100th Fighter Squadron The 100th Fighter Squadron ( 100 FS ) is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard 187th Fighter Wing located at Montgomery Air National Guard Base , Alabama . The 100th is equipped with the F - 16C / D Fighting Falcon . The 100th FS was one of the Tuskegee Airmen squadrons during World War II , one of the famous all - black squadrons of the 332nd Fighter Group , activated on 19 February 1942 at Tuskegee Army Air Field , Alabama . It was returned to duty in 2007 as a replacement of the Alabama ANG 160th Fighter Squadron so the state could honor the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen . History . World War II . Established in February 1942 at Tuskegee Army Airfield , Alabama to train African - American flight cadets graduated from the Tuskegee Institute Army contract flying school . At Tuskegee , the squadron performed advanced combat flying training . As the number of graduated from the Tuskegee school grew , two additional squadrons the 301st and 302d Fighter Squadron s were activated at Tuskegee Army Airfield , forming the 332d Fighter Group . Due to the segregated status of the Army Air Forces in 1942 and the reluctance by the service to deploy African Americans into combat , the 332d remained in an extended training status . The Group was transferred to Selfridge Army Air Base , near Detroit , Michigan in March 1943 after the decision was reached to deploy the unit . Racial tensions in the Detroit area , however , forces a move to Oscoda Army Airfield , in isolated northeast Michigan the next month where the final training of the unit was performed by First Air Force . However the unit was delayed again going into combat , and also was sent back to Selfridge upon completion of training at Osconda AAF to perform Air Defense flights over the Detroit area beginning in July 1943 . For six months , the unit remained at Selfridge until pressure on the Army led to the decision to deploy the 100th to Fifteenth Air Force in Ital at the end of 1943 , to support the strategic aerial bombardment campaign being carried out by B - 17 Flying Fortress and B - 24 Liberator Heavy bombers from newly established air bases in the Foggia , Italy area . As the Italian Campaign pushed further north into Italy during 1944 , the squadron moved to operate from forward captured air bases , flying bomber escort missions initially with P - 47D Thunderbolt s , then being upgraded to the long - range P - 51D Mustang fighter . In combat , the unit engaged enemy forces in the Rome - Arno area , then during the D - Day landings in France , took part in the Normandy and Northern France campaigns . It returned to the MTO in August 1944 , flying combat missions supporting the Invasion of southern France and attacking enemy targets in Northern Italy , Po Valley , the German Rhineland and the Western Allied invasion of Germany during March and April 1945 . With the end of the War in Europe in May 1945 , the squadron was returned to Southern Italy , being stationed at Lucera Airfield , near Foggia where the unit slowly was demobilized and personnel returned to the United States . The 100th Fighter Squadron was inactivated as an administrative unit at Camp Kilmer , New Jersey in mid - October 1945 . Cold War . The 332d was re - activated as part of Tactical Air Command Ninth Air Force at Lockbourne Army Airbase ( Later Lockbourne AFB ) , near Columbus , Ohio in July 1947 , again as a segregated African - American unit of the Army Air Forces ( later United States Air Force ) . At Lockbourne , the Wing was equipped with new F - 47N Thunderbolt s that were designed for very - long range flights in the Pacific Theater to attack ground targets in the Japanese Home Islands . However the aircraft were never deployed due to the sudden end of the War in August 1945 . At Lockbourne , the squadron participated in firepower demonstrations , gunnery training , and operational missions to maintain combat proficiency . The African - American segregated unit was inactivated in July 1949 as a result of President Harry S . Truman ' s Executive Order 9981 . EO 9981 abolished racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces . The 100th ' s personnel and equipment were reassigned to other units . The 100th was reactivated by Strategic Air Command in 1953 as an integrated squadron , being equipped with KB - 29P Superfortress tankers and given an air refueling mission , based at Robins AFB , near Macon , Georgia . The squadron primarily performed areal refueling of SAC ' s B - 50 Superfortress medium bombers ( the B - 36 Peacemaker did not have IFR capability ) using a primitive " looped hose " refueling system . In 1954 , the squadron moved to Pease AFB , New Hampshire ; received KC - 97 Stratotanker s and performed aerial refueling with SAC ' s B - 47 Stratojet units , deploying frequently to England and Morocco in North Africa to operate from what were called " REFLEX " bases to refuel SAC bombers prior to their planned flights into Communist - controlled Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union . The 100th Air Refueling Squadron continued to operate from Pease until the end of the B - 47 and REFLEX era in 1966 , the unit was then inactivated . Air Training Command re - activated the 100th as a Flying Training Squadron at Williams AFB , Phoenix , Arizona in September 1989 as a USAF Reserve pilot training squadron . It had no assigned aircraft and was apparently used for ground training of reserve pilots . The squadron was inactivated as part of the post - Cold War draw - down of the Air Force in 1993 . Post - Cold War era . In 1999 , the 100th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron was activated as a provisional United States Air Forces in Europe ( USAFE ) Expeditionary aerial refueling squadron . Its mission was the refuel NATO combat aircraft during the 1999 Kosovo Campaign , Operation Allied Force . Consisting of KC - 135 Stratotanker s from the 100th Air Refueling Wing , RAF Mildenhall , England , the squadron was active between April – June 1999 when the Kosovo Campaign ended . After the Kosovo Campaign , the 100th was again re - activated as a flying training squadron at Randolph AFB , Texas , equipped with T - 6 Texan II , T - 1 Jayhawk and T - 38C Talon trainers . It provided flight training to new air force pilot trainees throughout the early 2000s . Alabama Air National Guard . In 2007 , the Alabama legislature requested the National Guard Bureau to allow the Alabama Air National Guard 160th Fighter Squadron to be re - designated as the 100th Fighter Squadron so the state could honor the legacy of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen . This was obtained from the Air Force and on 12 September 2009 , the 100th Flying Training Squadron was inactivated . The designation was transferred to the National Guard Bureau by the Air Force and it was allotted to the Alabama ANG . As a result , the 160th Fighter Squadron was inactivated , and the new 100th Fighter Squadron assumed its personnel , equipment and aircraft . The 160th Fighter Squadron stood down in a ceremony at Montgomery Air National Guard Base , on 13 September 2007 , with the 100th Fighter Squadron standing up and being bequeathed the history , lineage , and honors of the World War II 100th Fighter Squadron and its successor units . From the onset the squadron started training on the block 30 version of the F - 16C / D Fighting Falcon that carried over from the 160th FS . The squadron flies the F - 16 in a traditional air defense and conventional attack role . In August 2009 , the 100th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron deployed 240 airmen and aircraft to Balad AB , Iraq as part of the 332d Expeditionary Fighter Squadron supporting Operation Iraq Freedom . This was the first deployment of the 100th FS to the middle east and over 2 , 000 hours were flown and Precision Guided Munitions were employed . The unit returned to Montgomery in November 2009 . The squadron deployed to Romania in August 2012 to participate in Dacian Viper 2012 , a three - week joint exercise with the Romanian Air Force . The Alabama ANG contingent , which included nearly twenty fighter pilots and eight F - 16s , exercised with approximately 200 Romanian soldiers , technical staff , and pilots flying six MiG - 21 " Fishbed " fighters at 71st Air Base , located near the town of Câmpia Turzii in the northwestern part of Romania .