The squadron was first established in August 1942 at Bellows Field, Hawaii Territory as the 333d Fighter Squadron. It was initially part of the air defense of Hawaii, equipped with P-39 Airacobras. It also served as a Replacement Training Unit (RTU) and flew reconnaissance patrols over Hawaii until late 1943.
The 333d deployed to the Central Pacific as part of the Thirteenth Air Force island hopping campaign against Japanese in late 1943. It engaged in combat with the Japanese until April 1944, returning to Hawaii and being re-equipped and trained with long-range P-51 Mustangs. The squadron redeployed to the Western Pacific, and was stationed on Iwo Jima while the battle for the island was still ongoing and engaged in long-range B-29 Superfortress escort missions over Japan. It continued that mission until the end of hostilities in August 1945. The unit was reassigned to the Mariana Islands, as a Far East Air Forces fighter squadron, and was inactivated there in 1946.
Massachusetts Air National Guardedit
The wartime 333d Fighter Squadron was redesignated the 131st Fighter Squadron, and was allotted to the Massachusetts Air National Guard, on 24 May 1946. It was organized at Barnes Municipal Airport, Westfield, Massachusetts, and was extended federal recognition on 24 February 1947. The squadron was equipped with P-47D Thunderbolts and was assigned to the Massachusetts National Guard 102d Fighter Group.
In 1950, the Massachusetts ANG converted to the wing-base (Hobson Plan) organization. As a result, the 67th Fighter Wing was withdrawn from the Air National Guard and inactivated on 31 October 1950. In its place, the 102d Fighter Group was assigned to the newly activated 102d Fighter Wing, however there was no change in mission to the 131st and it remained assigned to the 102d Fighter Group.
Air Defense Missionedit
The mission of the 131st Fighter Squadron was the air defense of Massachusetts. With the surprise invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950, and the regular military's lack of readiness, most of the Air National Guard was federalized placed on active duty. The 131st was retained by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to maintain the air defense mission. In 1951, the F-47s were retired to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base and the 131st was re-equipped with the F-51H Mustang Very Long Range fighter. With its air defense mission, the 131st was redesignated as the 131st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron.
131st Tactical Fighter Squadron – North American F-86H Sabre 52-2030
Beginning on 1 March 1953, the 131st placed two F-51H fighters and five pilots on air defense "runway alert" from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset. The runway alert program was the first broad effort to integrate reserve forces into a major Air Force operational mission on a volunteer basis during peacetime. In 1954, the Mustangs were reaching the end of their service life, and the 131st entered the Jet Age when it received F-94A Starfire interceptors.
After the Korean War, the Massachusetts Air Guard began to modernize and expand. On 1 May 1956 the 102d wing was redesignated as the 102d Air Defense Wing and the Guard units at Barnes were authorized to expand to a group level, and the 104th Fighter Group (Air Defense) was established, with the 131st becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 104th Material Squadron, 104th Air Base Squadron, and the 104th USAF Infirmary. The 104th, along with the 102d Fighter Group (Air Defense) at Logan Airport, Boston began attending annual training at Otis Air Force Base.
Tactical Air Commandedit
The squadron's air defense mission ended on 10 November 1958 when the Massachusetts Air Guard and its units were reassigned to Tactical Air Command (TAC) and converted to F-86H Sabre fighter-bombers. During the 1950s and early 1960s, better training and equipment, and closer relations with the Air Force improved the readiness of the Massachusetts Air National Guard.
1961 Berlin Federalizationedit
During the summer of 1961, as the 1961 Berlin Crisis unfolded, the 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron was notified on 16 August of its pending federalization and call to active duty. On 1 October the 131st was federalized and assigned to the 102d Tactical Fighter Wing, which was federalized and placed on active duty at Otis Air Force Base.
Starting on 5 December, the 131st began deploying to Wheelus Air Base Libya for gunnery training. During its time in Europe, the squadron participated in several USAF and NATO exercises, including a deployment to Leck Air Base, West Germany near the Danish border. At Leck, ground and support crews from both countries exchanged duties, learning how to perform aircraft maintenance and operational support tasks.
On 7 May 1962, Seventeenth Air Force directed that the elements of the 102d wing deploy back to the United States during the summer, and the unit returned to the United States in July 1962. Regular USAF personnel, along with a group of Air National Guard personnel who volunteered to remain on active duty formed the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the newly activated 366th Tactical Fighter Wing. The last of the ANG aircraft departing on 20 July.
Vietnam eraedit
After the Berlin Crisis, the readiness status of the 104th Tactical Fighter Group improved under the "gaining command concept", whereby the regular Air Force Tactical Air Command was responsible for overseeing the training of the group. Operational readiness inspections also honed the edges of the wing.
In 1964, the 131st switched from F-86H Sabres to the F-84F Thunderstreak. Exactly why this equipment change was made can not be determined. The F-86H was a viable aircraft in the ANG's inventory, with the Sabres from both the 101st and 131st Tactical Fighter Squadrons being sent to the New Jersey ANG, and the 119th and 141st Tactical Fighter Squadrons sending their F-84Fs to the Massachusetts squadrons. The 131st flew the Thunderstreaks throughout the 1960s, and although the squadron was not activated during the Vietnam War, several of its pilots volunteered for combat duty in Southeast Asia. In 1971, the 104th began re-equipping with the F-100D Super Sabre; the Air Guard was always one generation of fighter aircraft behind the Air Force during this time.
Close Air Supportedit
The 104th remained as a tactical fighter unit flying the F-100 until July 1979 when the F-100s were retired and the unit was re-equipped with new A-10 Thunderbolt IIs as part of the "Total Force" concept which equipped ANG units with front-line USAF aircraft. This marked the first time the 131st had received new aircraft.
131st Tactical Fighter Squadron A-10 78-0628
For most of its existence, the Air Guard had been a reserve force for federal use only in wartime or national emergency. By the 1980s, the Air Guard was an integral part of daily Air Force operations in what was called "The Total Force Policy" of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). As a result, the Massachusetts Air Guard took on more missions. With the receipt of the A-10, the 131st began a commitment to USAFE, beginning frequent deployments to West Germany, England, Italy, Turkey, and other NATO bases.
In 1990 the 131st was programmed to receive the specialized Block 10 F-16A/B Fighting Falcon, also referred to as the F/A-16 due to its close air support configuration. The 1990 Gulf Crisis, however, delayed this transition. During Operation Desert Storm, the F/A-16 was battle tested and it was discovered that the close air support F-16 project was a failure. Subsequently, the conversion of the squadron was cancelled in 1993, and the 131st remained an A-10 Thunderbolt II close air support squadron.
Air Combat Commandedit
In March 1992, the unit was redesignated as the 131st Fighter Squadron. In June, Tactical Air Command was inactivated and was replaced by Air Combat Command (ACC). In 1995, the 104th adopted the Air Force Objective Organization plan and the 104th Fighter Group became a Wing, and the 131st was assigned to the new 104th Operations Group.
Two 131st Fighter Squadron A-10s in flight
From August to October 1995, some 400 Airmen of the 104th Fighter Wing deployed to Aviano Air Base, Italy as part of the NATO mission to repel Serbian forces in Bosnia. This was the first time that the 131st Fighter Squadron flew combat sorties since World War II. Four years later, in 1999, elements of the 104th mobilized and flew sorties over the skies of the former Republic of Yugoslavia. As part of an Air Guard A-10 group, the 131st attacked Serb forces in Kosovo.
In mid-1996, the Air Force, in response to budget cuts, and changing world situations, began experimenting with Air Expeditionary organizations. The Air Expeditionary Force (AEF) concept was developed that would mix Active-Duty, Reserve and Air National Guard elements into a combined force, instead of entire permanent units deploying as in the 1991 Gulf War, Expeditionary units are composed of "aviation packages" from several wings, including active-duty Air Force, the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard, would be married together to carry out the assigned deployment rotation.
As a result of the Global War on Terrorism, in 2003, the 131st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flew hundreds of combat missions with the A-10 in support of U.S. Army and Marine operations in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom). During March and April 2003, as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, 131st Fighter Squadron A-10s supported the U.S. Army by flying combat missions that interdicted enemy forces.
The 131st Fighter Squadron's complement of F-15C airframes with the units distinctive red tail markings
BRAC 2005edit
In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, DoD recommended that the 131st send its A-10s to the Maryland Air National Guard104th Fighter Squadron at Warfield Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Maryland. In return, the 131st received the F-15C/D Eagles of the 102d Fighter Wing at Otis AFB, which was to convert into a non-flying Intelligence Wing. The realignment marked the end for the 131st's nearly 30-year mission of flying close-air support missions with the A-10. The 131st took over the homeland security mission of the 102d. In 2007, the A-10s began flying to Maryland and the F-15s began arriving from Otis AFB. By the end of 2007, eighteen F-15Cs and a trainer F-15D had arrived at Barnes.
In addition to the air defense mission, the men and women of the 131st Fighter Squadron deploy on air expeditionary missions to the Middle East in support of combat operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The last such deployment was completed in July 2012.
Lineageedit
131st FS F-15C 78-0476Constituted as the 333d Fighter Squadron (Single Engine) on 18 August 1942
Activated on 23 August 1942
Inactivated on 12 January 1946
Redesignated 131st Fighter Squadron, Single Engine and allotted to the National Guard on 24 May 1946[3]
Activated on 18 December 1946
Extended federal recognition on 24 February 1947
Redesignated 131st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron on 16 August 1952
Redesignated 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron (Day) on 10 November 1958
Federalized and placed on active duty on 1 October 1961
Released from active duty and returned to Massachusetts control on 31 August 1962
Redesignated 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron c. 15 October 1962
Redesignated 131st Fighter Squadron on 1 June 1992
Deployed as the 131st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron to Trapani Birgi Air Base, Italy from 17 May 1999 to 7 June 1999 and to Aviano Air Base, Italy from January 2003 to October 2003.
^ abcdLineage, inbcluding assignments, stations and aircraft, through May 1946 in Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 411.
Bibliographyedit
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II(PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
Rogers, Brian. (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publications. ISBN1-85780-197-0.
Watkins, Robert A. (2013). Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U.S. Army Air Force In World War II. Vol. V, Pacific Theater of Operations. Atglen, PA: Shiffer Publishing, Ltd. ISBN978-0-7643-4346-9.
January 01, 1970
131st, fighter, squadron, unit, massachusetts, national, guard, 104th, fighter, wing, located, barnes, national, guard, base, westfield, massachusetts, 131st, equipped, with, eagle, mcdonnell, douglas, eagle, 0476active1942, 1946, 1946, presentcountry, united,. The 131st Fighter Squadron is a unit of the Massachusetts Air National Guard 104th Fighter Wing located at Barnes Air National Guard Base Westfield Massachusetts The 131st is equipped with the F 15C D Eagle 131st Fighter Squadron131st Fighter Squadron McDonnell Douglas F 15C 21 MC Eagle 78 0476Active1942 1946 1946 presentCountry United StatesAllegiance MassachusettsBranch Air National GuardTypeSquadronRoleFighterPart ofMassachusetts Air National GuardGarrison HQBarnes Air National Guard Base Westfield MassachusettsNickname s BarnestormersEngagementsPacific Ocean TheaterDecorationsAir Force Outstanding Unit Award 1 Insignia131st Fighter Squadron emblem131st Fighter Interceptor Squadron emblem333d Fighter Squadron emblem 2 Tail CodeMA Red tail stripe Contents 1 History 1 1 World War II 1 2 Massachusetts Air National Guard 1 2 1 Air Defense Mission 1 2 2 Tactical Air Command 1 2 2 1 1961 Berlin Federalization 1 2 2 2 Vietnam era 1 2 2 3 Close Air Support 1 2 3 Air Combat Command 1 2 3 1 BRAC 2005 2 Lineage 2 1 Assignments 2 2 Stations 2 2 1 Massachusetts Air National Guard deployments 2 3 Aircraft 3 References 3 1 Notes 3 2 BibliographyHistory editWorld War II edit The squadron was first established in August 1942 at Bellows Field Hawaii Territory as the 333d Fighter Squadron It was initially part of the air defense of Hawaii equipped with P 39 Airacobras It also served as a Replacement Training Unit RTU and flew reconnaissance patrols over Hawaii until late 1943 The 333d deployed to the Central Pacific as part of the Thirteenth Air Force island hopping campaign against Japanese in late 1943 It engaged in combat with the Japanese until April 1944 returning to Hawaii and being re equipped and trained with long range P 51 Mustangs The squadron redeployed to the Western Pacific and was stationed on Iwo Jima while the battle for the island was still ongoing and engaged in long range B 29 Superfortress escort missions over Japan It continued that mission until the end of hostilities in August 1945 The unit was reassigned to the Mariana Islands as a Far East Air Forces fighter squadron and was inactivated there in 1946 Massachusetts Air National Guard edit The wartime 333d Fighter Squadron was redesignated the 131st Fighter Squadron and was allotted to the Massachusetts Air National Guard on 24 May 1946 It was organized at Barnes Municipal Airport Westfield Massachusetts and was extended federal recognition on 24 February 1947 The squadron was equipped with P 47D Thunderbolts and was assigned to the Massachusetts National Guard 102d Fighter Group In 1950 the Massachusetts ANG converted to the wing base Hobson Plan organization As a result the 67th Fighter Wing was withdrawn from the Air National Guard and inactivated on 31 October 1950 In its place the 102d Fighter Group was assigned to the newly activated 102d Fighter Wing however there was no change in mission to the 131st and it remained assigned to the 102d Fighter Group Air Defense Mission editThe mission of the 131st Fighter Squadron was the air defense of Massachusetts With the surprise invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950 and the regular military s lack of readiness most of the Air National Guard was federalized placed on active duty The 131st was retained by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to maintain the air defense mission In 1951 the F 47s were retired to Davis Monthan Air Force Base and the 131st was re equipped with the F 51H Mustang Very Long Range fighter With its air defense mission the 131st was redesignated as the 131st Fighter Interceptor Squadron nbsp 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron North American F 86H Sabre 52 2030Beginning on 1 March 1953 the 131st placed two F 51H fighters and five pilots on air defense runway alert from one hour before sunrise to one hour after sunset The runway alert program was the first broad effort to integrate reserve forces into a major Air Force operational mission on a volunteer basis during peacetime In 1954 the Mustangs were reaching the end of their service life and the 131st entered the Jet Age when it received F 94A Starfire interceptors After the Korean War the Massachusetts Air Guard began to modernize and expand On 1 May 1956 the 102d wing was redesignated as the 102d Air Defense Wing and the Guard units at Barnes were authorized to expand to a group level and the 104th Fighter Group Air Defense was established with the 131st becoming the group s flying squadron Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 104th Material Squadron 104th Air Base Squadron and the 104th USAF Infirmary The 104th along with the 102d Fighter Group Air Defense at Logan Airport Boston began attending annual training at Otis Air Force Base Tactical Air Command edit The squadron s air defense mission ended on 10 November 1958 when the Massachusetts Air Guard and its units were reassigned to Tactical Air Command TAC and converted to F 86H Sabre fighter bombers During the 1950s and early 1960s better training and equipment and closer relations with the Air Force improved the readiness of the Massachusetts Air National Guard 1961 Berlin Federalization edit During the summer of 1961 as the 1961 Berlin Crisis unfolded the 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron was notified on 16 August of its pending federalization and call to active duty On 1 October the 131st was federalized and assigned to the 102d Tactical Fighter Wing which was federalized and placed on active duty at Otis Air Force Base The mission of the 102d wing was to reinforce the United States Air Forces in Europe USAFE and deploy units to Phalsbourg Bourscheid Air Base France In France the units were to provide close air support and air interdiction to North Atlantic Treaty Organization NATO ground forces This involved keeping its aircraft on 24 7 alert Between 28 and 30 October wing elements departed Otis AFB for Phalsbourg The wing deployed 82 F 86H Sabres In addition 2 C 47 Skytrain and 6 T 33 Shooting Star aircraft were assigned to the wing for support and training purposes nbsp 131st TFS F 100D 55 2830Starting on 5 December the 131st began deploying to Wheelus Air Base Libya for gunnery training During its time in Europe the squadron participated in several USAF and NATO exercises including a deployment to Leck Air Base West Germany near the Danish border At Leck ground and support crews from both countries exchanged duties learning how to perform aircraft maintenance and operational support tasks On 7 May 1962 Seventeenth Air Force directed that the elements of the 102d wing deploy back to the United States during the summer and the unit returned to the United States in July 1962 Regular USAF personnel along with a group of Air National Guard personnel who volunteered to remain on active duty formed the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the newly activated 366th Tactical Fighter Wing The last of the ANG aircraft departing on 20 July Vietnam era edit After the Berlin Crisis the readiness status of the 104th Tactical Fighter Group improved under the gaining command concept whereby the regular Air Force Tactical Air Command was responsible for overseeing the training of the group Operational readiness inspections also honed the edges of the wing In 1964 the 131st switched from F 86H Sabres to the F 84F Thunderstreak Exactly why this equipment change was made can not be determined The F 86H was a viable aircraft in the ANG s inventory with the Sabres from both the 101st and 131st Tactical Fighter Squadrons being sent to the New Jersey ANG and the 119th and 141st Tactical Fighter Squadrons sending their F 84Fs to the Massachusetts squadrons The 131st flew the Thunderstreaks throughout the 1960s and although the squadron was not activated during the Vietnam War several of its pilots volunteered for combat duty in Southeast Asia In 1971 the 104th began re equipping with the F 100D Super Sabre the Air Guard was always one generation of fighter aircraft behind the Air Force during this time Close Air Support edit The 104th remained as a tactical fighter unit flying the F 100 until July 1979 when the F 100s were retired and the unit was re equipped with new A 10 Thunderbolt IIs as part of the Total Force concept which equipped ANG units with front line USAF aircraft This marked the first time the 131st had received new aircraft nbsp 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron A 10 78 0628 For most of its existence the Air Guard had been a reserve force for federal use only in wartime or national emergency By the 1980s the Air Guard was an integral part of daily Air Force operations in what was called The Total Force Policy of the United States Department of Defense DoD As a result the Massachusetts Air Guard took on more missions With the receipt of the A 10 the 131st began a commitment to USAFE beginning frequent deployments to West Germany England Italy Turkey and other NATO bases In 1990 the 131st was programmed to receive the specialized Block 10 F 16A B Fighting Falcon also referred to as the F A 16 due to its close air support configuration The 1990 Gulf Crisis however delayed this transition During Operation Desert Storm the F A 16 was battle tested and it was discovered that the close air support F 16 project was a failure Subsequently the conversion of the squadron was cancelled in 1993 and the 131st remained an A 10 Thunderbolt II close air support squadron Air Combat Command edit In March 1992 the unit was redesignated as the 131st Fighter Squadron In June Tactical Air Command was inactivated and was replaced by Air Combat Command ACC In 1995 the 104th adopted the Air Force Objective Organization plan and the 104th Fighter Group became a Wing and the 131st was assigned to the new 104th Operations Group nbsp Two 131st Fighter Squadron A 10s in flight From August to October 1995 some 400 Airmen of the 104th Fighter Wing deployed to Aviano Air Base Italy as part of the NATO mission to repel Serbian forces in Bosnia This was the first time that the 131st Fighter Squadron flew combat sorties since World War II Four years later in 1999 elements of the 104th mobilized and flew sorties over the skies of the former Republic of Yugoslavia As part of an Air Guard A 10 group the 131st attacked Serb forces in Kosovo In mid 1996 the Air Force in response to budget cuts and changing world situations began experimenting with Air Expeditionary organizations The Air Expeditionary Force AEF concept was developed that would mix Active Duty Reserve and Air National Guard elements into a combined force instead of entire permanent units deploying as in the 1991 Gulf War Expeditionary units are composed of aviation packages from several wings including active duty Air Force the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard would be married together to carry out the assigned deployment rotation As a result of the Global War on Terrorism in 2003 the 131st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flew hundreds of combat missions with the A 10 in support of U S Army and Marine operations in Afghanistan Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraq Operation Iraqi Freedom During March and April 2003 as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom 131st Fighter Squadron A 10s supported the U S Army by flying combat missions that interdicted enemy forces nbsp The 131st Fighter Squadron s complement of F 15C airframes with the units distinctive red tail markings BRAC 2005 edit In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations DoD recommended that the 131st send its A 10s to the Maryland Air National Guard 104th Fighter Squadron at Warfield Air National Guard Base Middle River Maryland In return the 131st received the F 15C D Eagles of the 102d Fighter Wing at Otis AFB which was to convert into a non flying Intelligence Wing The realignment marked the end for the 131st s nearly 30 year mission of flying close air support missions with the A 10 The 131st took over the homeland security mission of the 102d In 2007 the A 10s began flying to Maryland and the F 15s began arriving from Otis AFB By the end of 2007 eighteen F 15Cs and a trainer F 15D had arrived at Barnes In addition to the air defense mission the men and women of the 131st Fighter Squadron deploy on air expeditionary missions to the Middle East in support of combat operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom The last such deployment was completed in July 2012 Lineage edit nbsp 131st FS F 15C 78 0476Constituted as the 333d Fighter Squadron Single Engine on 18 August 1942 Activated on 23 August 1942 Inactivated on 12 January 1946 Redesignated 131st Fighter Squadron Single Engine and allotted to the National Guard on 24 May 1946 3 Activated on 18 December 1946 Extended federal recognition on 24 February 1947 Redesignated 131st Fighter Interceptor Squadron on 16 August 1952 Redesignated 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron Day on 10 November 1958 Federalized and placed on active duty on 1 October 1961 Released from active duty and returned to Massachusetts control on 31 August 1962 Redesignated 131st Tactical Fighter Squadron c 15 October 1962 Redesignated 131st Fighter Squadron on 1 June 1992 Deployed as the 131st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron to Trapani Birgi Air Base Italy from 17 May 1999 to 7 June 1999 and to Aviano Air Base Italy from January 2003 to October 2003 Assignments edit 18th Fighter Group 23 August 1942 318th Fighter Group 11 January 1943 12 January 1946 3 102d Fighter Group later 102d Fighter Interceptor Group 24 February 1947 104th Fighter Group Air Defense later 104th Tactical Fighter Group 1 May 1956 102d Tactical Fighter Wing 1 October 1961 104th Tactical Fighter Group later 104th Fighter Group 20 August 1962 104th Operations Group Oct 1995 present Stations edit Bellows Army Field Hawaii Territory 23 August 1942 Canton Army Airfield Phoenix Islands 11 September 1942 General Lyman Field Hawaii Territory 6 April 1943 Bellows Field Hawaii Territory 28 July 1943 East Field Saipan Mariana Islands 6 July 1944 Ie Shima Airfield Ryukyu Islands 30 April 1945 Naha Airfield Okinawa November 1945 December 1945 Fort Lewis Washington 11 12 January 1946 3 Barnes Municipal Airport Massachusetts 14 May 1946 Phalsbourg Air Base France 1 October 1961 Barnes Municipal Airport later Barnes Air National Guard Base Massachusetts 20 August 1962 Present Massachusetts Air National Guard deployments edit 1961 Berlin Crisis federalization Stationed at Phalsbourg Bourscheid Air Base France 1 October 1961 20 August 1962 Operation Restore Hope Yenisehir Airport Turkey 1982 Operations Deny Flight and Deliberate Force Aviano Air Base Italy 1995 Operation Southern Watch AEF Al Jaber Air Base Kuwait 2000 Operation Iraqi Freedom AEF Balad Air Base Iraq 2003 Operation Enduring Freedom AEF Undisclosed Location Southwest Asia 2012 Aircraft edit P 39 Airacobra 1942 1944 P 47 Thunderbolt 1944 1945 P 38 Lightning 1944 1945 3 F 47D Thunderbolt 1947 1951 F 51D Mustang 1951 1954 F 94A Starfire 1954 1957 F 86H Sabre 1957 1965 F 84F Thunderstreak 1965 1971 F 100D Super Sabre 1971 1979 A 10 Thunderbolt II 1979 2007 F 15C Eagle 2007 presentReferences edit nbsp United States portal Notes edit Air Force Personnel Services Unit Awards Air Force Personnel Center Retrieved 17 October 2020 search Watkins p 32 a b c d Lineage inbcluding assignments stations and aircraft through May 1946 in Maurer Combat Squadrons p 411 Bibliography edit nbsp This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Cornett Lloyd H Johnson Mildred W 1980 A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 1980 PDF Peterson AFB CO Office of History Aerospace Defense Center Archived from the original PDF on 13 February 2016 Retrieved 23 March 2012 Maurer Maurer ed 1983 1961 Air Force Combat Units of World War II PDF reprint ed Washington DC Office of Air Force History ISBN 0 912799 02 1 LCCN 61060979 Retrieved 17 December 2016 Maurer Maurer ed 1982 1969 Combat Squadrons of the Air Force World War II PDF reprint ed Washington DC Office of Air Force History ISBN 0 405 12194 6 LCCN 70605402 OCLC 72556 Retrieved 17 December 2016 McLaren David Republic F 84 Thunderjet Thunderstreak amp Thunderflash A Photo Chronicle Atglen PA Schiffer Military Aviation History 1998 ISBN 0 7643 0444 5 Rogers Brian 2005 United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978 Hinkley UK Midland Publications ISBN 1 85780 197 0 Watkins Robert A 2013 Insignia and Aircraft Markings of the U S Army Air Force In World War II Vol V Pacific Theater of Operations Atglen PA Shiffer Publishing Ltd ISBN 978 0 7643 4346 9 104th Fighter Wing history Massachusetts ANG History 131st Fighter Squadron lineage and history Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 131st Fighter Squadron amp oldid 1205316053, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
