173d Air Refueling Squadron

see 401st Fighter Squadron for full World War II history

The 401st Fighter Squadron was established on 22 July 1943 at Westover Field, Massachusetts and equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts. Deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and assigned to Ninth Air Force in England, it engaged in combat operations until May 1945. It returned to the United States during September–November 1945, and was inactivated on 7 November 1945.

The unit was allotted to the National Guard on 24 May 1946 and redesignated the 173rd Fighter Squadron, and was further allotted to the Nebraska Air National Guard. It was organized and federally recognized as a P-51D Mustang squadron in July 1946. It was the second Air National Guard unit established, and assigned to the Iowa ANG 132d Fighter Group. It was posted to Lincoln Airport (later Lincoln Air Force Base), a former Second Air Force training field during World War II. With the long runways of the airport, the unit upgraded to Lockheed P-80A Shooting Star jet aircraft in early 1948. In 1950 the unit became the first Air National Guard organization to win the Winston P. Wilson Trophy as the outstanding jet fighter unit. It was the first of five Wilson trophies to be awarded to the Nebraska organization.

Activated to federal service during the Korean War, the unit was sent to Dow AFB, Maine. Used by TAC to train replacement pilots in F-51D Mustang ground support operations, it also deployed unit members to Japan and Korea to fly combat missions. The 132d was moved to Alexandria AFB, Louisiana in May 1952 again with F-51s replacing the federalized Oklahoma ANG 137th Fighter-Bomber Wing which was deployed to France. The unit performed training as a tactical fighter unit until relieved from active service and returned to Nebraska ANG jurisdiction in January 1953.

Pilots from the 173rd Fighter Squadron, 155th Fighter Group, Nebraska Air National Guard, running to their planes during a practice alert at Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska (USA), before 1953, when the unit was redesignated Fighter Interceptor Squadron.

Upon returning to Lincoln, the squadron was forced to share facilities with the new Strategic Air Command provisional 4120th Air Base Group and extensive construction enlarging the airport to support SAC bombers as Lincoln Air Force Base. In late 1953, the unit re-equipped with more-advanced F-80C Shooting Star jets and the 173d was re-designated as a Fighter-Interceptor squadron, with the Air Defense Command (ADC) becoming the gaining organization. Its new mission was the air defense of Nebraska and specifically the air defense of the new SAC facility, which was programmed to receive the Air Forces new B-47 Stratojet intercontinental jet bomber in 1954.

In 1955 the 173d was authorized new facilities. A new site was located south of the commercial air terminal adjoining the Air Force base and the unit moved to its new facilities in the fall of 1956. Two years later, the unit moved into a vacated Naval Air Reserve hangar and turned its "old" hangar over to the Nebraska Army National Guard. Since that time, additional facilities were built on the 166 acres (0.67 km2) of the Lincoln Air National Guard Base. Army aviation and other Army units remain tenants today.

The 173d transitioned to North American F-86D Sabre interceptors in 1957, and upgraded to the modified F-86L in 1959 which could be computer controlled by the ground-based SAGE guidance system to intercept target unknown aircraft. In 1960, ADC decided to expand the organization to a group level, activating the 155th Fighter-Interceptor Group at Lincoln AFB on 1 July; with jurisdiction of the 173d being transferred from the Iowa ANG 132d Fighter Group to the new 155th FIG.

The unit remained under ADC until 1964 with the planned retirement of the B-47. The unit then received Republic RF-84F Thunderflash photo-reconnaissance aircraft and became a Tactical Air Command reconnaissance squadron. In January 1965 SAC's 307th Bomb Wing began phasing down at Lincoln AFB and the base was closed on 6 June 1966; returning it to its original role of a municipal airport with a collocated Air National Guard Base.

The 173d continued to operate as a tactical reconnaissance squadron until 1993, being upgraded to the RF-4C Phantom II in 1972. With the retirement of the Phantom in the early 1990s and the end of the Cold War, the unit was re-aligned into the 173d Air Refueling Squadron, flying Boeing KC-135R Stratotankers and being activated to federal service under the Air Mobility Command.

Legacy World War II 401st Fighter Squadron emblem

173d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron – Emblem

• Constituted 401st Fighter Squadron on 22 July 1943

Activated on 25 July 1943

Inactivated on 10 November 1945

• Re-designated 173d Fighter Squadron and allocated to the Nebraska Air National Guard on 24 May 1946.

173rd Fighter Squadron (Single-Engine) extended federal recognition on 26 July 1946

Re-designated: 173d Fighter Squadron (Jet) in Spring 1948

Ordered into active service on 1 April 1951

Relieved from active duty and returned to Nebraska ANG, on 1 January 1953

Re-designated: 173d Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 1 January 1953

Re-designated: 173d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron in Fall 1953

Re-designated: 173d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron on 1 May 1964

Re-designated: 173d Reconnaissance Squadron on 15 March 1992

Re-designated: 173d Air Refueling Squadron on 1 October 1995

• 370th Fighter Group, 25 July 1943 – 7 November 1945
• 132d Fighter Group, 26 July 1946
• 132d Fighter-Bomber Group, on 1 January 1953
• 132d Fighter-Interceptor Group, 1 July 1958
• 155th Fighter-Interceptor Group, 1 July 1960
• 155th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, 1 May 1964
• 155th Reconnaissance Group, 15 March 1992
• 155th Air Refueling Group, 1 January 1994
• 155th Air Refueling Wing, 1 Oct 1995–present