121st Fighter Squadron

121st Fighter Squadron
121st Fighter Squadron Emblem
Active	since 1940
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Squadron
Role	Fighter Support
Part of	Air National Guard/Air Combat Command
Garrison/HQ	Andrews Air Force Base
Nickname	Guardians

The 121st Fighter Squadron flies the F-16C/D Fighting Falcon. It is a unit of the District of Columbia Air National Guard. Its parent unit is the 113th Wing.

Mission

The 121st is an interceptor squadron whose primary mission is the air defense of the District of Columbia.

History

The DC Air Guard's 121st Tactical Fighter Squadron is the oldest aviation unit in the DC National Guard. The unit, which dates from the 1930s, was established as the 121st Liaison Squadron. The 121st was called into active military service in May 1941, as part of the Army Air Forces. It flew antisubmarine patrols, c. December 1941—October 1942. It then deployed to Europe and engaged in combat in the MTO (Mediterannean Theater of Operations) and the ETO (European Theater of Operations), September 1944-3 May 1945. It went through several reorganizations and changes in aircraft and missions, and ended the war as the 121st Fighter Squadron.

The unit eventually received a fuselage insignia, an iron fist and jet fighter superimposed on a national shield, developed and approved in the early 1960s. It was thought that the unit had no previous insignia, but the designers were incorrect . . . a Maryland Terrapin originally flew with the DC Air Guard and, many years later, was reinstated in the unit's insignia.

The original design, approved in 1943, and authenticated as correct by the Air Museum, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, is described as follows:

"A caricatured tan and brown turtle proper , riding a "pogo" stick, leaving a trail of hops and impact marks black, all outlined light turquoise blue. Significance: The turtle depicts slow but sure travel, as characterized by the story of the "Tortoise and the Hare" in "Aesop's Fables." The short hops and limited range of liaison airplanes are depicted by the short hops the turtle is making on the pogo stick."

Lineage

A 121st TFS F-16D, 2008

A DC Air National Guard F-4D in 1987

121st TFS F-100Cs deploy to Europe in August 1964

121st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 4-ship F-86H formation, 1960. North American F-86H-10-NH Sabre 53-1348 in foreground, 52-5743 also identified

Designated the 121st Observation Squadron and allotted to the District of Columbia National Guard on 30 July 1940

Activated on 10 April 1941

Ordered to active service on 1 September 1941

Redesignated the 121st Observation Squadron (Light) on 13 January 1942

Redesignated the 121st Observation Squadron on 4 July 1942

Inactivated on 18 October 1942

Redesignated the 121st Liaison Squadron on 2 April 1943

Activated on 30 April 1943

Inactivated on 7 November 1945

Redesignated the 121st Fighter Squadron and allotted to the District of Columbia Air National Guard on 24 May 1946

Received federal recognition and activated in 1946

Federalized and placed on active duty on 10 February 1951

Re-designated the 121st Fighter Squadron (Jet) on 10 February 1951

Released from active duty and returned to District of Columbia control on 1 November 1952

Re-designated the 121st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 November 1952

Re-designated the 121st Tactical Fighter Squadron, 1966

Re-designated the 121st Fighter Squadron, 1992-Present

Assignments

District of Columbia National Guard, 10 April 1941

65th Observation Group, 1 September 1941-18 October 1942

76th Reconnaissance Group, 30 April 1943

I Air Support Command (later I Tactical Air Division), 11 August 1943

United States Army Air Force, MTO, March 1944

Attached to the Fifth United States Army after 30 September 1944

Two flights assigned to United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, 1 November 1944

Attached to the Ninth Air Force, 29 November 1944

Attached to the First Tactical Air Force [Prov] between 22 December 1944 and 1 March 1945

Further attachment to the Sixth Army Group between September 1944 and 1 March 1945

Twelfth Air Force, 25 February 1945

Attached to the Fifth United States Army to c. July 1945

Third Air Force between 25 August and 7 November 1945

District of Columbia Air National Guard, since 1946

First Air Force (ADC), 1946

First Air Force (ConAC), 1 December 1948

Continental Air Command, 1 February 1950

113th Fighter-Bomber Wing (TAC), 1 January 1951

Federalized and placed on active duty under Air Defense Command on 10 February 1951

113th Fighter-Interceptor Group on 10 February 1951

4710th Defense Wing, 6 February 1952

Released from active duty and returned to District of Columbia control on 1 November 1952

113th Fighter-Interceptor Group (ADC) on 1 November 1952

113th Tactical Fighter Wing (TAC) on 1966

113th Fighter Wing, (ACC) 1992

113th Wing, (ACC/AMC) 1995-Present

Stations

• Camp Springs Army Air Base, Maryland, 10 April 1941
• Owens Field, South Carolina, 23 September 1941
• Lexington County Airport, South Carolina, 8 December 1941
• Langley Field, Virginia, 26 December 1941
• Birmingham Airport, Alabama, 18 October 1942
• Vichy AAF, Missouri, 30 April 1943
• Morris Field, North Carolina, 8 May 1943
• Raleigh-Durham AAF, North Carolina, 27 August 1943-18 February 1944
• Oran Es Sénia Airport, Oran, Algeria, 20 March 1944
• Telergma Airfield, Algeria, 17 April-9 July 1944
• Pomigliano Airfield, Italy, 24 July 1944

A flight at St Tropez, France, 1 September 1944

A flight at Lyons, France 15 September 1944, and Vittel, France, 3 October 1944-1 March 1945

D flight at Vittel, France, 7 October 1944-1 March 1945

Other flights at various points in Italy during September 1944–May 1945

• Florence, Italy, 6 October 1944
• Verona, Italy, 3 May 1945
• Manerba, Italy, 16 May 1945
• Florence, Italy, 16 July– August 1945
• Drew Field, Florida, 25 August 1945
• Muskogee AAF, Oklahoma, 13 September-17 November 1945.
• Andrews Field (later AFB), Maryland, since 1946

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
• Maurer, Maurer. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force: World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1982.

External links

• http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/121fs.htm