Origins In 1956, the United States Air Force, in an effort to upgrade to an all jet fighter force, required Air National Guard Aerospace Defense Command units to upgrade to jet-powered aircraft. The Rhode Island Air National Guard, 152nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, stationed at T.F. Green Municipal Airport in Warwick, was scheduled to replace its aging F-51D Mustang interceptors to F-84 Thunderjets. However, National Guard authorities found themselves in a conflict over the use of T.F. Green Municipal Airport in Warwick with its controlling Airport Commission with regards to using the airport for tactical jet operations. Unable to resolve these differences and no suitable location in the state to move the squadron, the Air Force removed the jets from the state and the National Guard Bureau transferred the 152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron to the Arizona Air National Guard. However, the National Guard Bureau's desire to have an Air National Guard flying unit located in every state brought a new mission and the numeric designation to the Rhode Island Air National Guard, the
143d Air Resupply Squadron using propeller-driven aircraft. The "new" 152nd FIS was activated as a new Arizona Air National Guard organization with no prior history or lineage; the 143d Air Resupply Squadron was bestowed the lineage and history of the inactivated Rhode Island ANG 152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron.
Arizona Air National Guard Air Defense Upon the unit's activation in Tucson, the 152nd was equipped with F-86A Sabre day fighters to use as interceptors. Its mission was the air defense of Southern Arizona. At that time of its arrival, its facilities at Tucson Municipal Airport consisted of an old adobe farmhouse and a dirt-floor hangar with enough space for three aircraft. In 1958, the
F-100A Super Sabre arrived to supplement the F-86s. Despite the facility limitations, the Air Defense Command's Headquarters 4th Air Force judged the 152nd FIS outstanding in accomplishing its air defense mission. It declared the unit "Best in the West" in the 1950s and the early 1960s. Late in 1968 the unit received its first of five Air Force Outstanding Unit Citations for converting from the F-100-day-fighter to the all-weather F-102 "Delta Dagger" interceptor aircraft in just 10 months. The unit did it faster and better than any other Air National Guard unit converting to the F-102.
Fighter Training On 1 July 1969, the Arizona Air National Guard 152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the
162nd Tactical Fighter Training Group was established by the
National Guard Bureau. With the change of status, the new 162nd TFTG was assigned to
Tactical Air Command. The re-designated 152nd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron became the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 162nd Headquarters, 162nd Material Squadron (Maintenance), 162nd Combat Support Squadron, and the 162nd USAF Dispensary. With the United States withdrawal from the
Vietnam War commencing in 1970, the
North American F-100 Super Sabre was being retired from its active-duty mission, being replaced by either the
F-4 Phantom II tactical fighter and
A-7D Corsair II close air support aircraft. The unit graduated their first students in 1970. In 1972 the F-100C was replaced by the more advanced F-100D. In 1977, with the transfer of the A-7D Corsair IIs to the Air National Guard beginning in large numbers, 152nd TFTS, along with its F-100s, began to receive twelve aircraft, primarily from the active-duty
354th Tactical Fighter Wing which was the first TAC wing to transition to the A-10 Thunderbolt II. In 1984, the
195th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron was activated as a 2nd RTU. In 1988, the unit began converting to the Block 10
F-16A Fighting Falcon, which active-duty units were transferring to the ANG with the delivery of the more advanced F-16C. This transition took several years, with the last Corsairs being transferred out in 1990. The training mission remained after the conversion, but the older F-16A Block 10 airframes were not quite suited to fulfill this mission. Therefore, a number of more modern F-16A Block 15 airframes were introduced in the squadron after 1989 to be able to maintain a more modern training syllabus. In 1992 the ANG Staff decided to modernize the training that the squadron was providing to ANG crews as well as regular USAF units or NATO F-16 pilots. Therefore, more modern F-16C Block 42 airframes were delivered to the squadron. This opened a lot of opportunities. This block is specifically designed for attack operations during day and nighttime. It uses the advanced LANTIRN pod and the squadron has been training other crews in the usage of these systems. In recent years these airframes have been further upgraded with the CCIP program to make it possible for them to reach 8,000 flying hours easily. A number of additions (like a new MMC, an advanced AIFF system, etc.) were added to these airframes to further modernize their operations and make it possible to adjust the training sequence to include these advanced electronics.
Lineage • Designated
152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, and allotted to Arizona ANG, 1956 : Extended federal recognition and activated, 1 July 1956 : Re-designated:
152nd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron, on 1 July 1969 : Re-designated:
152nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, 26 July 1979 : Re-designated:
152nd Fighter Squadron, 16 March 1992
Assignments •
Arizona Air National Guard, 1 July 1956 : Gained by:
34th Air Division,
Air Defense Command : Gained by:
Los Angeles Air Defense Sector,
Air Defense Command, 1 July 1960 : Gained by:
27th Air Division,
Air Defense Command, 1 April 1966 •
162nd Tactical Fighter Training Group, 1 July 1969 •
162nd Tactical Fighter Group, 26 July 1979 • 162nd Operations Group, 16 March 1992
Stations •
Tucson International Airport (Later Tucson Air National Guard Base), 1 July 1956 : Designated:
Tucson Air National Guard Base, 1991–Present
Aircraft •
F-86A Sabre, 1956–1966 •
F-100A Super Sabre, 1958–1966 •
F-102A Delta Dagger, 1966–1969 •
F-100C Super Sabre, 1969–1977 •
A-7D/K Corsair II, 1977–1992 •
F-16A Block 15 Fighting Falcon, 1986–1992 •
F-16C Block 42 Fighting Falcon, 1992 – present ==References==