957 - 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Group (TAC), 1962
- 110th Tactical Air Support Group (TAC), 1971
- 110th Tactical Fighter Group (TAC), 1991
- 110th Fighter Group (ACC), 1992
- 110th Fighter Wing110th Fighter WingThe United States Air Force's 110th Airlift Wing is a unit located at W.K. Kellogg Regional Airport, Michigan.-History:The 110th Airlift Wing , an Air Mobility Command -gained unit of the Michigan Air National Guard was established in 1947 at the W. K...
(ACC), 1995 - 110th Airlift Wing (AMC), 2009-Present
Stations
- Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia, 10 February 1943
- Camp Springs Army Airfield, Maryland, 26 May 1943
- Millville Army Airfield, New Jersey, 15 August 1943
- Camp Springs Army Airfield, Maryland, 18 September 1943
- Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia, 30 September – 11 November 1943
- RAF BottishamRAF BottishamRAF Bottisham is a former World War II airfield in England. The field is located 5 miles E of Cambridge, S of Bottisham village in Cambridgeshire.- RAF Fighter Command use:...
(AAF-374), England, 30 November 1943 - RAF Little WaldenRAF Little WaldenRAF Station Little Walden is a former World War II airfield in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately north-northeast of Saffron Walden; about north-northeast of London...
(AAF-165), England, ca. 28 September 1944
- Operated from St-Dizier Airfield (A-64), France, 23 December 1944 – 1 February 1945
- Chievres AirdromeChièvres Air BaseChièvres Air Base is a United States Air Force airfield located in the Belgian town of Chièvres and about 12 miles from Headquarters, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe , in Casteau. It is mainly used to provide logistic support to NATO and SHAPE...
(A-84), Belgium, 1 February 1945 - RAF Little WaldenRAF Little WaldenRAF Station Little Walden is a former World War II airfield in Essex, England. The airfield is located approximately north-northeast of Saffron Walden; about north-northeast of London...
(AAF-165), England, 7 April – ca. 11 October 1945 - Camp KilmerCamp KilmerCamp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in...
, New Jersey, 23–24 October 1945 - William Kellogg Airport, MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, 1947-Present
- Operated from Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan, 7 May 1951-1 November 1952 (Federalized Service)
Aircraft
- C-21A (2009–Present)
- A-10A Thunderbolt II (1991–2009)
- OA-37B Dragonfly (1981–1991)
- O-2A Skymaster (1971–1981)
- RB-57 Canberra (1957-1971)
- F-89C Scorpion (1955–1957)
- F-86E Sabre (1954–1955)
- P-51H Mustang (1951–1954)
- P-51D Mustang (1947–1951), 1944–1945
- P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
, 1943-1944