148th Fighter Wing The 148th Fighter Wing ( 148 FW ) is a composite unit of the Minnesota Air National Guard , stationed at Duluth Air National Guard Base , Minnesota . If activated to federal service , the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command . Overview . The 148 FW provides air defense of the northern great lakes and over the state of Minnesota . The Wing ' s 179th Fighter Squadron is a deployable unit which participated in Air and Space Expeditionary Force deployments . The wing also maintains a detachment ( Det 1 . ) at Tyndall AFB , Florida . Units . The 148th Fighter Wing consists of the following units : History . 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 Washington D . C . 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 . Detachment 1 , Tyndall Air Force Base . The 148th Fighter Wing Detachment is located at Tyndall AFB , FL . Detachment 1 , 148th Fighter Wing is under the operational command of the commander - in - chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command , Colorado Springs , CO . Their main mission is to intercept " unknowns " when scrambled by controllers at the Southeast Air Defense Sector AOC , located at Tyndall . As part of the peacekeeping portion of their mission , the deployed pilots also assist drug and law enforcement agencies in drug traffic interdiction . The unit provides maintains aircraft and crews on runway alert around the clock , 365 days a year , for the interception of possible illicit planes entering US air space from over the Gulf of Mexico . The Detachment consists of 20 Minnesota Air National Guardsmen and four F - 16C Fighting Falcon air defense fighters aircraft . The aircraft and pilots rotate on a scheduled basis from their home base at Duluth AGS . The commander , operations officer and 16 enlisted members of the Detachment are permanently assigned to Tyndall . As part of Force Structure Changes announced by the US Air Force for FY 99 , Detachment 1 , 148th FW , would be terminated while an alert detachment at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base , New Orleans , LA , would be activated in early FY99 . However , a later Force Structures Change announcement made in March 1999 , maintained the 148th FW , Detachment 1 at Tyndall AFB . Awards . The 148th Fighter Wing has always been an award - winning unit . Some of the more outstanding awards received by the 148 FW are the following : The Winston P . Wilson Award in 1957 for being the Outstanding Air National Guard All Weather Interceptor Unit , the Ricks Trophy for excellence in 1967 , and first place in the 1970 William Tell Weapons Competition . The unit has also distinguished itself by receiving the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in 1979 , 1988 , 1999 , 2008 , and 2009 . In 2009 the 148th was presented with the distinguished Raytheon Trophy ( formerly the Hughes Trophy ) , designating the unit " the best fighter unit in the U . S . Air Force . " The honor marks only the fourth time an Air National Guard unit received the award and only the second time an F - 16 unit took the honor since the award ' s inception in 1953 .