118th Airlift Squadron
Encyclopedia
The 118th Airlift Squadron flies the C-21A Learjet. It is a unit of the Connecticut Air National Guard
. Its parent unit is the 103rd Airlift Wing.
Air National Guard squadron since 1945. The 118th Fighter Squadron won the first Hawgsmoke
gunnery competition in 2000.
Connecticut Air National Guard
The Connecticut Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is, along with the Connecticut Army National Guard, an element of the Connecticut National Guard. It is considered a part of the United States Air Force, as well as of the state...
. Its parent unit is the 103rd Airlift Wing.
History
Constructed facilities, repaired aircraft and equipment, and served as transportation and supply unit in Zone of Advance, 1918-1919. Emergency operations while under state control included surveillance flights in Connecticut during labor troubles in 1934. Antisubmarine patrols, 26 January-c. August 1942; air defense patrols in India in area to rear of combat zone, 28 March-4 June 1944; combat in CBI as fighter unit, 18 June 1944-21 January 1945, 16 April-ii August 1945.Air National Guard squadron since 1945. The 118th Fighter Squadron won the first Hawgsmoke
Hawgsmoke
Hawgsmoke is a biennial United States Air Force bombing, missile, and tactical gunnery competition for A-10 Thunderbolt II units. It is hosted by the winners of the previous competition and provides both skills competition and an opportunity to share in the camaraderie and fellowship within the...
gunnery competition in 2000.
Lineage
- Organized as 118th Aero Squadron on 31 August 1917
- Redesignated 639th Aero Supply Squadron on 1 February 1918
- Demobilized on 6 June 1919
- Reconstituted and consolidated (1936) with 118th Observation Squadron which, having been allotted to National Guard, was activated on 1 November 1923.
- Ordered to active service on 24 February 1941.
- Redesignated: 118th Observation Squadron (Light) on 13 January 1942
- Redesignated: 118th Observation Squadron on 4 July 1942
- Redesignated: 118th Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter) on 2 April 1943
- Redesignated: 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 11 August 1943
- Inactivated on 7 November 1945
- Redesignated 118th Fighter Squadron, and allotted to Connecticut ANG, on 24 May 1946.
- Received federal recognition and activated, 1 January 1947
- Federalized and placed on active duty, 10 February 1951
- Re-designated: 118th Fighter Squadron (Single Engine), 1 February 1951
- Released from active duty and returned to Connecticut state control, 1 November 1952
- Redesignated: 118th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 November 1952
- Redesignated: 118th Tactical Fighter Squadron, April 1971
- Redesignated: 118th Fighter Squadron, 1992
- Redesignated: 118th Airlift Squadron, 2007
Assignments
- Unknown, 31 August 1917-June 1918
- Second Corps Aeronautical School, June 1918-c. March 1919
- Unknown, c. March-6 June 1919
- Connecticut National GuardConnecticut Army National GuardThe Connecticut Army National Guard is a component of the United States Army and the United States National Guard. Nationwide, the Army National Guard comprises approximately one half of the US Army's available combat forces and approximately one third of its support organization...
(divisional aviation, 43d Division), 1 November 1923 - IV Army CorpsIV Corps (United States)The IV Corps replaced the VI Corps in the Fifth United States Army's order of battle in Italy after Allied forces liberated Rome in the summer of 1944 when VI Corps was withdrawn to take part in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France. Initially the Corps had two divisions, U.S...
, 24 February 1941 - 66th Observation (later Reconnaissance; Tactical Reconnaissance) Group66th Air Base WingThe 66th Air Base Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Air Force Materiel Command Electronic Systems Center, stationed at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts...
, 1 September 1941 - III Reconnaissance CommandIII Reconnaissance CommandThe III Reconnaissance Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Third Air Force stationed at Rapid City Army Air Base, South Dakota. It was inactivated on 8 April 1946.-Lineage:...
, October 1943 - Army Air Forces, India-Burma Sector, January 1944
- Attached to Tenth Air ForceTenth Air ForceThe Tenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve Command . It is headquartered at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas....
, 14 February-c. 12 June 1944- Fourteenth Air ForceFourteenth Air ForceThe Fourteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command . It is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California....
, C. 12 June 1944
- Fourteenth Air Force
- Attached to 23d Fighter Group23d Fighter GroupThe 23d Fighter Group is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 23d Wing and stationed at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia....
, c. 16 June 1944-c. 15 August 1945- Tenth Air ForceTenth Air ForceThe Tenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve Command . It is headquartered at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas....
, 1 August 1945 - Fourteenth Air ForceFourteenth Air ForceThe Fourteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command . It is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California....
, 25 August-7 November 1945 - Connecticut Air National GuardConnecticut Air National GuardThe Connecticut Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is, along with the Connecticut Army National Guard, an element of the Connecticut National Guard. It is considered a part of the United States Air Force, as well as of the state...
, 24 May 1946
- Tenth Air Force
- First Air ForceFirst Air ForceThe First Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida....
(ADC), 1 January 1947 - First Air ForceFirst Air ForceThe First Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command . It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida....
(ConAC), 1 December 1948 - 26th Air Division (ConAC), 1 February 1950
- 26th Air Division (ADC), 1 January 1951
- Federalized and placed on active duty under Air Defense Command, 10 February 1951
- 103d Fighter-Interceptor Group, 10 February 1951
- 4709th Defense Wing, 6 February 1952
- Released from active duty and returned to Connecticut state control, 1 November 1952
- 103d Fighter-Interceptor Group (ADC), 1 November 1952
- 103d Tactical Fighter Group (TAC), April 1971
- 103d Tactical Fighter Wing (TAC), 1979-1992
- 103d Fighter Wing (ACC), 1992-2007
- 103d Airlift Wing103d Airlift WingThe 103d Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force unit of the Connecticut Air National Guard, located at Bradley ANGB, Connecticut.-Mission:Before the completion of the BRAC realignment with the 104th Fighter Wing in Massachusetts, the 103 FW provided the firepower of the A-10 for close-air...
(AMC), 2007-Present
Stations
- Kelly Field, TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, 31 August 1917 - Garden CityGarden City, New YorkGarden City is a village in the town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, from mid-town Manhattan, and just south of the town of...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, 3–13 January 1918 - St Maixent, France, 29 January 1918
- Ourches. France, 3 March 1918
- Amanty, France
- Detachment at Ourches, c. 24 March 1918
- Châtillon-sur-Seine, France, 8 June 1918-1919
- Mitchel Field, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, c. 22 May-6 June 1919 - Hartford AirportBradley International AirportBradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut....
, ConnecticutConnecticutConnecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, 1 November 1923 - Jacksonville Army Airfield, FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, 16 March 1941 - Charleston Army Airfield, South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, 22 January 1942 - Tullahoma AAB, TennesseeTennesseeTennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, 8 September 1942 - Morris Field, North CarolinaNorth CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, 9 November 1942 - Camp CampbellFort CampbellFort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astraddle the Kentucky-Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky, and Clarksville, Tennessee...
, KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, 2 April 1943 - Statesboro Army Airfield, GeorgiaGeorgia (U.S. state)Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, 23 June 1943
- Aiken Army Airfield, South CarolinaSouth CarolinaSouth Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, 29 August 1943 - Key FieldKey fieldA key field is a field or set of fields of a database table which together form a unique identifier for a database record . The aggregate of these fields is usually referred to simply as "the key". Key fields also define searches...
, MississippiMississippiMississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, 25 October-18 December 1943 - Gushkara, India, 16 February 1944
- Detachments operated from Chakulia and Kharagpur, India, March-June 1944
- Chengkung, China, June 1944
- Air echelon at Kewilin, China, 16 June-14 September 1944
- Liuchow, China, 34 September-7 November 1944, and Suichwan, China, 12 November 1944-22 January 1945
- Operated primarily from Laohwangping, China, after 14 April 1945
- Laohwangping, China, June 1945
- Liuchow, China, C. 25 August-26 September 1945
- Camp KilmerCamp KilmerCamp Kilmer, New Jersey 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 Forces Transportation Corps. Troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in...
, New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, 5–7 November 1945. - Bradley International AirportBradley International AirportBradley International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Windsor Locks on the border with East Granby and Suffield, in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is owned by the State of Connecticut....
(1952–present)
Aircraft
- C-27J Spartan (2014)
- C-21A Learjet (2007–2014)
- A-10A Thunderbolt II (1979–2007)
- C-12 HuronC-12 HuronThe C-12 Huron is the military designation for a series of twin-engine turboprop aircraft based on the Beechcraft Super King Air and Beechcraft 1900. C-12 variants are used by the United States Air Force, United States Army, United States Navy and United States Marine Corps...
(???-???) - F-100D Super SabreF-100 Super SabreThe North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of...
(1971–1979) - F-102 Delta DaggerF-102 Delta DaggerThe Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was a US interceptor aircraft built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet bomber fleets...
(1965–1971) - F-100A Super SabreF-100 Super SabreThe North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of...
(1959–1965) - F-86 SabreF-86 SabreThe North American F-86 Sabre was a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as America's first swept wing fighter which could counter the similarly-winged Soviet MiG-15 in high speed dogfights over the skies of the Korean War...
(1958–1959) - F-94B Starfire (1956–1958)
- F-84D Thunderjet (1954–1956)
- F-51 MustangP-51 MustangThe North American Aviation P-51 Mustang was an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and in several other conflicts...
(1952–1954) - P-47 ThunderboltP-47 ThunderboltRepublic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolt, also known as the "Jug", was the largest, heaviest, and most expensive fighter aircraft in history to be powered by a single reciprocating engine. It was heavily armed with eight .50-caliber machine guns, four per wing. When fully loaded, the P-47 weighed up to...
(1947–1952) - C-47 SkytrainC-47 SkytrainThe Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft that was developed from the Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in front line operations through the 1950s with a few remaining in operation to this day.-Design and...
(1947–1950) - B-26 MarauderB-26 MarauderThe Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engine medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was also used in the Mediterranean Theater and in Western Europe....
(1947–1950) - T-6 TexanT-6 TexanThe North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s...
(1947–1950) - L-5 SentinelL-5 SentinelThe Stinson L-5 Sentinel was a World War II era liaison aircraft used by all branches of the U.S. military and by the British Royal Air Force. Along with the Stinson L-1 Vigilant, the L-5 was the only other American liaison aircraft of WWII that was purpose-built for military use and had no...
(1947–1950) - L-19 Bird Dog (1947–1950)