162d Fighter Wing

162d Fighter Wing
152d Fighter Squadron - General Dynamics F-16D Block 42A Fighting Falcon 88-0156
Active	1969-Present
Country	United States
Allegiance	Arizona
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Wing
Role	Training
Part of	Arizona Air National Guard
Garrison/HQ	Tucson Air National Guard Base, Tuscon, Arizona.
Tail Code	Arizona state flag tail stripe "AZ"
Insignia
162d Fighter Wing emblem

The 162d Fighter Wing (162 FW) is a unit of the Arizona Air National Guard, stationed at Tucson Air National Guard Base, Arizona. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Education and Training Command Nineteenth Air Force.

Mission

The primary mission of the 162d Fighter Wing is education and flight training of International F-16 Fighting Falcon aircrews. In addition, the wing performs air defense and homeland protection of the United States.

Units

The 162d Fighter Wing consists of the following units:

• 162d Operations Group

148th Fighter Squadron (F-16A/B block 20 MLU)

152d Fighter Squadron (F-16C/D block 42)

195th Fighter Squadron (F-16C/D block 25)

• 162d Maintenance Group
• 162d Mission Support Group
• 162d Medical Group
• 214th Reconnaissance Group (MQ-1B) (GSU At Davis-Monthan AFB)
• Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Command Test Center (F-16C/D block 25/32)

History

On 1 July 1969, the Arizona Air National Guard 152d Tactical Fighter Training Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 162d Tactical Fighter Training Squadron was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 152d TFTS becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 162d Headquarters, 162d Material Squadron (Maintenance), 162d Combat Support Squadron, and the 162d USAF Dispensary.

152d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron - F-100A 53-1639

As part of Tactical Air Command, the 162d TFTG's mission was producing combat-ready pilots for the F-100 aircraft. The 152d TFTS equipped with the F-100C Super Sabre, and the group graduated their first students in 1970. Shortly afterward, the unit formed the Air National Guard Fighter Weapons School (FWS) in Tucson. This school taught Air Guard and Reserve fighter pilots from throughout the country to effectively use advanced tactics and weapons technology.

In 1977, the group received A-7D Corsair II ground support aircraft and replaced the F-100s. In the early 1980s the Group also received the A-7K, a two-seat combat-capable training aircraft derived from the single-seat A-7D. This was the first time an aircraft manufacturer produced a new aircraft specifically designed for Air National Guard use.

In February 1984, a second squadron, the 195th Tactical Fighter Squadron was assigned to the Group and additional A-7Ds were assigned. A third A-7D squadron, the 148th Fighter Squadron was assigned in October 1985. These three squadrons shared a common tail code (AZ), and the Group's aircraft were formed in a common pool from which all three squadrons used for training.

152d TFS A-7D-15-CV 73-1008 modified to the twin-seat A-7K configuration.

In 1985, the unit began a unique dual training mission using a mixture of F-16 Fighting Falcon and its A-7 aircraft. With the A-7s being retired from the inventory, conversion from the A-7D/K started in 1986 when the group started to receive older F-16A aircraft from other USAF units.

The mission of the unit was to train combat-ready pilots for the Air National Guard (Replacement Training Unit or RTU), but the older F-16A Block 5 airframes were not quite suited to fulfill this mission. Therefore a number of more modern F-16A block 15 airframes were introduced in the squadron after 1989 to be able to maintain a more modern training syllabus. The last of the A-7Ds were retired in 1992.

In 1992 the status of the 162d was upgraded from Group to Wing, and the ANG Staff decided to modernize the training that the squadron was providing to ANG crews as well as regular USAF units or NATO F-16 pilots. Therefore more modern F-16C block 42 airframes were delivered to the group. This opened a lot of opportunities. This block is specifically designed for attack operations during day and nighttime. It uses the advanced LANTIRN pod and the squadron has been training other crews in the usage of these systems. In recent years these airframes have been further upgraded with the CCIP program to make it possible for them to reach 8,000 flying hours easily. A number of additions (like a new MMC, an advanced AIFF system, etc.) were added to these airframes to further modernize their operations and make it possible to adjust the training sequence to include these advanced electronics.

Lineage

• Designated 162d Tactical Fighter Training Group, and allotted to Arizona ANG, 1969

Extended federal recognition and activated, 1 July 1969

Re-designated: 162d Tactical Fighter Group, 26 July 1979

Status changed from Group to Wing, 16 March 1992

Re-designated: 162d Fighter Wing, 16 March 1992

Assignments

• Arizona Air National Guard, 1 July 1969-Present

Gained by: Tactical Air Command

Gained by: Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992

Gained by: Air Education and Training Command, 1 July 1993–present

Components

• 162d Operations Group, 16 March 1992-Present

• 148th Fighter Squadron, 15 October 1985-1 June 1992
• 152d Fighter Squadron, 1 July 1969-1 June 1992
• 195th Fighter Squadron, 1 February 1984-1 June 1992

142, 152, 195 Squadrons assigned to 162d OG effective 1 June 1992

• Air National Guard Air Force Reserve Command Test Center, 1990-Present

Stations

• Tucson International Airport, 1 July 1969

Designated: Tucson Air National Guard Base, 1991-Present

Aircraft

• F-100C Super Sabre, 1969-1977
• A-7D/K Corsair II, 1977-1992
• F-16A Block 5 Fighting Falcon, 1991-1992
• F-16A Block 15 Fighting Falcon, 1995-2006
• F-16C Block 25 Fighting Falcon, 2006-Present

References

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

• 152d Fighter Squadron lineage and history
• Rogers, B. (2006). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. ISBN 1-85780-197-0
• 162d Fighter Wing website history
• 162d Fighter Wing: Arizona Air National Guard
• 162d Fighter Wing: Globalsecurity.org