178th Attack Squadron

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

178th Attack Squadron
178th Attack Squadron MQ-9 Reaper
Active1 February 1947–Present
Country United States
Branch  Air National Guard
TypeSquadron
RoleUAV Reconnaissance
Part of119th Operations Group, 119th Wing, ND ARNG
BaseFargo Air National Guard Base, North Dakota.
Nickname(s)Happy Hooligans
Insignia
178th Reconnaissance Squadron emblem[note 1]
392d Fighter Squadron emblem (unofficial)
Tail MarkingRed fin stripe, "Happy Hooligans" in white letters

The 178th Attack Squadron (178 ATKS)

MQ-9 Reaper
.

The squadron operates

Joint Forces Air Component Commander
-owned theater asset for reconnaissance, surveillance and target acquisition in support of the Joint Forces commander.

History

World War II

Training in the United States

P-39D as used by the group for training

The

SS Duchess of Bedford.[6] The "Drunken Duchess"[note 2] docked at Greenock, Scotland on 3 April and the group was transported by train to its airfield at RAF Stoney Cross, England.[5]

P-38 transition and combat operations from England

392d Fighter Squadron P-38[note 3]

Having trained on single engine aircraft, the squadron's pilots were surprised to find

55th Fighter Group.[8] The change from single engine to twin engine aircraft required considerable retraining for both pilots and ground crew.[7] Although some pilots entered combat with as little as eight hours of flying time on the P-38, in late April the squadron was reinforced by pilots who had trained on the Lightning in the States and were more experienced on the type.[9] However, the lack of instrument training in the P-38 took its toll on the 392d as weather, not enemy action, caused the loss of pilots and airplanes.[10]

On 9 May, the squadron flew its first combat mission, a fighter sweep over

dive bombing, missions and suffered its first combat losses.[12]

On

railroad yard, and results were mixed.[14]

By mid June

German ground forces had withdrawn to defend a perimeter around Cherbourg Harbour, a major port whose capture had become more important to the allies with the destruction of Mulberry A, one of the artificial harbors constructed near the Normandy beachhead. An attack by VII Corps on 22 June was to be preceded by low level bombing and strafing attack by IX Fighter Command. Briefed by intelligence to expect a "milk run" The 394th flew at low altitude through what turned out to be a heavily defended area. Seven group pilots were killed in action. Nearly all surviving aircraft received battle damage and the entire 367th Group was out of action for several days.[7][15]

387th Bombardment Group was moved to Stoney Cross, forcing the 392d to vacate their station and move the short distance to RAF Ibsley.[16] From Ibsley the group struck railroads, marshaling yards, and trains to prevent enemy reinforcements from reaching the front during the Allied breakthrough at Saint Lo in July 1944.[2]

Operations on the European Continent

Starting on 19 July, the 367th Group's forward echelon crossed the

Third Army. In late August, the squadron attacked German Seventh Army convoys which, to prevent being surrounded, were withdrawing eastward from the Falaise pocket. Five convoys and 100 Tiger Tanks were destroyed on one day.[7]

On 22 August the group attacked three

393d Fighter Squadron as it reformed from its dive bomb run. After bombing its target, the 394th Fighter Squadron turned to reinforce the 392d. The squadrons of the 367th Group claimed fourteen enemy aircraft in total against a loss of one Lightning.[7]

The 392d received a

strafed a train and convoy after leaving the scene of battle. In the afternoon the squadron conducted a long range fighter sweep of more than 800 miles to airfields in the Dijon-Bordeaux area.[2][7][18]

As Allied forces moved forward across France the squadron began leap-frogging to new bases. In early September they relocated at

Operation Market-Garden by escorting troop carrier aircraft and attacking flak positions. For its attacks that fall, the squadron was cited in the Order of the Day by the Belgium Army.[7]

In late October, as Ninth Air Force brought its medium bombers to bases in France, the 392d was bumped from its station for the second time by the 387th Bombardment Group, when it moved to Juvincourt Airfield (A-68), north of Reims.[2][19] Juvincourt was a former Luftwaffe base with permanent facilities, in contrast to the advanced landing grounds where the squadron had been based since moving to France.[20] The squadron attacked German strong points to aid the Allied push against the Siegfried Line throughout the fall of 1944.[2]

The German

Ardennes Offensive occurred as the holidays approached. A planned move to a field in Belgium was canceled. During the Battle of the Bulge, the 392d, after escorting C-47s on a resupply drop to encircled troops at Bastogne, conducted an armed reconnaissance of the Trier area.[7]

Transition to the P-47 Thunderbolt

367th Fighter Group commander's P-47D

Early in 1945 a desire to standardize the fighter-bombers in Ninth Air Force, the group transitioned into Republic P-47 Thunderbolts. Pilots flew Lightnings on combat missions while training at the same time with the Thunderbolt. Using the Thunderbolt the group was again cited in a Belgium Army Order of the Day, earning the Belgian Fourragere.[7]

The 392d received a second Distinguished Unit Citation for action on 19 March 1945. The 367th Group's target was the headquarters of Field Marshal Kesselring, the German Commander-ln-Chief, West,[note 5] at Ziegenburg near Bad Nauheim, Germany. Aircraft of the leading 394th Fighter Squadron would attack at low level to achieve surprise, carrying a 1,000-pound bomb under each wing. The P-47s of the 392d would be similarly armed, but would dive bomb from a higher altitude. The bombs were equipped with time-delay fuses intended to crack the concrete roofs of the bunker. The 393d Fighter Squadron carried napalm intended to seep into the bunkers and burn what remained. The attack was scheduled for a time that intelligence reports indicated would find senior staff and commanders at lunch, the only time they would not be in the reinforced tunnels underneath the castle that housed the headquarters. The target was located in mountainous terrain well defended by antiaircraft artillery. Moreover, to avoid alerting the Germans to the pending attack, photographic reconnaissance aircraft had avoided the area, so detailed target photography was not available. The day of the attack the castle was concealed by ground haze which caused the 394th Fighter Squadron to stray off course at the last minute, preventing them from executing the attack as planned and reducing the element of surprise.[21] Although senior German officers reached the underground bunkers and survived the attack, the group reduced the military complex to ruins, disrupting communications and the flow of intelligence at a critical time.[7]

The squadron struck tanks, trucks, flak positions, and other objectives in support of the assault across the Rhine late in March and the final allied operations in Germany.[2] It was commended by the commanding generals of XII Corps and the 11th Armored Division for the close air support the unit provided for their commands. On 10 April the squadron moved to Eschborn Airfield on the northwest side of Frankfurt, Germany. The 392d flew its last combat mission, a defensive patrol, one year after entering combat on 8 May.[22] During its combat tour, the squadron was credited with 39.5 air-to-air victories over enemy aircraft, the most of any of the squadrons in the group.[23]

Return to the United States and inactivation

All hostilities ceased

Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina on 2 November, and the 394th was inactivated there on 7 November 1945.[2][7]

North Dakota Air National Guard

The wartime 392d Fighter Squadron was redesignated as the 178th Fighter Squadron and allotted to the

air defense
.

There was a cartoon during the 1950s called Pappy Easter and his Happy Hooligans and the 178th Fighter Squadron began calling themselves the “Happy Hooligans” and Duane S. Larson, as their commander, became “Pappy”. It became Pappy Larson and his Happy Hooligans and this nickname has been adopted by the entire unit and still exists.[24] In recognition of his contributions to aviation in North Dakota, Larson was among the ten inaugural inductees into the North Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame in March 1997.[25]

Korean War activation

On 1 March 1951 the 178th was federalized and brought on active duty due to the

190th Fighter-Bomber Squadron.[26]

The unit remained a Moody until October when it moved to

72d Fighter-Bomber Squadron, which was simultaneously activated.[28]

Air Defense

178th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-4D Phantom[note 6]

The squadron was redesignated the 178th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and reactivated at Fargo the same day. In September 1953 the squadron began to keep two F-51D Mustangs on

Lockheed F-94A Starfire interceptor. The Starfire was armed with 20 millimeter cannon and was equipped with radar
.

On 15 April 1956, the 178th was authorized to expand to a group level, and the

119th Fighter Group
(Air Defense) was established to command the squadron and its associated support units. The 178th became the new group's flying squadron. Other units assigned into the group were the 119th Material Squadron, 119th Air Base Squadron and the 119th USAF Dispensary.

The "Happy Hooligan" pilots upgraded to the

Air Defense Tactical Air Command
.

The unit's first overseas deployment occurred in 1983, when six Phantoms and 120 support personnel deployed to

Operation Desert Storm
in 1991, 107 Happy Hooligans were mobilized and deployed to support operations at numerous locations within the United States.

F-16A of the 178th FS takes off on a practice scramble[note 7]

The 178th FS converted from the F-4 Phantom to the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon in mid-1990. The first squadron "Vipers" were mostly older Block 5 and 10 models. although some Block 15 aircraft were delivered to the squadron. The main task for the unit remained air defense, as with many Guard units that were equipped with the F-16. In 1991 the F-16s were modified to be brought up to the Air Defense Fighter variant of the plane . This improved the performance and capability of the squadron in their air defense role.

The Hooligans earned first place at the October 1994 William Tell worldwide weapons meet. William Tell tests pilots and ground crews from the Air Force fighter units in air-to-air combat. This was the Hooligans' third William Tell victory, which it added to wins in 1970 and 1972. It also placed first among F-4 units in William Tell 1986. In 1994 the 119th Group won the Hughes Trophy which recognizes the most outstanding air-to-air unit in the Air Force. The only Air National Guard unit to win the award twice, the Hooligans are also the only F-16 unit ever to win the Hughes Trophy.

A permanent alert detachment of the squadron was established at

March Air Force Base, California, on 31 July 1994 when the Oregon Air National Guard took over air defense at Kingsley. An announcement was made in March 1999 that the squadron would convert from an air defense mission to a general purpose mission with 15 F-16A/B aircraft while activating an alert detachment at Langley Air Force Base
, Virginia on 1 March 1999. The March and Langley detachments remained in operation as long as the squadron operated the "Viper."

Current status

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended that the mission of the North Dakota Air National Guard be realigned. The 119th Fighter Wing's F-16As (15 aircraft) were reaching the end of their operational life and would retire. In Jan 2007, the 119th ended its F-16 mission after almost 60 years of air defense interceptor missions.

Replacing the F-16s in 2007, the squadron began to receive the

C-21A Learjet
and was redesignated the 178th Airlift Squadron. The C-21 has room for eight passengers and 42 ft3 (1.26 m3) of cargo. In addition to its normal role, the aircraft is capable of transporting litters during medical evacuations.

Later in 2007, it was announced that C-21 operations would be transferred to the newly activated

MQ-1 Predator
and be redesignated the 178th Reconnaissance Squadron. In 2008 it received its first Predator.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the 392d Fighter Squadron on 26 May 1943
Activated on 15 July 1943
Inactivated on 7 November 1945
  • Redesignated 178th Fighter Squadron and allotted to the
    National Guard on 24 May 1946[29]
Activated on 9 December 1946
Extended federal recognition on 16 January 1947
Federalized and placed on active duty on 1 April 1951
  • Redesignated 178th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 9 April 1951
Inactivated and released from active duty on 1 January 1953
Redesignated 178th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, returned to North Dakota state control and activated on 1 January 1953
Redesignated 178th Fighter Squadron on 23 March 1992
Redesignated 178th Airlift Squadron on 1 October 2007
Redesignated 178th Reconnaissance Squadron on 11 March 2008

Assignments

Stations

Aircraft

Operations and decorations

  • Combat Operations: Combat in ETO, 9 May 1944 – 8 May 1945
  • Campaigns: Air Offensive, Europe; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes-Alsace; Central Europe; Air Combat, EAME Theater.
  • Decorations:
    Distinguished Unit Citations
    : France, 25 August 1944; Germany, 19 March 1945. Cited in the Order of the Day, Belgian Army: 6 Jun-30 Sep 1944; 16 Dec 1944 – 25 Jan 1945. Belgian Fourragere.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Designation for unit on scroll for previous designation, but emblem is unchanged.
  2. ^ Nicknamed for its unusual rolling motion in heavy weather. Groh, p. 23.
  3. ^ Aircraft is Lockheed P-38G-10-LO Lightning, serial 42-12982
  4. ^ These claims were from an estimated 50 enemy aircraft engaged in the air and on the ground. Chickering, p. 79
  5. ^ Kesselring assumed command the day of the attack. American intelligence believed Field Marshall von Rundstedt was still in command. Groh, p. 136.
  6. ^ Aircraft is McDonnell F-4D-26-MC Phantom serial 64-965, taken in 1979. The aircraft is painted in Air Defense Tactical Air Command gray.
  7. ^ Aircraft is F-16A serial 81-777 piloted by Maj. Michael DePree at Langley AFB. The aircraft was retired to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group on 5 December 2006. Reported as destined for Jordanian Air Force.

Citations

  1. ^ "119th Wing Factsheet".
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 252–254
  3. ^ a b c d Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 481–482
  4. ^ Groh, p. 12
  5. ^ a b Chickering, p. 78
  6. ^ Groh, pp. 23–24
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Chickering, p. 79
  8. ^ Groh, p. 26
  9. ^ Groh, p. 31
  10. ^ Groh, pp. 50–51
  11. ^ Groh. p. 32
  12. ^ Groh. pp. 32–37
  13. ^ Groh, p. 42
  14. ^ Groh, p. 43
  15. ^ Groh, p. 46
  16. ^ Groh, p. 52
  17. ^ Groh, p. 59
  18. ^ Groh, p. 72
  19. ^ Maurer, Combat Units, p. 274
  20. ^ Groh, pp. 98–99
  21. ^ Groh, p. 136
  22. ^ Groh, p. 158
  23. ^ Newton & Senning, p. 645
  24. ^ "How the "Happy Hooligans" got their name". 119th Wing. 16 April 2008. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  25. ^ Voskul, Vicki (4 March 1997). "Ceremony honors pioneering aviators". Bismarck Tribune. AP. p. 3B.
  26. ^ a b c d Maurer, Combat Units, p. 260
  27. ^ See Ravenstein, pp. 40–41 (mission of replacement unit)
  28. ^ See Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 265–266 (activation of 72d Squadron at George)
  29. ^ a b c Lineage through 1946, including stations and aircraft in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 481–482
  30. ^ a b Station number in Anderson
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h Station number in Johnson

Bibliography

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

External links