124th Wing Information

The United States Air Force's 124th Fighter Wing (124 FW) is an Air National Guard unit operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command (ACC). The 124 FW is located at Gowen Field Air National Guard Base, in Boise, Idaho.

Mission

The federal mission of the 124th Fighter Wing under Title 10 United States Code is to properly equip and train personnel in a high state of readiness for immediate tasking as levied by higher headquarters as part of the Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force. Its state mission under Title 32 United States Code is to, at the call of the Governor of the State of Idaho, provide personnel and equipment to assist civil authorities prior to, during and after emergencies or disasters; to protect life, property, preserve peace, order and public safety.^[1]

History

Idaho’s Air National Guard was established in 1946, and has quietly celebrated more than a half-century of volunteer service to Idaho and the nation by thousands of citizen-airmen. The state’s first Air Guard unit, the 190th Fighter Squadron, was created Oct. 13, 1946, under the command of Lt Col Thomas G. Lanphier, USAAF, the pilot credited with downing the bomber carrying Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto in the South Pacific during World War II. Like Lanphier, most of Idaho’s early air national guardsmen were veterans of the war. The volunteers — 23 officers and 44 enlisted men — met one night each week in a small building on Fort Street in downtown Boise.

“They had nothing. No airplanes, no buildings. No money. Not even an airfield,” said retired Col W.D. Bozeman, one of the group’s founding members. “But they had determination and skills and hope.”

Recruiting new members for the fledgling fighter squadron had the highest priority. Pay was low — $10 per month for enlisted members — and, without airplanes to fly, there was little for unit members to do during their weekly training periods.

“Finally, someone brought cider and doughnuts to a drill,” said retired Brig Gen Jim Trail, a member of the original unit who would eventually command the squadron and serve as Idaho’s Assistant Adjutant General. “That may have been the first recruiting and retention program in the Idaho Air Guard.”

The 190th Fighter Squadron’s first airplane was the famous P-51D Mustang, which became the F-51D in 1947 when the newly-established U.S Air Force reclassified former pursuit aircraft as fighters. The squadron moved to Gowen Field, a former Army Air Forces training base south of Boise’s Air Terminal, in 1947, and Idaho’s citizen airmen have shared local runways with commercial and general aviation ever since.

In 1950, the airmen and their Mustangs were called to active duty — the only full-scale mobilization in the Idaho Air National Guard’s history — to replace Air Force units sent to Korea. Idaho entered the jet age in 1953, trading aging Mustangs for the F-86A Sabre, America’s first swept-wing fighter. The 190th, part of the U.S. Air Force’s Air Defense Command (ADC), changed aircraft four more times over the next 23 years to fly the F-94 Starfire, F-89 Scorpion, F-86L Sabre and F-102 Delta Dagger.

In 1975, the 190th Fighter Squadron changed its name and mission to join the newly-formed 124th Tactical Reconnaissance Group (124 TRG) as the 190th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, flying the RF-4C Phantom II, a Mach 2 two-seat twin-engine fighter modified for high-speed reconnaissance. Phantoms would eventually spend 20 years on Gowen Field, longer than any other aircraft in the history of the Idaho Air National Guard.

Idaho’s first Phantom, the unarmed RF-4C, carried high resolution cameras and electronic sensors, which soon proved their worth to thousands of people in Idaho. Phantom jets tracked flood waters pouring from the ruptured Teton Dam within hours of the dam’s collapse to show officials where flood waters were headed in time to warn people living in endangered areas.

Aerial photographs taken immediately after the Challis earthquake helped emergency response crews locate and evaluate damage. Idaho aircrews excelled in their military mission as well. Two Idaho fliers were named “Best Aerial Reconnaissance Aircrew” at an international competition. The 124th was named “Best Flying Unit in the Air National Guard” and received the prestigious Spaatz Trophy from the National Guard Association. Idaho airmen and Phantom jets went to Canada and Norway to provide critical tactical reconnaissance capabilities to U.S. and NATO forces.

In 1991, the Idaho Air National Guard changed aircraft and mission again. The unarmed RF-4C Phantoms were replaced by F-4G Wild Weasel fighters and in 1992 the 124th Tactical Reconnaissance Group became the 124th Fighter Group (124 FG), operationally gained by the U.S. Air Force’s newly established Air Combat Command (ACC). In 1993, Idaho’s Wild Weasel jets were sent to Southwest Asia to support Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.

Twice, Idaho airmen were challenged by Iraqi air defense radars and the threats were answered — and silenced — with AGM-88 High-speed Anti-radiation Missiles (HARM). The 124th earned the U.S. Air Force Outstanding Unit Award — presented to the unit personally by the Secretary of the Air Force — for its role in Operation Southern Watch. Less than six months after ending its first Southwest Asia tour, the 124th began a second Southern Watch deployment, followed by two back-to-back tours in support of Operation Provide Comfort, enforcing the northern no-fly zone and protecting Kurds from Iraqi aggression. From 1993 to 1995 Idaho’s airmen served more than a year in the volatile Persian Gulf — longer than any other flying unit in the Air National Guard. In 1995, the 124th Fighter Group became the 124th Wing, a composite wing with 18 units — two flying squadrons and 15 support units, at Gowen Field ANGB, and an electronic combat training range control squadron assigned to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

The wing traded its Wild Weasels, the last in the U.S. Air Force, for two new aircraft — the A-10 Thunderbolt II, better known as the “Warthog,” and the C-130 Hercules transport. The Warthog, famous for its success against Iraqi armor in the Gulf War, provides close air support to troops on the ground. Idaho’s A-10s proved their worth during Operation Allied Force in 1999, where our pilots flew hundreds of combat missions in NATO’s battle for Kosovo. The C-130, workhorse of military air transport worldwide, is used to move people and cargo into and out of rough, undeveloped airfields. Idaho’s Hercs have flown flood relief missions in northern and eastern Idaho, delivered hay to starving cattle and carried several California Condors, an endangered species, to safety at the Birds of Prey center. The new century brought a new focus for the 124th Wing.

As part of the Aerospace Expeditionary Force established by the Air Force, the Idaho Air National Guard took part in AEF 7. Nearly 500 Idaho Air National Guard members went to Kuwait, Oman and other countries throughout the region over a three-month period in the summer of 2000. Changes and challenges of the past half-century have consistently produced positive results, thanks to the dedicated efforts of thousands of men and women who have served Idaho and America since 1946 as members of the Idaho Air National Guard.

In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations, the Department of Defense recommended to realign the Idaho Air National Guard by deactivating the 189th Airlift Squadron and redistributing the four C-130H aircraft of the 124th Wing to the 153rd Airlift Wing of the Wyoming Air National Guard at Cheyenne ANGB, Wyoming and have the Idaho ANG operate only A-10s and the 124th Wing (124 WG) would once again be redesignated the 124th Fighter Wing (124 FW).^[2]

The new larger unit at Cheyenne would create a larger, more effective C-130 squadron size, and with its proximity to F. E. Warren Air Force Base, would allow it to host an Active Air Force and ANG associate unit. Boise/Gowen Field ANGB would become a more valuable A-10 base because of its proximity to air-to-ground ranges with scoreable strafing and bombing, threat emitters, and integrated air combat training.^[2]

This BRAC 2005-mandated transition was completed in 2009 and the 124th Wing was redesignated as the 124th Fighter Wing.^[3]

Invasion of Iraq friendly fire incident

As part of the invasion of Iraq and supporting the British portion of that operation called Operation Telic, on March 28, 2003 two 124th Wing A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft from the 190th Fighter Squadron flew a mission to destroy artillery and rocket launchers from Iraq's 6th Armor Division, dug in 25 miles (40 km) north of Basra. During the mission, the two A-10 aircraft mistakenly attacked a patrol of four armored vehicles from D Squadron of the British Blues and Royals of the Household Cavalry that were supporting the 16 Air Assault Brigade in Operation Telic. As a result of the attack by the 190th A-10 aircraft, British Lance-Corporal of Horse Matty Hull was killed and five of his colleagues were injured, four seriously.^[4][5]

Assignments

Major Command/Gaining Command

• Air National Guard/Air Combat Command (1992–Present) {for A-10 aircraft and units}
• Air National Guard/Air Mobility Command (1992–2009) {for C-130 aircraft and units}
• Air National Guard/Tactical Air Command (1975–1992)
• Air National Guard/Air Defense Command/Aerospace Defense Command (1953–1975)

Previous designations

• 124th Wing (1995–Present)
• 124th Fighter Group (1992–1995)
• 124th Tactical Reconnaissance Group (1975–1992)

Squadrons assigned

• 189th Airlift Squadron (1992–2009)
• 190th Fighter Squadron (1946–Present)
• 124th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron (???-Present)

Bases stationed

• Gowen Field, Idaho (1946–Present)

Aircraft operated

• C-130 Hercules (1996–2009)
• A-10A Thunderbolt IIA (1996–Present)
• F-4G Phantom II (1991–1996)
• RF-4C Phantom II (1975–1992)
• F-102 Delta Dagger (1964–1975)
• F-86L Sabre (???-1964)
• F-89 Scorpion (1956-???)
• F-94 Starfire (???-1956)
• F-86A Sabre (1953-???)
• P-51D Mustang (1946–1953)

• F-51D: 1946-1953

• F-86A: 1953-1956

• F-94B, 1955

• F-89J: late 1950s

• F-86L: late 1950s-1964

• F-102A: 1964-1975

• RF-4C: 1975-1992

• F-4G: 1992-1996

• C-130E: 1996-2009

• A-10A: 1996-present

Decorations

• Air Force Outstanding Unit Award^[6]
  • 1993

References

1. ^ Globalsecurity.org
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/124wg.htm
3. ^ http://www.idaho.ang.af.mil/resources/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=16309
4. ^ "News - Telegraph". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/03/31/nbrits231.xml.
5. ^ Payne, Stewart (31 January 2007). "Soldier tells how he tried to rescue colleague". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.strategypage.com/militaryforums/567-6256.aspx.
6. ^ Air Force Personnel Center Awards Search (Post-1991)

External links

• 124th Wing Official Website

Categories:

• Military units and formations of the United States Air National Guard
• Composite wings of the United States Air Force
• Military units and formations in Idaho

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See Also:

• 107th Airlift Wing
• 122nd Fighter Wing