World War I The
Texas Air National Guard began as the
111th Aero Squadron on 14 August 1917 at
Kelly Field in San Antonio, TX. The unit, composed of teamsters and laborers, was on special duty at Kelly Field and was known as the "Post Headquarters Squadron." The squadron was demobilized 19 August 1919.
Texas National Guard The unit was reorganized with the establishment of a permanent air service in 1920, forming in the old Houston Light Guard Armory. The
111th Observation Squadron received Federal Recognition on 29 June 1923, as part of the 36th Division,
Texas National Guard. until Pearl Harbor was bombed, it was sent to the Mexican border,
Fort Clark Springs Texas. The border patrol was short, and on 14 February 1942, the squadron left Texas for
Daniel Field, Georgia and became part of the
68th Observation Group. Pilots trained on
Douglas O-43A,
Vultee/Stinson O-49/L-1 Vigilant and
Douglas A-20B Havoc aircraft in preparation for deployment to the European Theater of Operations (ETO). In 1942 the ground echelon and some pilots made their way to Scotland then England in preparation for landing on the Algerian beaches as part of
Operation Torch, their shiny new
P-39 Airacobras had to be assembled and tested before flying from England to Algeria. Some of the pilots of the 68th Group flew their A-20s directly across the Atlantic on the "Southern Route" and immediately began flying over the Mediterranean in anti-submarine patrols, sinking at least one submarine. As the invasion force moved inland, the three squadrons of the group divided up the A-20s and P-39s by squadron and the 111th took on the Fighter Reconnaissance role in the P-39. In March 1943, the 111th left the 68th Group to defend against a possible invasion of French Morocco from Spanish Morocco while the rest of the group was selected to support the Tunisian Campaign of the Army's II Corps. In June 1943 the newly redesignated
111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, flying Allison engined F-6A or F-6B Mustangs (taken from a British order of Mk IAs), became the eyes of the Seventh Army in Sicily,
Operation Husky. They were temporarily assigned to the Fifth Army in Italy for the invasion of Salerno, "the 111th Fighter Reconnaissance Squadron had been trained to spot naval gunfire". They returned in July 1944 in time to support the Seventh Army's invasion of southern France,
Operation Dragoon. In addition to the older F-6A/F-6B Mustangs, they began receiving F-6C Mustangs (the photographic reconnaissance version of the P-51C). The 111th remained with the Seventh Army through the end of the war. From
VE Day until December 1945, the squadron served in the occupation force, and conducted postwar photo-mapping of the devastation in France. During 23 months of continuous combat flying, from June 1943 through May 1945, the squadron flew 3,840 reconnaissance missions. While keeping army headquarters informed of enemy movements, the 111th destroyed 44 enemy aircraft, damaged 29 others and claimed 12 probable kills. The squadron received eight
Battle Stars, a
Distinguished Unit Citation, and the French
Croix de Guerre for its World War II accomplishments.
Texas Air National Guard The 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was redesignated the '
111th Fighter Squadron and allotted to the National Guard on 24 May 1946. It was organized ate
Houston Municipal Airport and extended federal recognition on 27 January 1947. The 111th Fighter Squadron was assigned to the Texas Air National Guard
136th Fighter Group and was equipped with F-51D Mustangs. The mission of the squadron was the air defense of Texas. During the postwar years, the 111th primarily trained over the southern and eastern parts of the state; the
181st Fighter Squadron, based at
Love Field, Dallas, and covered the south east, and the
182d Fighter Squadron, based at
Brooks Air Force Base, near San Antonio covered the Hill Country and west Texas.
Korean War activation As a result of the
Korean War, the Texas Air National Guard was federalized and placed on active-duty status on 10 October 1950, being assigned to
Ninth Air Force,
Tactical Air Command (TAC). TAC ordered the 136th Fighter Group to
Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where the unit was redesignated the
136th Fighter-Bomber Group. At Langley, the 136th Fighter-Bomber Wing consisted of the following units: • 111th Fighter-Bomber Squadron •
182d Fighter-Bomber Squadron •
154th Fighter-Bomber Squadron (
Arkansas ANG). At Langley, the 136th trained with their F-51D Mustangs. Unfortunately losing two squadro pilots in a training accident on 15 December. A third pilot was killed on 27 January 1951 in another accident. In February 1951, the aged F-51Ds that the unit had been flying since its activation in 1947 were replaced by
F-84E Thunderjets, and the squadron began transition training on the jet fighter-bomber. Most of the training took place at Langley, although some pilots were sent to
Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. Maintenance crews, all new to jet aircraft, were trained at Langley and engine specialists were sent to the Allison plant in Indianapolis. Assigned to the
Arkansas ANG 154th FBS at the time was a Navy exchange pilot, future
NASA astronaut Lt.
Walter Schirra (who happened to be the only pilot assigned to the 136th at the time who was a qualified jet pilot). In May 1951, less than seven months later, the Wing was deployed to Japan, being attached to
Far East Air Forces (FEAF)and stationed at
Itazuke Air Force Base, the first echelon of the 136th arriving on 18 May. The 136th replaced the
Strategic Air Command 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, which had deployed to FEAF in the early days of the Korean War. At Itazuke, the squadrons took over the F-84Es of the 27th, which remained in place. On 2 June, the final elements of the 136th arrived in Japan, the National Guardsmen officially relieved the 27th and the SAC airmen departed for the United States. The 136th was the first Air National Guard wing in history to enter combat. From Japan the Wing engaged in combat operations over South Korea, however flying in the North Pacific area was a challenge to the wing, losing seven F-84Es in non-combat operations and three in combat. On 26 June, in one of the largest air-to-air battles in Korea, two 182d FBS pilots, Captain Harry Underwood and 1st LT Arthur Olighter shot down an enemy
MiG-15 that broke through an
F-86 Sabre escort of four B-29s. Two other 111th pilots, 1st Lt John Morse and John Marlins scored probables in the same encounter. These were the first combat victories by Air National Guard pilots. On 3 July the 136th sent their aircraft to North Korea, attacking
Flak batteries in downtown
Pyongyang while other aircraft attacked North Korean airfields. However, the short-legged F-84 had limited combat time over Korea, therefore on 16 November 1951 the Wing moved to
Taegu Air Force Base (K-2) in South Korea for its combat operations. In 1952, the 136th was re-equipped with the
F-84G Thunderjet, designed for tactical close air support of ground forces. The squadron flew over 6,000 escort, interdiction, and close air support sorties for the United Nations Troops and 111th Fighter-Bomber Squadron pilots destroyed at least two
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter jets. The
111th Fighter-Bomber Squadron returned to the Houston Municipal Airport without aircraft or personnel in July 1952 and began to rebuild. In July 1956 the
F-80 Shooting Stars of the 111thr Squadron went on "Dawn to Dusk" alert at the Houston Municipal Airport. In May 1971, the 111th added
F-101B/F Voodoos and became the RTU tar the twin seat F-101F type, while continuing as the F-102 Delta Dagger RTU. In January 1975, after 14 years of service, the unit's F-102s were retired, but the unit maintained a full fleet of F-101s. The 111th also operated detachment 1 of the 147th Wing at
New Orleans. The detachment was apart from the squadron in that it maintained constant alert status while facing towards Cuba.
Tactical Air Command In October 1979, in as part of the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command, the USAF gained command responsibilities which shifted to
Tactical Air Command (TAC) and an organization equivalent to a numbered air force designated as
Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). In 1982, the F-101s were retired and ADTAC re-equipped the 111th with the McDonnell
F-4C Phantom II and continued its air defense mission. Most of the F-4Cs the squadron received were
Vietnam War veteran aircraft. In November 1986, the F-4Cs were replaced by later-model F-4Ds. In December 1989 the 111th started receiving block 15
F-16C/D Fighting Falcon aircraft to replace their F-4Ds. The last F-16 arrived in April 1990.
Post Cold War era In 1992, only a few years following the acceptance of their block 15s, they converted to the ADF variant of the block 15. On 15 March 15, 1992 the 111th was redesignated the
111th Fighter Squadron when its parent 147th Fighter Group converted to the USAF Objective Organization plan. Also in 1992 the 111th celebrated its 75th anniversary. To commemorate this F-16A ADF, serial 82-1001 was painted in special markings including a big Texas flag painted on the fuselage underside. During September 1995, the 111th FS ended its alert detachment in New Orleans with the F-101 Voodoo, also the 147th was upgraded to a Wing, with the 111th Fighter Squadron being assigned to the new 147th Operations Group. In late 1996 the 111th started to retire their ADF F-16s to AMARC. To replace these aircraft the squadron received the block 25 F-16C/D Fighting Falcon. Transition started in September 1996 and was completed by February 1997. This brought a change in role which officially happened in October 1998. The role went from air-to-air to an air-to-ground mission. After returning from an
Operation Southern Watch mission at
Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia in October 2000, the squadron added precision guided munitions to its arsenal.
Global war on terrorism Following the
11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, four 111th Fighter Squadron aircraft were launched to escort President George W. Bush, onboard
Air Force One from Florida to Louisiana, Nebraska and finally back to Washington DC that same day. December 2001 saw the 111th deploy to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to fly Air Defense
Combat Air Patrol missions over New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC in support of
Operation Noble Eagle. In August 2005 components of the 111th Fighter Squadron and 147th Fighter Wing deployed to Balad Airbase, Iraq to conduct combat operations in support of
Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Global
War on Terrorism. The men and women of the 111th FS/147th FW once again distinguished themselves by flying 462
sorties and almost 1,900 hours in a two-month span; with a perfect record of 100% maintenance delivery (zero missed sorties), 100% mission effectiveness, and 100% weapons employment/hits under the most challenging combat conditions.
90th Anniversary In November 2007, an F-16C Fighting Falcon from the Texas Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Squadron received a special paint job in honor of the squadron's 90th anniversary. All the colors and markings have specific meanings, reflecting the unit's nine-decade history. The rudder is painted like a
JN-4 Jenny, which the squadron flew in the 1920s. The schemes for the wings and flaps recall the paint schemes of the pre-
World War II era. The blue fuselage represents the
Korean War, in which the squadron earned credit for two air victories. The gray underside represents the jet age. The "N5 A" was the insignia the squadron's
P-51 Mustangs sported during World War II, in which the squadron claimed 44 air victories. Also representing World War II is the star on the fuselage, while the star on the wing represents the pre-World War II era. "Ace in the Hole" and the star on the tail replicate the markings of the squadron's F-84s during the
Korean War. The ventral fin, partially obscured, reads "Est. 1917."
BRAC 2005 reorganization During the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it was recommended that the F-16 block 25s be retired. Texas Governor,
Rick Perry, reacted quickly and made sure the unit could remain alive and did so by securing
MQ-1 Predator operations. This is an unmanned aircraft and although not exactly what the 111th FS had hoped for, it would keep the unit going well into the future. As was earlier planned in 2005, the 111th FS gave up its last two F-16s on 7 June 2008 and F-16 operations drew to a close. The MQ-1 replaced the F-16 and the parent wing was renamed the
147th Reconnaissance Wing that same month. ==Lineage==