The 157th Air Refueling Wing is a unit of the New Hampshire Air National Guard, stationed at Pease Air National Guard Base, New Hampshire, United States. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command.
Mission Mission is as follows: Federal: "maintain well-trained, well-equipped units available for prompt mobilization during war and provide assistance during national emergencies" State: "provides protection of life, property and preserves peace, order and public safety"
Units
The 157th Air Refueling Wing consists of the following units: 157th Operations Group 133d Air Refueling Squadron 260th Air Traffic Control Squadron 157th Maintenance Group 157th Mission Support Group 157th Civil Engineer Squadron 157th Force Support Squadron 157th Security Forces Squadron 157th Logistics Readiness Squadron 157th Communications Flight 157th Medical Group Wing Staff Command Post, Public Affairs, Airman and Family Readiness Program, Finance, Safety, Environmental Management, Legal Office, Chaplain, Inspector General, Equal Opportunity, Human Resource Advisor
History
The direct predecessor to the 101st Air Refueling Wing is the World War II 311th Fighter Group. The 311th was one of only three groups to use the A-36 Apache dive bomber version of the North American P-51 Mustang. It was created in 1942 as a light bombardment group, training with the Vultee Vengeance, before moving on to the A-36 (and the P-51) when it entered combat in India as part of the Tenth Air Force.
World War II
Trained with Vultee V-72 Vengeance aircraft. Moved to India, via Australia, July–September 1943. Assigned to Tenth Air Force. Operating from India and using A-36A Apaches. The unit's aircraft had yellow tails with two black bands, the 530th Fighter Squadron having its diagonal bands sloping from top right to bottom left, while the other two squadrons had theirs either vertical or sloping the opposite way. The red nose was also a squadron marking. Many planes of this group had a girl's name on the nose, but very few had any artwork.
The squadron supported Allied ground forces in northern Burma; covered bombers that attacked Rangoon, Insein, and other targets; bombed enemy airfields at Myitkyina and Bhamo; and conducted patrol and reconnaissance missions to help protect transport planes that flew The Hump route between India and China.
Converted to North American P-51C Mustangs in May 1944. Moved to Burma in July and continued to support ground forces, including Merrill's Marauders; also flew numerous sweeps over enemy airfields in central and southern Burma.
Moved to China in August 1944 and assigned to Fourteenth Air Force. Escorted bombers, flew interception missions, struck the enemy's communications, and supported ground operations, serving in combat until the end of the war. Ferried P-51's from India for the Chinese Air Force in November 1945. Returned to the US in December 1945.
Inactivated in early 1946.
On 1 May 1956 the New Hampshire Air National Guard's 134th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 101st Fighter-Interceptor Group from the Vermont Air National Guard was transferred to New Hampshire state control, being redesignated the 101st Fighter Group (Air Defense), and federally recognized by the National Guard Bureau. The 134th FIS becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 101st Material Squadron, 101st Air Base Squadron, and the 101st USAF Dispensary. The 101st Fighter Group (AD) was assigned to the Maine Air National Guard 101st Air Defense Wing.
Maine Air National Guard
The wartime 311th Fighter Group was re-designated as the 101st Fighter Group, and was allotted to the Maine Air National Guard, on 24 May 1946. It was organized at Camp Keyes, Augusta, Maine, and was extended federal recognition on 4 April 1947 by the National Guard Bureau. The 101st Fighter Group was bestowed the lineage, history, honors, and colors of the 311th Fighter Group, and all predecessor units. The group was assigned to the Massachusetts ANG 67th Fighter Wing, operationally gained by Continental Air Command.
Upon activation, operational squadrons of the 101st Fighter Group were: 132d Fighter Squadron, Maine ANG, Dow Army Airfield, Bangor, Maine 133d Fighter Squadron, New Hampshire ANG, Grenier Field, Manchester, New Hampshire 134th Fighter Squadron, Vermont ANG, Burlington Airport, Burlington, Vermont. The three squadrons were all re-designations of the 311th Fighter Group's operational squadrons during World War II. All were initially equipped with F-47D Thunderbolts, with a mission of air defense of their respective states.
In the summer of 1948, the 132d Fighter Squadron replaced their F-47 Thunderbolts with jet F-80C Shooting Stars and were re-designated with the "Jet Propelled" suffix on 1 August. The 134th received Very Long-Range F-51H Mustangs in the summer of 1950.
Air Defense Command
The unit assumed the F-94 Starfire aircraft of the 134th FIS and the air defense mission of New Hampshire. By April 1958, the 101st counted nearly 700 officers and airmen. It was now re-equipped with 24 F-86L Sabre Interceptor jets, a dedicated swept-wing interceptor which was capable of being directed to intercept targets by Ground Control Interceptor (GCI) radar stations. The rocket-firing aircraft boasted speed, superb maneuverability, and a range. More than a dozen were in place by May. The old F-94s were shipped to other states for training purposes.
Airlift mission On 1 September 1960 the unit was transferred from ADC to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS). The 134th exchanged its recently acquired Sabres for eight Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter aircraft. Organizationally, the 101st Fighter Group (AD) was transferred to the Maine Air National Guard, the 157th Air Transportation Group being established by the National Guard Bureau as a new unit, replacing the 101st. The lineage and history, however, of the 101st Fighter Group (AD) were transferred to the 157th ATS, with the 134th being redesignated as an Air Transport Squadron.
With the transfer of the 101st to Maine, the 157th ATG became one of three groups assigned to the 133d Air Transportation Wing, Minnesota Air National Guard. Completing the organization were the 157th Group Headquarters, the 133d Air Transport Squadron, 157th Air Base Squadron, 157th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, the 157th USAF Dispensary, and State Headquarters.
1961 Berlin Airlift
On the night of 13 August 1961, the East German government erected barbed wire barriers around the periphery of West Berlin. Without warning, East Berliners had been denied passage rights to the western part of the city by their own soldiers. In response, President John F. Kennedy federalized several Air National Guard units, including the New Hampshire Air National Guard, and the 133d ATS was placed on active duty. Equipped with eight C-97 aircraft and manned with 675 guardsmen, the unit would stay at Grenier Field during the crisis. But its aircraft and crews ranged throughout the world, touching down at bases in Europe, South America, Alaska, Japan, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia. These missions came in addition to the ongoing ferrying of life-sustaining supplies to West Berlin. The 157th also airlifted elements of the Turkish Army to South Korea and delivered essential communications equipment to South Vietnam.
Typical of the C-97 flights leaving Grenier AFB was one that departed in early November 1961. Its long itinerary started with a stop at Dover AFB, Delaware, then it was on to Lajes Field, Azores; Châteauroux-Déols AB, France; Rhein-Main AB, West Germany; RAF Mildenhall, England; Keflavik Airport, Iceland; Ernest Harmon AFB, Newfoundland, and back to Grenier AFB. This 9,000-plus-mile flight required in excess of 40 hours of flying time and was supported by a crew of eight.
In 11 months, the crisis cooled, and on 31 August 1962 the 900 officers and airmen of the 157th Air Transport Group were returned to State control.
In late 1965, at the behest of the Department of Defense and in concert with other Air National Guard and Reserve units, 157th personnel joined in "Operation Christmas Star", airlifting some 23,000 pounds of gifts to United States forces in South Vietnam. It was a presaging of the unit's active participation in the Vietnam War which would begin in 1966. With all-volunteer aircrews, the three 133d ATS C-97s delivered 23,000 pounds of cargo, completely collected in New Hampshire, then shipped to Saigon and Da Nang between 26 November and 1 December. After Operation Christmas Star, Air National Guard support missions to South Vietnam increased.
Move to Pease Air Force Base On 1 January 1966, the Military Air Transport Service was discontinued, being replaced by Military Airlift Command (MAC). With the change of major command designations, the 157th was redesignated as the 157th Military Airlift Group, the 133d as a Military Airlift Squadron. The 157th became part of the 21st Air Force, McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. But more dramatic than any previous change, the closure of Grenier AFB meant that the 157th was told to pack up and move to a new home at Pease AFB in Newington, New Hampshire. The closure of Grenier AFB had been the result of Air Force-wide downsizing directed by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara.
At Pease AFB, the 157th was assigned to buildings on the north side of the base. Like it or not, after 20 years on its own, the 157th was now side by side with Strategic Air Command 509th Bombardment Wing active-duty personnel. At the first drill in February 1966, in the confines of its hangar, the entire 700-man unit received a formal welcome by the 509th. During the ceremony—a reality check of sorts—base representatives explained the installation's regulations, proper wear of uniforms, and other military courtesies.
As the unit settled into a new home, the 133d Aeromedical Evacuation flight was formed. It was composed of 13 flight nurses and 29 airmen serving as medical aide technicians. Working aboard the C-97 Stratofreighter planes assigned to the 133d Military Airlift Squadron, New Hampshire medical crews were assigned to assist transporting patients from Europe and Southeast Asia.
Vietnam War
By March 1966, the 157th began regular logistical support for the burgeoning American forces in South Vietnam. During the next five years, 157th aircrews averaged two flights a month to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Cam Ranh Air Base, and Da Nang Air Base in South Vietnam, as well as to other USAF-controlled bases in Southeast Asia, transporting air freight and military personnel on globe-circling trips which took Guardsmen away from their homes and jobs for 10- to 20-day periods. Each mission from New Hampshire to South Vietnam could become an air marathon of sorts. During one flight, the trip lasted almost 11 days, as the 133d flew from Pease AFB to Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, where cargo was loaded. Next it was on to the West Coast, then Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, the Philippines, and finally, South Vietnam. To help exhausted combat troops get their R&R, the Air National Guard, including the 157th, flew more than 110,000 military personnel throughout the U.S. and overseas. In the 1,352 "Combat Leave" missions logged, approximately 38,300 military personnel were transported from Southeast Asia to the states and back again.