page_title: 113th Wing
section_title: Cold War
hierarchical_section_title: 113th Wing / History / Cold War
caption_attribution_description: A U.S. Air Force McDonnell F-4D-30-MC Phantom II (s/n 66-7607) from the 121st Tactical Fighter Squadron, 113th Tactical Fighter Wing, District of Columbia Air National Guard, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio (USA), on 7 March 1987.
context_page_description: The 113th Wing, known as the "Capital Guardians", is a unit of the District of Columbia Air National Guard, stationed at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. If activated to federal service, the fighter portion of the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command, while the airlift portion is gained by Air Mobility Command.
  The 113th's primary mission is training of air combat and operational airlift crews for national defense. The 113th also provides a ready response force of fighters for the defense of the District of Columbia area. Members of the 113th also assist local and federal law enforcement agencies in combating drug trafficking in the District of Columbia on a case by case basis.
  The 121st Fighter Squadron, assigned to the wing's 113th Operations Group, is a descendant organization of the 121st Observation Squadron, established on 10 July 1940. It is one of the National Guard observation squadrons formed before World War II
context_section_description: With its return to District of Columbia control, the 121st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was re-equipped with propeller-driven F-51H Mustangs and resumed its air defense mission of Washington, D.C.   It was not until 1954, with the phaseout of the Mustang and the requirement by ADC that its interceptor squadrons be equipped with jet-powered aircraft that the squadron was upgraded to postwar-era F-86A Sabres that had been refurbished and reconditioned before being received.    In August 1954, the 121st began standing daytime air defense alert at Andrews, placing two aircraft at the end of the runway with pilots in the cockpit from one hour before sunrise until one hour after sunset. This ADC alert lasted each and every day until the end of October 1958
  Despite the reconditioning, the F-86A Sabres were weary and required a considerable amount of maintenance to keep in the air.   In 1955, the 113th sent them to storage at Davis-Monthan AFB and received F-86E Sabres from active-duty ADC units that were receiving F-89 Scorpion interceptors.  In 1957, the F-86H was already being phased out of active service with the USAF, being replaced by the F-100 Super Sabre, and  the 121st received F-86H Sabres in late 1957.
  In late 1958, the gaining command for the 113th was changed from ADC to Tactical Air Command (TAC) and the mission of the wing was changed to tactical air support, although the air defense of Washington remained as a secondary mission.  The Sabres were phased out in 1960 with the receipt of relatively new F-100C Super Sabres from active duty units receiving the F-100D model.   The Super Sabre was a major improvement over the F-86H and it gave the wing a major increase in capability as well as it entering the supersonic age.
  In January 1968, a new crisis, the seizure of the American ship USS Pueblo by North Korean forces, and again the 113th was called to active duty. The wing was activated to federal service, and its personnel were assigned to Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina as a filler unit while the base's permanent unit, the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing was deployed to Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. At Myrtle Beach AFB, the federalized NJ ANG 119th Tactical Fighter Squadron joined the 121st TFS on active duty.   However, not all wing personnel were sent to Myrtle Beach, as personnel were spread throughout the United States, Taiwan, Korea, and South Vietnam.
  The 113 TFW returned to Andrews AFB in June 1969, and transitioned into the F-105D Thunderchief (AKA "Thud") in 1971, receiving Vietnam War veteran aircraft that were being withdrawn from combat. The 113th was one of four Air National Guard units to receive the F-105, which was a very large and complex aircraft.
  The 113th was fortunate to have many Vietnam Veteran airmen in its ranks by 1970, many of whom had F-105 experience. The Thud was the first USAF supersonic tactical fighter-bomber that was developed from scratch.  All others before it were adaptations of aircraft that had originally been developed as pure fighters.
  In December 1974, the 113th Tactical Fighter Group was inactivated, with the 121st TFS being assigned directly to the 113th Tactical Fighter Wing.
  In 1981 at the end of its service life, the F-105s were retired, with the 113th TFW receiving F-4D Phantom IIs, again receiving Vietnam War veteran aircraft from active-duty units receiving F-15A and F-16A/B next-generation fighter aircraft. With the F-4, the 113th returned to the air defense mission, becoming part of Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC), a named unit at the Numbered Air Force echelon of TAC.   ADTAC had taken over the mission of Aerospace Defense Command in 1979 when the command was inactivated; the D.C. Air National Guard using the Phantoms for Washington, D.C. air defense.
  The 113th operated the Phantoms throughout the 1980s, retiring the Phantoms at the end of their service life in 1989.  In turn, the 121st FS started receiving F-16A/B Fighting Falcons in September 1989. These were block 5 and 10 models coming from various regular USAF units converting to more modern F-16C/D m
caption: F-4D 66-7607 from the 121st Tactical Fighter Squadron, 1987
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