The 172nd Attack Squadron (172 ATKS) is a unit of the Michigan Air National Guard 110th Wing located at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, Battle Creek, Michigan. The 172nd is equipped with the

MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Un ...

drone. The squadron was first organized during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

as the 375th Fighter Squadron. It saw combat in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground For ...

as an element of VII Fighter Command before returning to the United States, where it was inactivated. In May 1946, the squadron was allotted to the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. Nat ...

as the 172nd Fighter Squadron. During the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

, the squadron was called into federal service and acted in an

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

role until being returned to the Michigan Air National Guard in 1952. It had various flying missions, including fighter,

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops ( skirmishe ...

and

airlift An airlift is the organized delivery of supplies or personnel primarily via military transport aircraft. Airlifting consists of two distinct types: strategic and tactical. Typically, strategic airlifting involves moving material long distan ...

until 2013, when it was converted to a support unit.

History

World War II

375th Fighter Squadron North American P-51D-5-NA Mustang 44-13926

The squadron was first activated at

Richmond Army Air Base Richmond International Airport is a joint civil-military airport in Sandston, Virginia, United States, an unincorporated community (in Henrico County). The airport is about 7 miles (11 km) southeast of downtown Richmond, the capital of ...

as the 375th Fighter Squadron and equipped with

Republic P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bomber ...

s. The squadron trained under

I Fighter Command I Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces intermediate command responsible for command and control of the fighter operations within the First Air Force during World War II. It was initially established in June 1941 as the 1st In ...

in the mid-Atlantic states. It also flew

missions as part of the

Philadelphia Fighter Wing The Philadelphia Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the I Fighter Command, stationed at Philadelphia Airport, Pennsylvania, where it was inactivated on 3 April 1946. History The wing was a ...

. The squadron deployed to the

, where it became part of

VIII Fighter Command The VIII Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit of command above the wings and below the numbered air force. Its primary mission was command of fighter operations within the Eighth Air Force. In the World War II European The ...

in England during November 1943.Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 464–465 The unit served primarily as an escort organization, covering the penetration, attack, and withdrawal of

Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Thea ...

and

Consolidated B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an air ...

formations that

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forc ...

sent against targets on the European continent. The squadron also engaged in counter-air patrols, fighter sweeps, and

strafing Strafing is the military practice of attacking ground targets from low-flying aircraft using aircraft-mounted automatic weapons. Less commonly, the term is used by extension to describe high-speed firing runs by any land or naval craft such ...

and

dive bombing A dive bomber is a bomber aircraft that dives directly at its targets in order to provide greater accuracy for the bomb it drops. Diving towards the target simplifies the bomb's trajectory and allows the pilot to keep visual contact throughou ...

missions. It attacked such targets as

airfield An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publ ...

marshalling yard A classification yard (American and Canadian English (Canadian National Railway use)), marshalling yard ( British, Hong Kong, Indian, Australian, and Canadian English (Canadian Pacific Railway use)) or shunting yard (Central Europe) is a railway ...

V-1 flying bomb The V-1 flying bomb (german: Vergeltungswaffe 1 "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () designation was Fi 103. It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug and in Germany ...

and

V-2 rocket The V-2 (german: Vergeltungswaffe 2, lit=Retaliation Weapon 2), with the technical name ''Aggregat 4'' (A-4), was the world’s first long-range guided ballistic missile. The missile, powered by a liquid-propellant rocket engine, was develop ...

launch sites, industrial areas, ordnance depots, oil

refineries A refinery is a production facility composed of a group of chemical engineering unit processes and unit operations refining certain materials or converting raw material into products of value. Types of refineries Different types of refinerie ...

, trains, and highways. During its operations, the unit participated in the assault against the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

and the German aircraft industry during

Big Week Big Week or Operation Argument was a sequence of raids by the United States Army Air Forces and RAF Bomber Command from 20 to 25 February 1944, as part of the European strategic bombing campaign against Nazi Germany. The planners intended to ...

, from 20 to 25 February 1944, and the attack on transportation facilities prior to

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, the Normandy invasion. Following the invasion it supported ground forces thereafter, including providing cover during Operation Cobra, the Saint-Lô breakout in July. The squadron supported the airborne attack on the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in September 1944, and deployed to Chievres Airdrome, Belgium between February and April 1945, flying tactical ground support missions during the airborne assault across the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , source ...

. The unit returned to

RAF Little Walden Royal Air Force Little Walden or more simply RAF Little Walden is a former Royal Air Force station primarily used by the United States Army Air Forces located north of Saffron Walden, Essex, England. The following units were here at some poin ...

and flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945. The squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated at

Camp Kilmer Located in Central New Jersey, Camp Kilmer is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service ...

, part of the New York Port of Embarkation, in October.

Michigan Air National Guard

In May 1946, the squadron was allotted to the

as the 172nd Fighter Squadron. It was organized and equipped with

North American P-51D Mustang Over twenty variants of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter were produced from 1940, when it first flew, to after World War II, some of which were employed also in the Korean War and in several other conflicts. Allison-engined Mustangs N ...

s at Kellogg Field, Battle Creek, Michigan in 1947. This was the same year the United States Air Force became an independent branch of the armed forces and the 172nd received its federal recognition as an

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

squadron.

Activation during the Korean War

In February 1951 the squadron was called to active duty for the

and assigned to

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inac ...

(ADC). Upon activation it was redesignated the 172nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and moved to

Selfridge Air Force Base Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the Unit ...

, Michigan, where it was assigned to the 128th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, then to the 56th Fighter-Interceptor Group.Cornett & Johnson list this assignment as to the 56th Fighter-Interceptor Wing. Cornett & Johnson, p. 123, However, neither Ravenstein nor list the 172nd as a component of the 56th Wing. Ravenstein, p. 90. However, ADC experienced difficulty under the existing wing base organizational structure in deploying its fighter squadrons to best advantage. As a result, in February 1952 the squadron was reassigned to the

4708th Defense Wing The 4708th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 30th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at Selfridge Air Force Base (AFB), Michigan, where it was discontinued in 1956. ...

, a regional organization.Cornett & Johnson, p. 124 The squadron was released from active service and returned to the Michigan Air National Guard on 1 November 1952 and its mission, personnel and F-51 Mustangs were transferred to the 431st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which activated the same day at Selfridge.

Return to National Guard service

The 172nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron flew the F-51 Mustang until 1954. The 172nd transitioned into the

North American F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing ...

and became the 172nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron. The Unit flew this aircraft only until 1955 before transitioned into the more sophisticated two seat

Northrop F-89 Scorpion The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an American all-weather, twin-engined interceptor aircraft built during the 1950s, the first jet-powered aircraft designed for that role from the outset to enter service. Though its straight wings limited its per ...

and returned to the interceptor. In 1956, the squadron became part of the newly created

110th Fighter Group Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

. The Unit flew the F-89 Scorpion until 1958. That year the 172nd Squadron traded its F-89s for a new mission and a new aircraft, the

Martin RB-57A Canberra The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twin-engined tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1953. The B-57 is a license-built version of the British English Electric ...

. With the assumption of the reconnaissance mission the squadron became the 172nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. The 172nd flew RB-57A's until 1971. In 1971, the unit's mission changed again to

forward air control Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC). ...

, with the transition to the

Cessna O-2 Skymaster The Cessna O-2 Skymaster (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") is a military version of the Cessna 337 Super Skymaster, used for forward air control (FAC) and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Design and develo ...

, which it flew until 1980 when it transitioned to the Cessna OA-37 Dragonfly. The 172nd was the last Air Force or Air National Guard unit to fly the Dragonfly. The dedicated forward air control mission lasted until the 172nd transitioned to the

Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin-turbofan, straight-wing, subsonic attack aircraft developed by Fairchild Republic for the United States Air Force (USAF). In service since 1976, it is named for the Republic ...

, or Warthog, in 1991 and was returned to its first name as a National Guard unit, the 172nd Fighter Squadron. The squadron served in several United Nations operations and contingencies throughout the world. From Bosnia, to Kosovo, to Alaska and most recently Iraq and Afghanistan, in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. In 2009, the squadron was realigned from a fighter squadron to become the 172nd Airlift Squadron flying the

Learjet C-21 The Learjet Model 35 and Model 36 are a series of American multi-role business jets and military transport aircraft manufactured by Learjet. When used by the United States Air Force they carry the designation C-21A. The aircraft are powered b ...

. On 12 July 2013, the last C-21 departed, and the unit became a support unit as the 172nd Air Support Squadron as Battle Creek was named as the location of a control center for drone aircraft.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 375th Fighter Squadron, single Engine on 28 January 1943 : Activated on 10 February 1943 : Inactivated on 10 November 1945 * Redesignated 172nd Fighter Squadron, Single Engine and allotted to the National Guard on 24 May 1946Lineage, stations and aircraft through 1946 in Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 464–465 : Organized on 29 August 1947 : Received federal recognition on 16 September 1947 : Federalized and placed on active duty 10 February 1951 : Designated 172nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 10 February 1951 : Inactivated on 1 November 1952 and returned to Michigan state control : Redesignated 172nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 1 November 1952 and activated : Redesignated 172nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 1 July 1955 : Redesignated 172nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 12 April 1958 : Redesignated 172nd Tactical Air Support Squadron on 11 June 1971 : Redesignated 172nd Fighter Squadron, 16 October 1991 : Redesignated 172nd Airlift Squadron, 1 March 2009 : Redesignated 172nd Air Support Squadron, 2013

Assignments

361st Fighter Group The 127th Operations Group is a unit of the Michigan Air National Guard. It is stationed at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and 1s one of two flying groups assigned to the 127th Wing. The group operates Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbol ...

, 10 February 1943 – 10 November 1945 * 127th Fighter Group, 29 August 1947 * 128th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, 10 February 1951 * 56th Fighter-Interceptor Group, 1 May 1951Robertson, AFHRA Factsheet 56 Operations Group * 4708th Defense Wing, 6 February 1952 – 1 November 1952 * 127th Fighter-Bomber Group (later 127th Fighter-Interceptor Group), 1 November 1952 *

, 1 April 1956 * 127th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 1 July 1958 * 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Group (later 110th Tactical Air Support Group, 110th Fighter Group), 1 October 1962 * 110th Operations Group, 1 October 1995 – present

Stations

* Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia, 10 February 1943 * Camp Springs Army Air Field, Maryland, 26 May 1943 *

Millville Army Air Field Millville Executive Airport is in Millville, in Cumberland County, New Jersey. The airport, southwest of the Millville city center, is owned by the Delaware River and Bay Authority (DRBA) and the City of Millville. It was dubbed "America's ...

, New Jersey, 15 August 1943 * Camp Springs Army Air Field, Maryland, 18 September 1943 * Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia, 30 September – 11 November 1943 *

RAF Bottisham Royal Air Force Bottisham or more simply RAF Bottisham is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. History RAF Fighter Command use RAF Bottisham opened in March 1940 and was first used by bomb-ar ...

(AAF-374),Station number in Anderson England, 30 November 1943 * RAF Little Walden (AAF-165), England, ca. 28 September 1944 : Operated from St-Dizier Airfield (A-64),Station number in Johnson France, 23 December 1944 – 1 February 1945 * Chievres Airdrome (A-84), Belgium, 1 February 1945 * RAF Little Walden (AAF-165), England, 7 April – ca. 11 October 1945 * Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, 23 – 24 October 1945 * W. K. Kellogg Airport, Michigan, 29 August 1947 *

, Michigan, 7 May 1951 – 1 November 1952 * W. K. Kellogg Airport (later Kellogg Air National Guard Base), Michigan, 1 November 1952

Aircraft

* Fairchild Republic P-47 Thunderbolt (1943–1944) * North American P-51D Mustang (1944–1945, 1947–1951) * North American P-51H Mustang (1951–1954) * North American F-86E Sabre (1954–1955) * Northrop F-89C Scorpion (1955–1957) * Martin RB-57 Canberra (1957–1971) * Cessna O-2A Skymaster (1971–1981) * Cessna OA-37B Dragonfly (1981–1991) * Republic OA-10A Thunderbolt II (1991–2009) * Learjet C-21A (2009–2013) * MQ-9 Reaper (2013-present)

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * * * * ;; Further reading * Rogers, B. (2006). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978.

External links

110th Airlift Wing history webpage

{{Air National Guard, state=Michigan Squadrons of the United States Air National Guard Military units and formations of the United States in the Cold War Military units and formations established in 1943 Military units and formations in Michigan