| 100th Fighter Squadron | |
|---|---|
100th Fighter Squadron Patch |
|
| Active | 19 February 1942 - 19 October 1945 1 July 1947 - 1 July 1949 20 January 1953 - 25 November 1953 8 September 1954 - 25 June 1966 1 September 1989 - 1 April 1993 1 April 1999 - 12 September 2007 13 September 2007 - Present |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Type | Squadron |
| Role | Fighter Support |
| Part of | Air National Guard/Air Combat Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Montgomery Regional Airport |
The 100th Fighter Squadron currently flies the F-16C/D Fighting Falcon. It is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard. Its parent unit is the 187th Fighter Wing. It was activated in 2007 in Alabama to replace the 160th Fighter Squadron so the state could honor the sacrifices of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Contents |
The 100th was one of the Tuskegee Airmen squadrons during World War II, one of the famous all-black squadrons of the 332nd Fighter Group, activated on 19 February 1942 at Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama, but which remained largely unmanned until it arrived at Selfridge Field, Michigan in late March 1943. There it received sufficient personnel and the squadron began operational training with P-39 and P-40 aircraft. The 100th completed training in December 1943 and prepared to move overseas.
The squadron sailed in early January 1944 aboard the SS William Few and arrived in Italy in early February 1944, becoming part of the Twelfth Air Force, Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO). The 100th flew its first combat mission on 19 February 1944. The squadron engaged in missions such as harbor protection, point-to-point patrol, convoy escort, armed reconnaissance, air rescue and strafing. In May 1944 the 100th was reassigned to the Fifteenth Air Force and thereafter the squadron’s primary duty was providing escort for bombers striking enemy oil and industrial targets in central Europe and the Balkans. While initially equipped with P-39 and P-47 aircraft, in June 1944 the squadron received P-51 aircraft, which they used for the remainder of the war.
In August 1944 the unit attacked enemy positions on the French coast in preparation for the invasion of southern France. They escorted Fifteenth Air Force bombers in attacks on the assault beaches on 15 August 1944. After this they returned to escorting heavy bombers to targets in Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania. They also attacked targets such as enemy airdromes, troop concentrations, communications lines, and enemy aircraft when the opportunity arose. The unit received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its performance during an escort to Berlin on 23 March 1945. The squadron, along with other squadrons of the 332nd Group, fought off a large enemy force, including jets, allowing the bomber formation to complete its mission. The 100th flew its last mission in Europe on 30 April 1945. On 30 September 1945, the 100th sailed for the United States aboard the Levi Woodbury and arrived at Camp Kilmer, NJ, on 17 October 1945. The squadron was inactivated on 19 October 1945.
The squadron trained in P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft between 1947 and 1949 at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio. The squadron was inactivated on 1 July 1949.
In January 1953 the 100th was reactivated, this time as an air refueling squadron. It remained unmanned until after its transfer to Lockbourne AFB, OH. The squadron received KB-29P Superfortress tanker aircraft and personnel from the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (SRW) in July 1953. The 100th trained under the control of the 91st and provided air refueling for Strategic Air Command (SAC) needs until November 1953.
The 100th Air Refueling Squadron was reactivated on 8 September 1954 at Robins AFB, but was not manned until the following month. It received its first KC-97E Stratotanker aircraft (also KC-97F/Gs) on 17 December 1954 and performed its first operational mission on 27 January 1955. The 100th trained and performed air refueling missions under the 19th Bombardment Wing. The squadron periodically deployed aircrews and aircraft to provide air refueling from other bases beginning in September 1955: Goose AB, Labrador in September–October 1955; Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, Newfoundland in February 1956; and Lajes AB, Azores in March 1956.
The squadron relocated to Portsmouth AFB (later Pease), New Hampshire, in August 1956 and was reassigned to the 100th Bombardment Wing. It continued its air refueling mission from its home base as well as deploying to RAF Greenham Common, England in January–April 1957 and Thule AB, Greenland in December 1957-April 1958. From August 1960 until 1 July 1964 it provided a continuous air refueling commitment from Goose AB, Labrador and from April–June 1964 provided a smaller commitment from Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland.
The 100th began phasing out in October 1965 and performed its last air refueling mission on 8 December 1965. The last KC-97 aircraft left for the Davis-Monthan AFB boneyard on 21 December 1965 and thereafter the squadron was not operational and was inactivated on 25 June 1966.
The squadron was reactivated in 1999 as a provisional KC-135 Stratotanker unit at RAF Mildenhall, England to support NATO operations in the former Yugoslavia as part of Operation Allied Force. The 100th EARS relieved the 351st EARS on 9 April, equipped with 34 KC-135s. It was inactivated on 20 June 1999.
The squadron provided academic and upgrade pilot training and managed the Accelerated Co-pilot Enrichment (ACE) program from 1989 to 1993. It trained in the T-1 Jayhawk, T-6 Texan II and T-38 Talon aircraft conducting flight training at Randolph Air Force Base, from 1999 to 2007.
|
|
|
|
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||