140th Wing The 140th Wing ( 140 WG ) is a unit of the Colorado Air National Guard , stationed at Buckley Air Force Base , Aurora , Colorado . If activated to federal service , the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command . The 120th Fighter Squadron assigned to the Wings 140th Operations Group , is a descendant organization of the World War I 120th Aero Squadron , established on 28 August 1917 . It was reformed on 27 June 1923 , as the 120th Observation Squadron , one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II . Overview . The 140th Wing is composed of over 1400 personnel that support F - 16C / D / Falcons ( Air Combat Command ) fighter and C - 21 Learjet ( Air Mobility Command ) airlift aircraft missions , as well as 137th Space Warning Squadron ( Air Force Space Command ) and Civil Engineering ( Pacific Air Forces ) missions . Units . The 140th Wing is a composite organization , composed of diverse units . History . World War II . The unit was constituted as the 370th Fighter Group on 25 May 1943 , and activated on 1 July 1943 at Westover Field , Massachusetts . Operational squadrons of the group were the 401st , 402d and 485th Fighter Squadrons . The group trained with Republic P - 47 Thunderbolts at several First Air Force training bases in New England then was deployed to RAF Aldermaston England during January and February 1944 . In Europe , it was assigned to Ninth Air Force . When the group arrived , the expected to receive P - 47 Thunderbolts on which they had trained stateside . However , much to the amazement of the Group Commander , Colonel Howard F . Nichols , the 370th FG was informed by IX Fighter Command that they would be equipped with the Lockheed P - 38 Lightning , a few of which had already arrived during the 18 days the group was in residence at Aldermaston . The latter base proved to be only a temporary stationing , as it was required for troop carrier operations ; the 370th soon moved to RAF Andover . From England , the group dive - bombed radar installations and flak towers , and escorted bombers that attacked bridges and marshalling yards in France as the Allies prepared for the invasion of the Continent . The group provided cover for Allied forces that crossed the Channel on 6 June 1944 , and flew armed reconnaissance missions over the Cotentin Peninsula until the end of the month . On 17 July 1944 , napalm incendiary bombs were dropped for the first time in war by 14 American P - 38 aircraft of the 402nd Fighter Squadron , led by 370th Group command Col Nichols , on a fuel depot at Coutances , near St . Lô , France . Assigned to the IX Tactical Air Command , the 370th moved to their Advanced Landing Ground ( ALG ) at Cardonville , France ( ALG A - 3 ) on 20 July to support the Allied ground advance across France and into Germany . The 370th ' s fighter - bombers hit hard . German Field Marshal von Kluge soon found that his armored forces moving towards Normandy were constantly beset by Allied fighter - bomber attacks . Von Kluge phoned General Walter Warlimont , Hitler ' s personal representative on the Western front , " The enemy air superiority is terrific and smothers almost every one of our movements . . . Every movement of the enemy is prepared and protected by its air force . Losses in men and equipment are extraordinary . " Von Kluge himself was not immune to personal danger . USAAF Group Commander Nichols and a squadron of his P - 38 Lightnings blasted von Kluge ' s own headquarters ; the group commander himself skipped a 500 - pound bomb right through the front door . Moving across France , the 370th FG hit gun emplacements , troops , supply dumps , and tanks near Saint - Lô in July and in the Falaise – Argentan area in August 1944 . In September 1944 , the group sent planes and pilots to England to provide cover for the allied airborne assault on Holland and Germany , code - named Operation Market - Garden . The P - 38s of the group struck pillboxes and troops early in October to aid First Army ' s capture of Aachen , and afterward struck railroads , bridges , viaducts , and tunnels in that area . The 370th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission in support of ground forces in the Hurtgen Forest area on 2 December 1944 when , despite bad weather and barrages of antiaircraft and small - arms fire , the group dropped napalm bombs on a heavily defended position in Bergstein , setting fire to the village and inflicting heavy casualties on enemy troops defending the area . The 370th later flew armed reconnaissance during the Battle of the Bulge , attacking warehouses , highways , railroads , motor transports , and other targets . The group converted to P - 51 Mustangs during February – March 1945 . Bombed bridges and docks in the vicinity of Wesel to prepare for the crossing of the Rhine , and patrolled the area as paratroops were dropped on the east bank on 24 March Supported operations Of 2d Armored Division in the Ruhr Valley in April Flew last mission , a sweep over Dessau and Wittenberg , on 4 May 1945 . The 370th FG returned to the United States during September – November 1945 , and was inactivated on 7 November 1945 . Colorado Air National Guard . The wartime 370th Fighter Group was re - activated and re - designated as the 140th Fighter Group , and was allotted to the Colorado Air National Guard on 24 May 1946 . It was organized at Buckley Field , Colorado , and was extended federal recognition on 1 October 1946 by the National Guard Bureau . The unit was the first Air National Guard group receiving federal recognition . The 140th Fighter Group was entitled to the history , honors , and colors of the 370th Fighter Group . It was assigned to the 86th Fighter Wing . The 140th Fighter Group consisted of the 120th Fighter Squadron at Buckley Field . As part of the Continental Air Command Fourth Air Force , the unit trained for tactical fighter missions and air to air combat . On 31 October 1950 the 86th Fighter Wing was inactivated , and the 140th was changed in status to a Wing , taking over the personnel and mission of the 86th . Korean War activation . As a result of the Korean War , the 140th Fighter Wing was federalized and brought to active duty on 1 April 1951 . The unit was ordered to the new Clovis Air Force Base , New Mexico , which arrived in October 1951 . The federalized 140th was a composite organization of activated Air National Guard units , composed of the 120th , the 187th Fighter Squadron ( Wyoming ANG ) and the 190th Fighter Squadron ( Utah ANG ) . The 140th and its components were equipped with F - 51D Mustangs , and were re - designated as Fighter - Bomber squadrons on 12 April 1951 . During their period of federal service , many pilots were sent to Japan and South Korea to reinforce active - duty units . At Clovis , elements of the 140th FBW took part in Operation Tumbler - Snapper - 1952 , a nuclear bomb test in Nevada . On 15 November 1952 , the elements of the 140th returned to Air National Guard control in their respective states . Cold War . Upon return to Colorado state control , the 140th was re - equipped by Tactical Air Command with F - 80C Shooting Star jets . On 1 July 1955 , the Wing was re - designated as the 140th Fighter - Interceptor Wing , being assigned to the 34th Air Division , Air Defense Command . In 1958 , the 140th FIW implemented the ADC Runway Alert Program , in which interceptors of the 120th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron were committed to a five - minute runway alert . In 1960 the F - 86s were again replaced by the F - 86L Sabre Interceptor , a day / night / all - weather aircraft designed to be integrated into the ADC SAGE interceptor direction and control system . Tactical Air Command / Vietnam War . The 140th was transferred back to Tactical Air Command in January 1961 , being equipped with the F - 100 Super Sabre supersonic tactical fighter - bomber . During the 1961 Berlin Crisis and the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis , the Wing was placed on Alert by Tactical Air Command , however the aircraft and personnel of the wing stayed in place at Buckley Air Force Base , and were not deployed . The 140th deployed to Incirlik , Turkey , for 15 days in 1967 , to take part in a NATO exercise called " Deep Furrow " . On 26 January 1968 , the 140th Tactical Fighter Wing was federalized and taken under the jurisdiction of Twelfth Air Force , Tactical Air Command . The Wing ' s 140th TFS was reassigned to the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing , its aircraft / personnel / equipment being reassigned to Phan Rang AB , South Vietnam . As was the practice during the Vietnam Era , most of the wings ' s personnel were also sent to various Tactical Air Command units , either in the United States or deployed to units in Pacific Air Forces or USAFE . The Wing , stripped of its assets , was placed in a Non - Operational status by HQ TAC . With the end of its federalized service , the Wing , the 120th TFS and its personnel were released from active duty and returned to Colorado state control on 30 April 1969 . With its return to Buckley , the wing was returned to Operational Status . The 120th TFS F - 100Cs returned to Buckley , however with the withdraw of the F - 100Ds from South Vietnam in 1971 , the squadrons were upgraded with the newer model from the Vietnam Veteran aircraft returning . In 1974 , the Wing began receiving A - 7D Corsair II ground attack aircraft from active duty U . S . Air Force wings as part of their transition to the A - 10 Thunderbolt II . Then in 1975 , new A - 7Ds were received as the result of Congressional funding to the DOD FY 1975 and FY 1976 budgets for the procurement of additional A - 7Ds , primarily to keep the LTV production line in Dallas open and the workers employed in the wake of post - Vietnam DOD procurement reductions . As a result of these unplanned acquisitions , the Air Force assigned these new 1975 and 1976 built aircraft in the mid - 1970s . Then the wing relieved some new twin seat A - 7Ks trainers in 1983 . The 140th deployed in 1977 to Gilze - Rijen AB , Netherlands , to participate in exercise Coronet Ante , with A - 7D Corsair . This was the first time a U . S . Air Force or National Guard unit had deployed to a Dutch - owned and operated base . In September and October 1979 , the unit deployed to Merzilon AB , Turkey , as part of Exercise Coronet Rider . The unit deployed its entire squadron of 24 aircraft for 30 days . This was the first time any Air National Guard unit had deployed under " bare base " conditions in which only a runway and water supply were provided . Under the Coronet Cove program , the 140th deployed to the Republic of Panama 11 times to support the defense of the Cnal Zone as provided under the Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 . The first such deployment took place in December 1978 and the last deployment ended in February 1989 . The A - 7Ds wereflown to victory as the " World Champions " in the inaugural " Gunsmoke " competition held at Nellis Air Force Base in 1981 . Modern era . The A - 7Ds were operated until March 1992 when the Wing converted to Block 30 F - 16C / Ds Fighting Falcons , and the Corsairs were retired to Davis - Monthan AFB . With the conversion to the F - 16 in September 1991 , the 140th Wing had deployed to the Republic of Korea ; the CommonWealth of Australia in March 1995 ; to Incirlik , Turkey , for Operation Provide Comfort II in April 1995 ; to Al Jaber AB , Kuwait , for Operation Southern Watch in June 1996 ; to Karup , Denmark , for NATO exercise Coronet Blade in August 1997 ( with mini - deployments to Germany to fly with German MiG - 29s and to the Republic of Slovenia for state - to - state partnership ) ; and again to Al Jaber AB , Kuwait for Operation Southern Watch in January 1998 . The unit deployed again to Incirlik , Turkey , in 2000 for Operation Northern Watch . The 140th WG transferred financial and operational responsibility for Buckley ANGB to US Air Force Space Command in October 2000 . The major reason for the change in responsibilities for providing base operating support and quality of life services from the Colorado Air National Guard to the active - duty Air Force is the growing presence of active - duty personnel at Buckley . Becoming an active duty base , Buckley ANGB was renamed Buckley AFB . Following the attacks on the United States on September , 11th 2001 , the 140th FS assumed tasking to provide homeland defense as an integral part of Operation Noble Eagle . In its 2005 BRAC Recommendations , DoD recommended to realign Springfield - Beckley Municipal Airport AGS , OH . It would distribute the 178th Fighter Wing ' s F - 16 aircraft to the 140th Wing ( ANG ) , Buckley AFB , CO ( three aircraft ) and two other installations . DoD claimed that it made this recommendation because Buckley ( 64 ) had higher military value than Springfield - Beckley ( 128 ) and Buckley had a role in the Homeland Defense mission .