Montgomery Air National Guard Base is the home base of the

Alabama Air National Guard The Alabama Air National Guard (AL ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Alabama, United States of America. It is, along with the Alabama Army National Guard, an element of the Alabama National Guard. As state militia units, the units in ...

187th Fighter Wing The 187th Fighter Wing (187 FW) is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard, assigned to Dannelly Field, Alabama. If activated to federal service in the United States Air Force, the 187 FW is operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command (ACC). ...

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History

The base has previously been known as Gunter Army Airfield Auxiliary #6 and is still sometimes known as Dannelly Field. The roots of the 187th Fighter Wing date back to 1952 when the Alabama Air National Guard organized the

160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron The 160th Fighter Squadron (160 FS) is an inactive unit of the Alabama Air National Guard. It was last assigned to the 187th Fighter Wing, stationed at Montgomery Air National Guard Base, Alabama. It was inactivated on 13 September 2007, wi ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

equipped with the RF-51 Mustang. The squadron moved to Dannelly Field on January 1, 1953, and entered the jet age with the arrival of the RF-80 Shooting Star in 1955. Within a year the 160th transitioned to the RF-84 Thunderflash aircraft, which served as the squadron's primary aircraft for the next 15 years. The squadron was mobilized during the Berlin Crisis in 1961-1962 and deployed to Toul-Rosieres Air Base, France. In August 1962, the squadron returned to normal peacetime status and was reorganized. It was then officially designated the 187th Reconnaissance Group. In 1971, the Thunderflash was replaced by the

RF-4C Phantom II The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and ...

, which was flown for 17 years. From 1971 to 1982, the group remained in the reconnaissance role. The 187th won many honors during this timeframe, including the best reconnaissance unit in the nation in the Photo Finish "81" competition. In 1982, the 187th changed missions from reconnaissance to the multi-purpose fighter role after acquiring the

F-4D The McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II is an American tandem two-seat, twin-engine, all-weather, long-range supersonic jet interceptor and fighter-bomber originally developed by McDonnell Aircraft for the United States Navy.Swanborough and Bow ...

. The Group established itself as a premier tactical fighter unit by capturing overall top honors in the ANG Fangsmoke competition in 1987. In October 1988, the Group converted to the F-16 aircraft. In October 1995, the Group was designated a Wing under Air Force reorganization; becoming the 187th Fighter Wing.

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Montgomery Air National Guard Base include the following. Units marked GSU are Geographically Separate Units, which although based at Montgomery, are subordinate to a parent unit based at another location.

United States Air Force

Air National Guard *

(host wing) *** 187th Operations Group ****

100th Fighter Squadron The 100th Fighter Squadron (100 FS) is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard 187th Fighter Wing located at Dannelly Field, Alabama. The 100th is equipped with the General Dynamics F-16C+ Fighting Falcon. The 100th FS was one of the Tuskege ...

–

F-16C/D Fighting Falcon A large number of variants of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon have been produced by General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and various licensed manufacturers. The details of the F-16 variants, along with major modification programs and der ...

and RC-26B Condor *** 187th Maintenance Group **** Aircraft Maintenance Squadron *** 187th Medical Group *** 187th Mission Support Group **** Mission Support Group **** Civil Engineering **** Communications Squadron **** Force Support Squadron **** Logistics Readiness Squadron **** Security Forces Squadron Air Combat Command *

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

20th Fighter Wing The 20th Fighter Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Shaw Air Force Base South Carolina. The wing is assigned to Air Combat Command's Fifteenth Air Force. The wing's mission is to provide, project, and sustain c ...

*** 495th Fighter Group ****

377th Fighter Squadron The 377th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force active duty unit stationed at Montgomery Air National Guard Base, Alabama. It is an Active Associate Unit administratively assigned to the 495th Fighter Group at Shaw Air Force Base, South C ...

(GSU) – F-16C Fighting Falcon

Future

In April 2020, the Air Force announced that the F-35A Lighting II would be based at Montgomery ANGB, with the 187th Fighter Wing receiving its first aircraft in 2023.

References

{{AL Airport Installations of the United States Air Force in Alabama Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Alabama Installations of the United States Air National Guard Buildings and structures in Montgomery, Alabama Transportation buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Alabama