179th Fighter Squadron The 179th Fighter Squadron ( 179 FS ) is a unit of the Minnesota Air National Guard 148th Fighter Wing located at Duluth Air National Guard Base , Minnesota . The 179th is equipped with the F - 16C / D Fighting Falcon . History . World War II . Organized as 393d Fighter Squadron and trained in California during 1943 on P - 51 Mustangs . Moved to England in April 1944 , being assigned to IX Fighter Command , but were assigned P - 38 Lightnings upon arrival . Entered combat in May 1944 , flying fighter sweeps , bomber escorts and dive bombing missions over Occupied France . Supported the invasion of Normandy during June 1944 by maintaining low aerial cover over the invasion troops . Moved to France in late July , engaging enemy aircraft over France and supporting ground forces as they advanced , attacking the German Seventh Army which , to prevent being surrounded , was withdrawing eastward through the gap between Falaise and Argentan . Five convoys and 100 Tiger Tanks were destroyed on one day . Continued combat operations until the German capitulation in May 1945 . On July 1 it was announced the squadron was to go to the Pacific Theater of Operations , and returned to the United States to be re - equipped with long range P - 47N Thunderbolts . Japanese Capitulation in August led to the unit becoming excess to requirements , and was demobilized at Seymour Johnson field , North Carolina . Was inactivated as a paper unit in November 1945 . Minnesota Air National Guard . The wartime 393d Fighter Squadron was re - activated and re - designated as the 179th Fighter Squadron , and was allotted to the Minnesota Air National Guard on 24 May 1946 . It was organized at Duluth Municipal Airport and was extended federal recognition on 17 September 1948 by the National Guard Bureau . The 179th Fighter Squadron was bestowed the history , honors , and colors of the 393d Fighter Squadron . The squadron was equipped with F - 51D Mustang s and was assigned to the 133d Fighter Group at Wold - Chamberlain Field , Minneapolis . It ' s mission was the air defense of the State of Minnesota . Korean War activation . On 1 March 1951 the 179th was federalized and brought to active - duty due to the Korean War . It remained assigned to the 133d Fighter - Interceptor Group and remained at Duluth Municipal Airport through the extent of its activation . It was reassigned to the Air Defense Command 31st Air Division in February 1952 , and returned to the control of the State of Minnesota on 1 December 1952 . Cold War . The unit was re - formed by 1 January 1953 and again was returned to the control of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) . It resumed its peacetime mission of the air defense of Minnesota . Was upgraded by ADC in 1954 to the dedicated F - 94A Starfire all - weather interceptor . With this new aircraft , the mission of the 179th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron changed from day interceptor to day and night all - weather interceptor . In 1957 the 123d again upgraded to the improved F - 89C Scorpion then in 1959 , the unit converted to the F - 89J Scorpion . On 1 July 1960 , the 179th was authorized to expand to a group level , and the 148th Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) was established by the National Guard Bureau . The 179th FIS becoming the group ' s flying squadron . Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 148th Headquarters , 148th Material Squadron ( Maintenance ) , 148th Combat Support Squadron , and the 148th USAF Dispensary . On 1 July 1960 , the 148 FIG assumed a 24 - hour alert status in support of the Air Defense Command mission in Duluth . In 1967 , the F - 102A Delta Dagger replaced the aging F - 89J . The F - 101B Voodoo came aboard in April 1971 and remained until January 1976 when the unit again saw re - designation , becoming the 148th Tactical Reconnaissance Group with RF - 4C Phantom II Mach - 2 unarmed reconnaissance aircraft . The new mission entailed all weather , high or low , day or night , selective reconnaissance . This mission also required the unit to have the capabilities to deploy to a wide variety of operating locations . In October 1983 , the mission changed again and found the 148th back in air defense and being renamed the 148th Fighter Interceptor Group . The return to alert and air defense brought with it the F - 4D Phantom II , tactical fighter , with most of the aircraft being veterans of the Vietnam War . Modern era . On March 10 , 1990 the 179th Fighter Intercept Squadron received the first ADF variants of the F - 16A / B Fighting Falcon to take over for the F - 4D . The early markings included Duluth written on the tail as well as an image of the constellation ' Little Bear ' which is also better known as the ' Big Dipper ' . Starting on 17 March 1992 the 179th FIS was renamed the 179th Fighter Squadron . A few years later in October 1995 the unit was tasked with a permanent detachment duty . Detachment 1 was an alert status mission based at Tyndall AFB , Florida . To fit the needs of a newer global environment and shrinking air force in the United States , the squadron dropped the air superiority role and became a general purpose tactical fighter squadron . Proficient in the air - to - air mission , the 179th FS had to be brought up to speed using the F - 16 for mud moving using both guided and unguided bombs . Live bombs were dropped for the first time in March 2000 during a training exercise . Due to these role requirements , the base also had to be renovated . During this transition the units tail flash was also changed . The constellation ' Little Bear ' was dropped and a tail code adopted . On September 11 , 2001 , the 148th FW became very busy as a result of the tragedy that saw the collapse of the two World Trade Center towers in New York City . As an immediate aftermath , the 148th was tasked with air defense at the Minneapolis - St . Paul International Airport , with providing Combat Air Patrols over our nation ' s capital and New York City , and with deploying personnel and aircraft back to its detached alert facility at Tyndall AFB . Towards the end of 2003 the ' Bulldogs ' began conversion to the F - 16C / D block 25 . Most of the ADF ' s F - 16A / Bs were retired straight to AMARC wearing the unit tail flashes . During the coarse of the conversion the 179th FS also gave up its requirements for Detachment 1 at Tyndall AFB . Now with the block 25 and multi - mission training led to combat deployments which had in the past excluded the 179th FS from participating . As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom , the 179th was one of the first F - 16 unit to be based in Balad AB . Iraq . The 179th deployed more than 200 personnel between April - June 2005 . The squadron was mainly tasked with air - to - air and air - to - ground combat operations . Another deployment to Balad AB was set up between September – December 2008 . The task was the same , conducting air - to - air and air - to - ground combat operations against insurgents . On 27 April 2010 the squadron began another conversion being the first ANG unit to operate the block 50 F - 16C / D when five aircraft arrived from Spangdahlem AB , Germany . This move saw the combination of both the 22d and 23d FS at Spangdahlem to become the reactivated 480th FS with the surplus aircraft going to the 179th FS . The majority of the block 25s were sent to retirement at Davis - Monthan AFB , Arizona .