178th Fighter Wing History Timeline Origin of the 178th is the 362nd FS organized at Hamilton Field, CA in December 1942. Assigned to 357th Fighter Group in 1943 and sent to Leiston, England. 15 Months of combat = 688 enemy A/C destroyed, 43 Air & 9 A/G Aces. 162nd Activated at Cox-Dayton Airport in 1946 as part of the OHNG. November 1947 the 162nd is officially recognized as the Ohio ANG as part of the AF Org. 1955 the 162nd moved to Springfield as they moved into the JET age and obtained F-84E's. October 1, 1961, participation in the Berlin Crisis. They were demobilized August 20,1962. November 1962 the F-84s were recalled to AF in support of the Cuban missile Crisis. Milestones and Achievements: 1962 - 162nd FS and Sub Units formed the 178th Fighter Group 1964 - Deployment to Ramey, Puerto Rico 1965 - Ramey again and a program to check out Canadian Pilots in the F- 84 1966 - Group mobility plan tested to Alpena, Michigan 1967 - F-84 painted in olive drab and deploy to Hickam, HI for "Tropic Lightening III" 1968 - NATO exercise "Deep-Furrow 68" to Larisa AB in central Greece and then to Elemendorf, Alaska 1969 - Last year for F-84F 1970 - F-100 D/F Jets become 178th primary fighter 1971 - 178th Tactical Clinic awarded Citation as "Best in the Reserve Forces" 1972 - First ORI in the F-100 1973 - "Gallant Hand 70" demonstration of Total Force Policy with active duty Army and AF 1974 - Xenia Tornado, 178th mobilized with fatal loss of Sgt.'s Walter Radewonuk and Terry Regula 1975 - "Reforger 75" to Ramstein, Germany 1978 - Conversion to A-7D Corsair II 1980 - Air Force Outstanding Unit Award for conversion to A-7D 1980 - "Cope Elite" at Barbers Point, Hawaii with other units of 121st TFW & Howard AFB, Panama 1981 - Deployments to Holloman AFB, Ft Campbell, KY; Maple Flag, Canada; Hurlburt Field, FL; Howard AFB, Panama; Alpena, MI; Luke AFB; Ft. Campbell again and finally Tyndall AFB, FL. This became typical of the A-7 years. 1983 - Springfield Municipal Airport became Springfield-Beckley MAP. The unit deployed to RAF Sculthorpe, England. 1986 - Deployed to RAF Sculthorpe with FOL to Hopsten in Westfalia for a six week NATO exercise and received Tappan Award for Ohio's outstanding ANG Unit 1989 - Once more to RAF Sculthorpe w/ FOLs to Bitburg & Spangdalem 1990 - 178th FG deploys members of the unit to support operation Desert Shield/Storm 1991 - 178th FG deploys 50 members to support Desert Shield/Storm and also medical members to New Mexico to support the Active duty base. 1992 - 251st participates in Fuertes Caminos in Honduras the 2nd largest peacetime exercise ever on foreign soil. 1993 - Conversion from the A-7 (Sluf Salute) to the F-16C/C Block 30 "Big Mouth" 1995 - 178th Fighter Group officially becomes the 178th Fighter Wing Deployed to Karup AB in Denmark 1996 - Al Jabar AB, Kuwait for Southern Watch and "Desert Strike" ORI in Alpena, Michigan for the 178th FW 1997 - May deployed to Incerlik, Turkey for Northern Watch 50th Anniversary Air show in August In the spring, unit members were activated to clean up after the Ohio River flooded in South Central and Southwestern Ohio 1998 - Deployed in June to "Cope Thunder" Alaska, USA Annual Training at Alpena, MI in August. 12 members deployed to Szolnok, Hungary as sponsor for Hungary to get into NATO. Various unit members put on state active duty to support flood relief in East-Central Ohio. September announcement that 178th will become an Advanced Flight Training Unit 1999 - March 17, 1999 the Unit underwent flag change from ACC to AETC. Deployment to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona for Snowbird-99 2000 - Security Forces deployed to Southwest Asia 178th FW deployed to Savannah, GA for annual training 2001 - Sentry Aloha 2001-Unit deployed to Hickam, Hawaii for the first time in 20 years. Communications flight supports the AEF by deploying to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia Security Forces deploy to Northern Watch. **September 11 Terrorist Attack. The 178th Security Forces, the 251st Combat Communications Group and the 121st Air Refueling Wing are activated for Operation Noble Eagle-homeland defense. Operation Enduring Freedom is declared by the United States shortly afterwards in a worldwide engagement of terrorism. 2002 - Unit deploys to Gulfport, MI for Annual Training Summer AEF deployments were supported by 178th FW to Saudi Arabia and Qatar. 2003 - The 178th FW participates in Operation Iraqi Freedom by sending multiple members to augment and supplement troops in Kuwait and other Middle East areas. The 178th FW holds annual training at Springfield in June and September to prepare for an ORI in September 2003. 2004 - Governor Bob Taft toured the 178th FW to survey facilities to observe the operations of the Unit. Governor Taft reaffirmed his commitment to protecting the vital mission of the 178th FW and other DOD jobs in Ohio by announcing an allocated 2.5 million state funds to help communities prepare for the federal BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) process to help preserve Ohio's military installations. 2005 - Sept. 1st members of the 178th FW helped deploy over 200 US Army personnel to help in the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. The Services Flight made over 200 boxed lunches, while the tower and other unit members stayed as late as 10:30 p.m. to ensure the launch of the final aircraft. At the same time, the Medics, JAG, Personnel and Family Support out processed approximately 30 members from the 269th Combat Communications Squadron. 2005 - Two Ohio Air National Guard bases were among the major installations recommended by the Secretary of Defense for closure or realignment as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure. The Secretary recommended closing Mansfield ANGB and realigning the 178th FW at Springfield when the BRAC list was released May 13. It was also announced that the 178th FW would be gaining a new Intelligence Mission at NASIC. This mission is part of the new Air Force Total Force Concept. 2006 - A letter of agreement was signed to allow the Netherlands to send their pilots to Springfield to learn to fly the F-16, providing the wing with a new mission. The new mission comes after a BRAC announcement last May that the Wing would be losing the F-16 training mission.