186th Fighter Squadron

The 186th Fighter Squadron flies the F-15C Eagle. It is a unit of the Montana Air National Guard. Its parent unit is the 120th Fighter Wing.

History

World War II

Established in mid-1943 as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron, trained under I Fighter Command in the mid-Atlantic states. Also flew air-defense missions as part of the Philadelphia Fighter Wing. Deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO), being assigned to IX Fighter Command in England, April 1944.

From airfields in England, the squadron flew fighter sweeps against enemy targets in France during the spring of 1944, attacking troop concentrations, armor columns, rail and road transport hubs and other targets of opportunity prior to the D-Day invasion. Provided air cover for invasion forces in Normandy on 6 June 1944 and in the immediate aftermath of the invasion.

Moved to a forward Advanced Landing Ground in France on 23 June, and provided air support for the United States Third Army forces as part of XIX Tactical Air Command. Attacked enemy forces in front of advancing ground units and disrupted communications, supply, troop movements by attacking roads and bridges and enemy airfields on a daily basis. Moved eastward to a succession of both temporary and liberated French airfields during the Summer and Fall of 1944. Advanced into Occupied Germany in April 1944, operating from seized Luftwaffe airfields as Third Army moved eastward until the German capitulation in May. Became part of the United States Air Forces in Europe as part of the occupation forces in Germany after the war, initially being stationed in Bavaria; then being reassigned to the American Zone of occupied Austria. Demobilized at Strasbourg, France in the fall of 1945; inactivated as a paper unit in the United States in November.

Montana Air National Guard

Was allocated to the Montana Air National Guard in May 1946. On June 27, 1947, the 186th Fighter Squadron was activated and federally recognized. Within two weeks, six P-51 D Mustangs arrived. Eighty-nine days after activation, tragedy struck the fledgling unit. En route to pick up the adjutant general in Helena, the A-26 Invader Lt. Col. Sperry was flying went down in a heavy snowstorm. The wreckage could not be found until the following summer. Aboard also was Sgt. Charles Glover, for whom the street along the east side of building 64 is named.

On April 1, 1951, the unit was activated for duty in South Korea. Personnel were sent to Moody AFB, Ga., and ten F-51s were shipped to Korea. (The "P" for "pursuit" had been dropped in 1948 and changed to "F" for "fighter.") The unit received its first jet aircraft in 1952, a T-33 Shooting Star. The first jet fighter landed at Gore Field a year later in the form of the F-86A Sabre Jet, the first F-86 assigned to an Air National Guard squadron. The squadron was redesignated the 186th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and adopted the "Charlie Chicken" patch. The F-89 Scorpion arrived in 1955 and the Montana Air National Guard was redesignated the 120th Fighter Group (Air Defense).

October 1, 1958 saw the beginning of the unit's commitment to five-minute runway alert, a task that would last for 38 years. The arrival of the F-102 Delta Dagger in 1966 ushered in the supersonic age. In 1972, the unit was redesignated the 120th Fighter-Interceptor Group and assigned the F-106 Delta Dart, the first Air National Guard unit to receive this aircraft. With the F-106, the squadron competed in and won its first William Tell, a live-fire missile competition held at Tyndall AFB, Florida.

The F-16A/B arrived in 1987, and in 2001 began a conversion in 2001 migrating to the F-16C/D model aircraft. This conversion replaced the air defense mission with one of general purpose/air-to-ground as part of the Expeditionary Aerospace Force.

With the conversion, unit members felt it was time to consider a change in the aircraft tail markings. The most notable change included the 186th Fighter Squadron's nickname of "Vigilantes". The nickname by the pilots of the 186th is intended to honor the first men in the Montana Territory who organized for the safety and welfare of the people. The squadron once again found itself on alert status after the terrorism attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. Base personnel implemented the necessary procedures to establish a secure environment while maintaining a 24 hour alert status for aircraft. Throughout 2002, hundreds of unit personnel were activated and deployed to multiple locations in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and the world.

Lineage

• Constituted 404th Fighter Squadron 25 May 1943

Activated on 15 Jul 1943

Inactivated on 10 Nov 1945.

• Redesignated 186th Fighter Squadron, and allotted to Montana Air National Guard on 24 May 1946

Federally recognized, 186th Fighter Squadron on 27 June 1947

Redesignated: 186th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1953

Redesignated: 186th Fighter Squadron, 1995

Assignments

• 371st Fighter Group, 15 Jul 1943-10 Nov 1945
• 120th Fighter Group, 27 June 1947

Elevated to Federal Service, 1 Apr 1951-31 Mar 1953

Redesignated: 120th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 1953

Redesignated: 120th Fighter-Interceptor Group, 1972

Redesignated: 120th Fighter Wing, 1995-Present

Stations

Aircraft^[1]

• P-47 Thunderbolt, 1943–1945
• F-51D Mustang (Fall 1947-1953)
• F-86A Sabre (October 1953-1955)
• F-89C/H/J Scorpion (August 1958-1966)
• F-102A Delta Dagger(1966–1972)
• F-106A/B Delta Dart (April 1972-1987)
• F-16A/B Fighting Falcon (Nov. 1986-2001)
• F-16C/D Fighting Falcon (2001–2008)
• F-15C/D Eagle (2008–Present)

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, AL: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.

1. ^ World Airpower Journal. (1992). US Air Force Air Power Directory. Aerospace Publishing: London, UK. ISBN 1-880588-01-3

• History of the 120th Fighter WIng

External links