188th Fighter Wing The 188th Fighter Wing ( 188 FW ) is a unit of the Arkansas Air National Guard , stationed at Fort Smith Air National Guard Station , Fort Smith , Arkansas . If activated to federal service , the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command . Overview . The 188th Fighter Wing ' s A - 10 Thunderbolts provide close air support to troops on the ground . The specially designed airframe is built around the 30mm Gatling gun and a titanium armor that can sustain direct hits from armor piercing projectiles . The men and women of the 188th are able to rapidly deploy and support ground forces all over the world . Units . The 188th Fighter Wing consists of the following units : History . On 22 August 1962 , the Arkansas Air National Guard 184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level , and the 188th Tactical Reconnaissance Group was established by the National Guard Bureau . The 184th TRS becoming the group ' s flying squadron . Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 188th Headquarters , 188th Material Squadron ( Maintenance ) , 188th Combat Support Squadron , and the 188th USAF Dispensary . The 184th TRS was equipped with the RF - 84F Thunderstreak . In 1970 with the winding - down of the Vietnam War , the 184th began receiving McDonnell RF - 101C Voodoo s , replacing the RF - 84Fs the unit had been flying for over a decade . The USAF had , however , planned for the RF - 101C to be gradually phased out of USAF service in favor of the McDonnell RF - 4C Phantom II and the aircraft remained with the 184th TRS for only a brief period of time , and in 1970 was retired . Tactical Fighter . Following their withdrawal from the Vietnam War , numerous USAF F - 100D Super Sabre s were turned over to the Air National Guard . Tactical Air Command realigned the 151st into a Tactical Fighter Group in 1972 , and equipping the unit with Vietnam Veteran F - 100D and twin - seat F - 100F Trainers . In 1979 , the Super Sabre was being retired and the 184th TFS began receiving F - 4C Phantom II s to be used in an air defense role . In 1988 , as part of the retirement of the Phantom II , the squadron began receiving Block 15 F - 16A Fighting Falcon s . The first F - 16 delivery to the squadron was on 1 July 1988 and the formal acceptance of the F - 16 happened on 15 October . On 15 March 1992 the 184th dropped the Tactical name from the squadron as the parent 184th converted to the USAF Objective organization . In early 2001 the 184th FS began to retire its F - 16A / B block 15s to AMARC in exchange for F - 16C block 32s . They never received any D - models . Because the squadron flew the rarely seen block 32 , the squadron became a source for spare F - 16s for the USAF Thunderbirds flight demonstration team . In the end the 184th FS never had to give up any of their aircraft as the Thunderbirds took needed aircraft from home based Nellis 57th Fighter Wing . Deployed to Prince Sultan AB , Saudi Arabia ( October 24 , 2002 to December of 2002 ) in support of Operation Southern Watch . In 2005 , the 188th deployed nearly 300 Airmen and multiple F - 16C Fighting Falcons to Balad Air Base , Iraq , in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom . BRAC 2005 . BRAC 2005 initially decided to inactivate the 188th Fighter Wing and close Fort Smith ANGB . With a great deal of effort by Arkansas ' leaders caused the BRAC panel to change its decision on the 184th FS and give it a new mission . The squadron would still lose its F - 16s but in their place would get a total of eighteen A - 10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft . One of the deciding factors was Fort Smiths location near Fort Chaffee , a former National Guard training post . On October 18 , 2006 the 184th FS began giving up F - 16s when two departed for the 194th Fighter Squadron located at Fresno Air National Guard Base , California . By April 2007 the 184th FS had already begun to receive the A - 10 from the Massachusetts ANG 104th Fighter Wing and pilots had already commenced cross training in October . On April 14 , 2007 the 184th FS marked the day with a celebration ' Viper Out / Warthog In ' day . The 184th FS took the opportunity to display their new A - 10 paint scheme and to still fly the F - 16 but the 184th FS at this point was officially an A - 10 unit . Current status . In early 2012 the Air Force planned to realign the 188th Fighter Wing and replace its 20 A - 10 aircraft , converting the 184th FS to operate the General Atomics [ MQ - 9 Reaper ] remotely piloted aircraft ( RPA ) . Currently the A - 10 aircraft are slated for removal pending the NDAA not yet signed by President Obama . Last Edit 20121227 Between late March and early July 2012 , the Wing deployed deployed 375 Airmen and 10 aircraft to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom . They were assigned to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing , Bagram Airfield , near Kabul . This was the second AEF deployment for the 188th as a unit since receiving A - 10 Thunderbolt II " Warthogs " April 14 , 2007 . The 188th ' s last AEF deployment transpired in 2010 when the unit deployed about 300 Airmen and 12 A - 10Cs to the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at Kandahar Airfield . The Guardsmen remained in Afghanistan until October , flying close - air support in response to ground troops who may be in contact with the enemy , or to escort convoys in particularly hostile areas . When not supporting ground troops , A - 10s patrol designated sectors and provided aerial reconnaissance on locations of interest to ground commanders . In three months , Arkansas ANG A - 10s delivered more than 60 , 000 30mm cannon rounds and more than 250 precision munitions on enemy targets .