107th Fighter Squadron The 107th Fighter Squadron ( 107 FS ) is a unit of the Michigan Air National Guard 127th Wing . It is assigned to Selfridge Air National Guard Base , Michigan and is equipped with the Fairchild Republic A - 10 Thunderbolt II aircraft . The squadron is a descendant organization of the World War I 107th Aero Squadron , established on 27 August 1917 . It was reformed on 7 May 1926 , as the 107th Observation Squadron , and is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II . History . World War I . The 107th Fighter Squadron traces its origins to 26 August 1917 with the organization of the 107th Aero Squadron . Forty recruits arrived at Kelly Field , San Antonio , Texas from Vancouver Barracks , Washington . An additional 341 recruits arrived from Fort Thomas , Kentucky , and 110 men and along with the 40 from Vancouver were formed as the 107th . The squadron was initially indoctrinated into military service , performing drill , fatigue duties and also construction work at the field . Once basic indoctrination training was completed , the 107th was ordered for overseas duty , being ordered to report to the Aviation Concentration Center , Garden City , Long Island on 26 October . It was there that final arrangements were made for the trip overseas , complete equipment was drawn and a final few transfers were made . On 7 December , the 107th was ordered to proceed by train to St . John ' s , Newfoundland . On the 10th it boarded the SS Tuscania for the cross - Atlantic voyage , arriving on Christmas Morning at Liverpool , England . After a brief rest , the squadron arrived at Southampton , England on the 29th , and crossed the English Channel to Le Harve , France . There , it then traveled by train to the Replacement Concentration Center , AEF , St . Maixent Replacement Barracks , France , arriving on 2 January 1918 . At St . Maixent the squadron was re - designated as the 801st Aero Squadron , and placed on camp duty for nearly two months . Finally , it was ordered to proceed to the 3d Air Instructional Center ( 3d AIC ) , Issoudun Aerodrome , in Central France , arriving on 21 February . Initially the squadron was assigned to the main airfield , working in the aircraft assembly and test departments . On 7 June , help was needed at Field # 2 , and the 801st was ordered to send 100 men to help put the field in better shape . Cooperating with another squadron , Field # 2 was placed on an efficient basis as any field in the AEF . The squadron remained at 3d AIC until after the Armistice with Germany in November 1918 , then returned to the United States in March 1919 . Arrived at Mitchel Field where the squadron members were demobilized and returned to civilian life . Intra - War period . After the war the squadron was reorganized in 1925 as the Michigan National Guard ' s first flying unit , the squadron consisted of 20 officers and 90 enlisted men meeting weekly in a Detroit garage . It received Federal recognition in May 1926 as the " Air Section " of the Michigan National Guard ' s 32nd Division . Its primary mission was artillery spotting and observation of troop movements . In March 1938 , elements of the 107th Observation Squadron performed gunnery training at Eglin Field , Florida , for fifteen days , deploying from Wayne County Airport at Detroit , Michigan . Twenty - three officers and 111 men arrived on 1 March . One detachment flew in eight aircraft while the rest arrived by rail over the Louisville and Nashville Railroad at Crestview , Florida . World War II . Called to active duty with Douglas O - 38 and North American O - 47 observation planes on 15 October 1940 , the 107th was sent to the airfield at Camp Beauregard , Louisiana for unit training on 28 October 1940 . For many years this airfield was simply called the Artillery Range Airport Camp . On 11 April 1941 , Lieutenant Wilmer Esler was killed in the crash of his O - 47 when it experienced an engine failure on take off . The War Department announced on 19 June 1941 that the Air Corps field at Camp Beauregard would be named Esler Field in honor of his sacrifice . In 1941 , the 107th was joined by two other National Guard observation units to form the 67th Observation Group . The 67th Group did anti - submarine patrolling off the East Coast of the US from mid - December 1941 to March 1942 , when it returned to Louisiana for training in fighter aircraft . The 67th Group was sent to Membury , England , in August 1942 and flew Mk V Spitfires and Tiger Moths for a year until equipped with F - 6A ' s . Pre - invasion missions began in December 1943 . For successful photo missions of the French invasion coastline without loss of a single aircraft , the 107th was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation on 7 April 1945 . The 67th Group advance detachments landed in Normandy 13 days after D - Day . The Belgian Fourragere was awarded for conspicuous action during the Battle of the Bulge . Michigan Air National Guard . The wartime 107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was re - designated as the 107th Bombardment Squadron ( Light ) , and was allotted to the Michigan Air National Guard , on 24 May 1946 . It was organized at Wayne City Airport , Michigan and was extended federal recognition on 9 June 1948 . It was assigned to the newly organized Michigan Air National Guard ' s 127th Fighter Group . The 107th Bombardment Squadron was entitled to the history , honors , and colors of the previous 107th organizations . The squadron was equipped with F - 51H Mustang , and was allocated to the Tenth Air Force , Continental Air Command by the National Guard Bureau . In 1950 , the unit was converted to F - 84B & C jets and on 1 February 1951 , the unit was activated as part of the 127th Pilot Training Group stationed at Luke AFB . The 107th returned to Michigan in November 1952 . F - 16s from the 107th Fighter Squadron deployed to Kirkuk in February 2004 to replace the 354th Fighter Squadron . The 107th became the first F - 16 unit to be based in Iraq . It was stationed at Kirkuk Air Base . The unit returned home in early June 2004 . As a result of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure decision , the 107th will be converting from the F - 16 to the A - 10 Thunderbolt II . The 107th flew its last sortie with F - 16s on 16 December 2008 . The three remaining F - 16s on the base are scheduled to be transferred to Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base in Indiana , and twenty - four A - 10s are scheduled to arrive at Selfridge in May 2009 . Distinguished Members . Among the distinguished former members of the 107th Fighter Squadron is former WWII 361st Fighter Group ace Urban " Ben " Drew , who was a F - 51 instructor pilot assigned to the 107th Fighter Squadron in Detroit from 1947 to 1950 . During WWII , while flying a P - 51 named " Detroit Miss " Lt . Drew was credited with being the only pilot to shoot down two German Me 262 jet fighters on a single mission . He was also credited with destroying the sole German BV 238 seaplane , the largest aircraft to see service during WWII .