Photo By Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot | A pair of U.S. Air Force F-100 Super Saber fighter jets assigned to the 185th Fighter...... read more read more
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Air National Guard Airmen in 2024 may be unaware of the connection their job has to a tumultuous time in U.S. history over 60 years ago.
At the time, small flying squadrons had been a part of the air reserve component from the founding of America’s newest military branch in 1947.
By 1960, more than a decade of growing pains and real-world events exposed readiness issues that convinced the Air Force to better fund, train and equip their counterparts in the Air National Guard.
Fueled by events of the day, like the construction or the Berlin Wall and the Cuban missile crisis, the Air National Guard saw a significant period of modernization and growth by the early 1960s.
It was during that time when Iowa’s 174th Fighter Squadron was added to a growing group of Air National Guard units who were growing, into Groups.
Change happened in Sioux City when the Iowa ANG unit was reorganized as a subordinate unit under the newly created 185th Tactical Fighter Group.
When the 185th TFG reorganization was finalized on October 1st, 1962, the unit’s new designation doubled the number of assigned airmen at the Western Iowa ANG facility.
Under the direction of Lt. Colonel Don Forney, the 185th TFG’s federal recognition added 62 additional officers and 318 airmen to the squadron’s 45 officers and 390 airmen who were already in place. The creation of the Group increased the unit’s authorized manning to over 800 airmen.
The proliferation and availability of newer “century series” fighter jets, along with a more cost-effective ready reserve, were other factors contributing to the Air National Guard’s expansion of units like Iowa’s 174th FS.
Finding additional airmen to fill National Guard ranks at the time was not difficult, as few young men from the class of 1962 had a choice about military service because of the draft.
Just prior to the 1962 reorganization in Iowa, the 174th converted from flying aging RF-84F reconnaissance aircraft. The unit was initially rerolled as a Tactical Fighter Squadron when they received their first F-100 Super Sabre in 1961.
The first F-100 was received in Sioux City form the United States Air Force Europe’s 36th Fighter Wing in Bitburg, Germany as F-105's were being sent to the active duty unit.
With the new mission and airframe, Iowa’s 185th TFG was allocated to the 140th Tactical Fighter Wing, headquartered in Colorado. The Iowa Group continued to be a part of the 140th through both the 174th and Colorado’s 120th Fighter Squadron’s deployments to Vietnam in 1968.
Commander’s who’ve been part of conversions during their careers can sympathize with the 174th’s massive to-do list at the time.
In anticipation of a pending airframe conversion, construction on a new fire station and engine shop were already underway at the Sioux City airport 1961. At that same time the unit had begun receiving their first F-100 Super Sabers from overseas bases as they abandoned their aerial reconnaissance mission.
During the conversion in Sioux City, the unit was not excused from inclusion in a massive ANG alert at the time. Because of extreme tensions in Berlin the unit was placed on alert for a short time in August of 1961.
The adage, “history does not repeat itself, but it does rhyme,” applied the next spring, as airport runway construction caused air operations to move to a nearby ANG unit in Lincoln, Neb.
Determining aircraft distribution, missions, and manning had ANG units around the nation jostling for position in the late 1950s and early 1960s. When Sioux City began receiving their F-100s, their neighboring squadron at Lincoln, Neb. ANG were flying F-86D Sabre jets, while in nearby Sioux Falls, S.D., the unit was flying F-102 Delta Daggers.
By the fall of 1962, when the Sioux City, Iowa Squadron became a Group, the newly created 185th Fighter Group saw one of their most significant changes since its founding in 1946.
The unit’s 1962 Group designation continues to impact today’s 185th that has since grown into the 185th Air Refueling Wing, adding additional full-time and part-time jobs.
Historians mark the expansion of America’s ready reserve as an important salvo contributing to the end of the cold war. While contributing to a more robust total force, the events at that time also led to lasting impacts on ANG communities around the nation.
| Date Taken: | 10.01.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2024 10:50 |
| Story ID: | 482197 |
| Location: | SIOUX CITY, IOWA, US |
| Web Views: | 19 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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