148th Fighter Squadron

148th Fighter Squadron
Distinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
148th Fighter Squadron emblem
148th Fighter Squadron emblem
148th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron emblem
Tail code	Arizona state flag tail stripe "AZ"

The 148th Fighter Squadron is a unit of the

and was inactivated.

In 1946, the squadron was redesignated the 148th Fighter Squadron and allotted to the National Guard. It was organized the following year. The squadron was

.

Mission

The 148th Fighter Squadron specializes in the training of F-16 pilots for foreign air forces which have purchased the aircraft via the Foreign Military Sales program.

History

World War II

The squadron was first activated as the 347th Fighter Squadron on 1 October 1942 at

(RAF) who had volunteered to join the RAF prior to the United States entry into the European War.

The

Operation Husky

, the invasion of Sicily.

The squadron re-equipped with

in August. Returned to Italy and fought in Po Valley, 1944–1945 until the end of the European War in May 1945.

The squadron returned to the United States, where it was inactivated on 7 November 1945.

Pennsylvania Air National Guard

In May 1946, the

North American F-51D Mustangs

.

In February 1951 the squadron was called to active duty and redesignated the 148th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. It was assigned to the

However, ADC was experiencing difficulty under the existing

The 148th returned to the Pennsylvania guard and its F-51s. With the end of the line for the Mustang in USAF service, the

air defense

units to upgrade to jet-powered aircraft. The Reading Airport Commission and National Guard authorities found themselves in a conflict over the use of Reading Municipal Airport for tactical jet operations.

However, the National Guard Bureau's and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's desire to retain the unit brought a new mission and a numeric designation to the organization, the squadron was redesignated the 140th Air Transport Squadron on 1 July 1956 using propeller-driven

. In 1966 the group became the 168th Military Airlift Group.

Threatened by the closure of Olmsted (now Harrisburg Air National Guard Base) and by the downsizing of all conventionally powered transport aircraft, the National Guard Bureau volunteered the unit for a psychological warfare capability named "Coronet Solo" in 1967.

Arizona Air National Guard

Designation transferred by the National Guard Bureau to the Arizona Air National Guard on 15 October 1985 and redesignated as the 148th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron.

Assigned to the

program, although the squadron has also been tasked with training F-16 crew for the USAF and the Air National Guard both advanced and beginner training. Through the years numerous countries have detached personnel to receive advanced training by the squadron.

The first to make use of these was the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF). Training used a mix of USAF F-16 as well as some Dutch F-16s. Eventually a total of eight RNLAF F-16s were on hand. These Dutch aircraft were hard to tell apart from the USAF as they had the same markings and were the same blocks. In 1991, the squadron was officially tasked with a NATO F-16 training mission which was not much of a departure from the norm. The squadron was re-designated as the 148th Fighter Squadron on 15 March 1992 and the training role continued. By May 1995 all the RNLAF F-16s had departed Tucson for their native country.

In 2003 another contract was signed that included detaching foreign F-16s. These new F-16s would be the E/F models of the

or the Hawk. The first class of graduates was made complete in April 2005. During the course of 2010 these aircraft returned to the UAE to form a new fighter squadron. The relationship ended on 20 October 2010 with over 100 UAE F-16 pilots trained. The last aircraft departed for UAE during December.

2010 saw a new contract with the RNLAF. The Dutch already had a detachment with the

. This unit was to lose its F-16 task and so the Dutch needed to search for another training site. The USAF then proposed the 148th FS. So an influx of Dutch F-16AM/BM airframes began December 2010. The first class of about ten pilots graduated in late April 2011.

The Dutch contingent left during August 2022 heading to Brussels South Charleroi Airport, a SABCA site at Charleroi, Belgium for storage.^[8]

Lineage

• Activated on 1 October 1942 by special authority granted to Eighth Air Force prior to constitution as the 347th Fighter Squadron on 2 October 1942

Inactivated on 7 November 1945

• Redesignated 148th Fighter Squadron, Single Engine and allotted to the National Guard on 24 May 1946^[9]
• Organized on 3 January 1947

Extended federal recognition on 27 February 1947

Federalized and placed on active duty on 10 February 1951

Redesignated 148th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 10 February 1951

Released from active Federal Service on 1 November 1952

Redesignated 148th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 1 November 1952

Redesignated 148th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 1 July 1955

Redesignated 140th Air Transport Squadron, Heavy on 1 July 1956

Redesignated 140th Aeromedical Transport Squadron and activated 1 July 1956

Redesignated 140th Air Transport Squadron on 16 February 1964^[10]

Redesignated 140th Military Airlift Squadron on 8 January 1966^[11]

Inactivated and withdrawn from the Air National Guard on 1 June 1967^[12]

• Redesignated 148th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron and allotted to Arizona Air National Guard, 1985

Extended federal recognition and activated on 15 October 1985

Redesignated: 148th Fighter Squadron on 15 March 1992

Assignments

• 350th Fighter Group, 2 October 1942 – 7 November 1945^[9]
• 53d Fighter Wing
  , 3 January 1947
• 112th Fighter Group
  , 23 April 1949
• First Air Force, 10 February 1951
• 113th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, c. 14 February 1951^[1]
• 4710th Defense Wing, 6 February 1952 – 1 November 1952^[1]
• 112th Fighter-Bomber Group (later 112th Fighter-Interceptor Group), 1 November 1952
• 112th Fighter-Interceptor Wing (later 112th Air Defense Wing), 1 May 1956
• 106th Aeromedical Transport Group
  , 14 September 1958
• 168th Air Transport Group
  , c. 15 October 1964 – 1 June 1967
• 162d Tactical Fighter Training Group
  (later 162d Fighter Group), 15 October 1985
• 162d Operations Group, 11 October 1995 – Present

Stations

Aircraft

See also

List of United States Air Force Aerospace Defense Command Interceptor Squadrons

References

Notes

Bibliography

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Anderson, Capt. Barry (1985). Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II (PDF). Maxwell AFB, AL: Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W. (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946 - 1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
• Grant, C. L. "The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, USAF Historical Study No. 126" (PDF). Research Studies Institute, USAF Historical Division, Air University. Retrieved 26 June 2017.
• Hart, Paul (1996). "193rd Special Operations Wing Pennsylvania Air National Guard". The Friends Journal (Summer 1996).

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History.
  ISBN 0-405-12194-6
  .
• Rogers, Brian. (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publications.
  ISBN 1-85780-197-0
  .
• van Geffen, Theo (Summer 2022). "Joint Task Force Proven Force and the Gulf War (part 2)" (PDF). Air and Space Power History. 69 (2). Air Force Historical Foundation. Retrieved 17 June 2022.

External links

• 148th Fighter [email protected]