148th Fighter Squadron The 148th Fighter Squadron ( 148 FS ) is a unit of the Arizona Air National Guard 162d Fighter Wing located at Tucson Air National Guard Base , Arizona . The 148th is equipped with the Block 20 F - 16A / B Fighting Falcon . Mission . The 148th Fighter Squadron specializes in the training of F - 16 pilots for foreign air forces which have purchased the aircraft via the Foreign Military Sales program . History . Pennsylvania Air National Guard . In 1946 , the 148th was a Pennsylvania Air National Guard unit , allocated to Air Defense Command ( ADC ) as a Fighter - Interceptor Squadron . The 148th FIS was stationed at Reading Municipal Airport , Pennsylvania , equipped with F - 51D Mustang s with an air defense mission for Southeastern Pennsylvania and Philadelphia . With the end of the line for the Mustang in USAF service , the United States Air Force , in an effort to upgrade to an all jet fighter force , required Air National Guard Air Defense Command units to upgrade to jet - powered aircraft . The Reading Airport Commission and National Guard authorities found themselves in a conflict over the use of Reading Municipal Airport for tactical jet operations . Unable to resolve these differences the Air Force inactivated the 148th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron on 30 June 1956 . However , the National Guard Bureau ' s and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ' s desire to retain the unit brought a new mission and a numeric designation to the organization , the 140th Aeromedical Transport Squadron which was allotted to the Pennsylvania Air National Guard , and activated on 1 July 1956 using propeller - driven aircraft . The 140th ATS was bestowed the lineage and history of the inactivated Pennsylvania ANG 148th Fighter Interceptor Squadron . Today , that organization exists as the Pennsylvania Air National Guard 193d Special Operations Squadron at Olmsted Air National Guard Base , Middleton , Pennsylvania . Arizona Air National Guard . Designation transferred by the National Guard Bureau to the Arizona Air National Guard on 15 October 1985 and re - designated as the 148th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron . The 148th TFTS was established as a new organization , with no historical lineage to the previous 148th FIS . Assigned to the 162d Tactical Fighter Training Group at Tucson International Airport , Arizona . The 148th TFTS was tasked with pilot training for the foreign air forces as part of the Foreign Military Sales program , although the squadron has also been tasked with training F - 16 crew for the USAF and the Air National Guard both advanced and beginner training . Through the years numerous countries have detached personnel to receive advanced training by the squadron . The first to make use of these was the Royal Netherlands Air Force ( RNlAF ) . Training used a mix of USAF F - 16 as well as some Dutch F - 16s . Eventually a total of eight RNlAF F - 16s were on hand . These Dutch aircraft were hard to tell apart from the USAF as they had the same markings and where the same blocks . In 1991 , the squadron was officially tasked a NATO F - 16 training mission which was not much of a departure from the norm . Re - designated as the 148th Fighter Squadron on 15 March 1992 and the training role continued . By May 1995 all the RNlAF F - 16s had departed Tucson for their native country . In 2003 another contract was signed that included detaching foreign F - 16s . These new F - 16s would be the E / F models of the United Arab Emirates Air Force . It wasn ' t till 2 September 2004 that UAE students were able to train with the F - 16E / F when it arrived at Tucson . Most pilots came from Mirage 2000 or the Hawk . The first class of graduates was made complete in April 2005 . During the course of 2010 these aircraft returned to the UAE to form a new fighter squadron . The relationship ended on 20 October 2010 with over 100 UAE F - 16 pilots trained . The last aircraft departed for UAE during December . 2010 saw a new contract with the RNlAF . The Dutch already had a detachment with the 162d Fighter Squadron of the Ohio Air National Guard . This unit was to lose its F - 16 task and so the Dutch needed to search for another training site . The USAF then proposed the 148th FS . So an influx of Dutch F - 16AM / BM airframes began December 2010 . The first class of about ten pilots graduated in late April 2011 .