Springfield Air National Guard Base
178th Fighter Wing
Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport
5319 Regula Avenue Springfield, OH 45502 MAP
Phone: 800.851.4503
Web: www.178fw.ang.af.mil
Springfield Air National Guard Base on Springfield-Beckley
Municipal Airport supports the Ohio Air National Guard's
178th Fighter Wing.
The 178th 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.
Today, The 178th Fighter Wing has the primary mission of
training pilots in the F-16 Falcon fighter jet. When the
2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act realigned the
training mission for U.S. pilots to another unit, the wing
acquired the mission of training Dutch pilots.
The 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.
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