181st Airlift Squadron | |
---|---|
Active | 1943–1946; 1947–present |
Country | United States |
Allegiance | Texas |
Branch | Air National Guard |
Type | Squadron |
Role | Airlift |
Part of | Texas Air National Guard |
Garrison/HQ | Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas |
Nickname(s) | Panzer Dusters (World War II)[1] |
Engagements | European Theater of Operations |
Decorations | Distinguished Unit Citation Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Belgian Fourragère |
Insignia | |
181st Airlift Squadron emblem | |
395th Fighter Squadron emblem | |
Tail stripe | Blue stripe inscribed Texas between two stars |
World War II fuselage code | A7 |
The 181st Airlift Squadron is a unit of the 136th Airlift Wing of the Texas Air National Guard stationed at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. The 181st is equipped with the Lockheed C-130J Hercules.
It was first activated in June 1943 as The 395th Fighter Squadron, assigned to the 368th Fighter Group. After training in the United States, it moved to the European Theater of Operations, where it served in combat until the spring of 1945 with Ninth Air Force, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation and a Belgian Fourragère for its actions. Following V-E Day, the squadron served in the army of occupation at AAF Station Straubing, Germany until was inactivated on 20 August 1946 and transferred its personnel and equipment to another unit, which was activated in its place.
The squadron was allotted to the United States National Guard as the 181st Fighter Squadron and was activated in 1947. It served in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex as a fighter squadron until the early 1960s, when it assumed an air refueling mission, which continued until 1978, and has been an airlift unit since then.