Springfield Air National Guard Base
Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport
5319 Regula Avenue Springfield, OH 45502 MAP
PHONE: 800.851.4503
WEBSITE: www.178fw.ang.af.mil
ARTICLES IN AVIATIONDAYTON.COM
The Springfield Air National Guard Base on Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport supports the Ohio Air National Guard's 178th Fighter Wing.
The 178th Fighter Wing has the primary mission of training pilots in the F-16 Fighting Falcon. When the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act realigned the training mission for U.S. pilots to another unit, the 178th Fighter Wing acquired the mission of training Dutch pilots. That unit is scheduled to end in 2010.
In May 2010, the wing announced a new mission to operate MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft at the Springfield Air National Guard Base.
The 178th Fighter Wing consists of four groups — 178th Operations Group, 178th Maintenance Group, 178th Medical Group, and 178th Mission Support Group — and one flying squadron. In addition to its 900 personnel, the 178th FW also supports 320 members of the Headquarters, 251st Communications Group, the 269th Combat Communications Squadron (both co-located with the 178th FW), and the 123rd Air Control Squadron, located in Cincinnati.
The wing originally was activated as the 362nd Fighter Squadron in Hamilton Field, CA, in December 1942. It became one of three fighter squadrons of the 357th Fighter Group, flying P-51 Mustangs first out of Raydon Wood Airdrome in Suffolk, England, then Leiston Airfield near the village of Yoxford. The 357th was deactivated in 1946.
On November 2, 1947, the 162nd Fighter Squadron received federal recognition and was initially stationed at Dayton Municipal Airport (now Dayton International Airport) in Vandalia, Ohio. In 1955, when new jet aircraft required a longer runway, the unit moved to Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport. In 1963, the 162nd Fighter Squadron and support units were formed into the 178th Tactical Fighter Group.
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This page is not an official 178th Fighter Wing website. For the official website, go here.
