154th Training Squadron The 154th Training Squadron ( 154th TS ) is a unit of the Arkansas Air National Guard 189th Airlift Wing . It is assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base , Arkansas and is equipped with the C - 130H Hercules aircraft . The squadron is a descendant organization of the World War I 154th Aero Squadron , established on 8 December 1917 . It was reformed on 24 October 1925 , as the 154th 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 . Mission . The mission of the 154th Training Squadron is to train C - 130 aircrew instructor candidates to become instructors in their respective crew positions , so that they may return to their units and help keep their unit members combat ready . The 154th Training Squadron is one of the most highly decorated Air National Guard units in the nation . The unit is currently converting to C - 130H aircraft modified under the C - 130 Avionics Modernization Program ( AMP ) . In addition , the wing operates the Air National Guard Enlisted Aircrew Academic School , which trains all the Air Force ’ s C - 130 entry - level loadmasters before they are sent across base to the 314th Airlift Wing for initial and mission qualification training . Additionally , the academic school is one of two flight engineer schools to provide entry - level flight engineer training for Air Force flight engineers . History . World War I . The 154th Training Squadron traces its origins to the 154th Aero Squadron , organized at Kelly Field , Texas on 8 December 1917 . The squadron was formed with 150 men collected from thirty - two states in every region of the nation . After a week at Kelly Field , the men were moved to Scott Field , Illinois , on 16 December for basic indoctrination training . At Scott , the men were instructed in drill and guard duty . Many personnel transfers happened at Scott with about 76 men transferred to other squadrons , and about 78 transferred into the 154th . On 26 January , the squadron was ordered for overseas duty , and was moved to the Aviation Concentration Center , Garden City , Long Island . It arrived at Mineola Field on 29 January 1918 where it was prepared and equipped for overseas duty . The squadron was quarantined for several weeks at Mineola due to a rash of measles . However , on 16 February , the squadron was ordered to report to the Port of Embarkation , Hoboken , New Jersey to board the former Cunard Liner RMS Carmania and sailed immediately . The voyage across the Atlantic was uneventful and it arrived at Liverpool , England on 4 March . In England , the squadron moved to the American Rest Camp at Romsey , near Winchester , arriving there the same date . At Winchester , the 154th was ordered detached to the Royal Flying Corps for technical training , and departed for the No . 3 Training Depot Station ( TDS ) , RFC Lopcome Center , Nether Wallop , England on 17 March . The squadron was the first American unit assigned to this part of England , and the English had very little knowledge about the traits or character or to what the squadron ' s status was at the station . It was assigned to the RFC 34 Wing , and the men were assigned to duty and training in the hangars and various schools of instruction . Initially there was a tendency to minimize the mechanical knowledge of the men of the squadron , however their anxiety to learn was displayed in almost every department and within several weeks , the elementary training was ended and the squadron was entrusted with work of the most important nature . At the end of two month ' s training , the 154th was in complete control of two full Flights , consisting of about 24 airplanes , Sopwith Camels , Pups and Avroes . In addition , squadron mechanics in the workshops , the airplane repair shops , the armorers in the gunnery school and the drivers in the Transport Flight had relieved a large proportion of the British personnel for service at the front lines in France . On 16 August , the squadron was split up into several Flights for final training at advanced bases in England , before being re - assembled at Winchester on the 30th . There , orders were received for transfer to France . On 12 September the squadron proceeded to Le Harve , France , and moved to English Rest Camp No . 2 there waiting further orders . It then moved to the Replacement Concentration Center , AEF , St . Maixent Replacement Barracks , France , arriving on 17 September 1918 . On 25 September the 154th was ordered to report to the Commander , Air Service Acceptance Park No . 1 at Orly Airport , Versailles , France for temporary duty and to await orders for the Front . However , due to the sudden and unforeseen developments in the war situation , the squadron never received the transfer orders and was at Orly at the time of the Armistice with Germany on 11 November . While at Orly , the men were assigned to several departments , owing to their trades learned while on duty in England . On 24 December , the 154th was ordered to demobilize and moved to the Base Port at St . Nazarine for immediate transport back to the United States . The 154th returned to the United States in late January 1919 . Arrived at Mitchel Field , New York , where the squadron members were demobilized and returned to civilian life . Inter - War years . The great Mississippi River flood of 1927 was one of the worst natural disasters in American history . It inundated 27 , 000 square miles , an area about the size of New England , killing as many as 1 , 000 people and displacing 700 , 000 more . At a time when the entire budget of the federal government was barely $ 3 billion , the flood caused an estimated $ 1 billion in damage . Although National Guard aviation units had been regularly called upon to assist civil authorities since early in that decade , the 1927 flood marked the first time that an entire Guard flying unit and its government - issued aircraft had been mobilized to help deal with a major natural disaster . Governor John E . Martineau called up the 10 officers and 50 enlisted members of the 154th Observation Squadron , Arkansas National Guard , to help locate stranded flood victims as well as to deliver food , medicines and supplies to them and relief workers . The unit also conducted aerial patrols along the Mississippi River scouting for weakened or broken levees . Its JN - 4 Jenny aircraft flew some 20 , 000 miles during the mobilization which lasted from 18 April through 3 May 1927 . Members of the unit also worked to strengthen and repair river levees . Flood relief operations took a toll on the 154th . Two aircraft crashed and at least three aviators were injured . The unit ’ s remaining aircraft were grounded for maintenance and repairs at one point . Because of the heavy burden of flight operations , five of the unit ’ s aging JN - 4s had to be replaced by PT - 1 trainer aircraft in mid - May 1927 . The flood relief work of the 154th underscores the long - standing but little understood history of Air National Guard units and their pre - World War II antecedents in supporting civil authorities . World War II . The 154th Observation Squadron was activated for one year of training on 16 September 1940 . The unit completed its one - year training and returned to state control , but was recalled to active duty on 7 December 1941 . The unit received extensive stateside training before deploying to North Africa . Most of the squadron sailed from the United States in September 1942 on the HMS Queen Mary , with its first overseas station in Wattisham , England , 4 – 21 October 1942 . From there it boarded ship and sailed to be part of Operation Torch , the invasion of North Africa , going ashore on the second day ( 9 November 1942 ) of the invasion in Oran , Algeria . Over the next 2 ½ years the squadron would be stationed in St Leu , Tafaraoui , and Blida , Algeria ; Oujda , French Morocco ; Youks - les - Bains , Algeria ; Thelepte , Sbeitla , Le Sers , and Korba , Tunisia ; Nouvion and Oran , Algeria ; with final station in Bari , Italy ( 3 February 1945 . 1 July 1945 ) . During the period of overseas deployment the 154th operated A - 20 Havocs , P - 39 Airacobras , P - 38 / F - 4 Lightnings , and was the first unit to operate P - 51 Mustangs in the Mediterranean Theatre . A total of 1495 missions and 2522 sorties were flown . The 154th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron , 68th Tactical Reconnaissance Group , was attached to the Fifteenth Air Force for the purpose of flying weather reconnaissance , a duty which had been handled by a P - 38 unit called the Fifteenth Air Force Weather Reconnaissance Detachment . Personnel and equipment of the 154th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron and the Weather Reconnaissance Detachment were subsequently integrated , and the unit was re - designated the 154th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron ( Medium ) on 12 May 44 . Operations were limited to weather reconnaissance . The Squadron was awarded a ( Presidential ) Distinguished Unit Citation : Rumania , 17 , 18 , 19 August 1944 . Arkansas Air National Guard . 2 October 1950 , the 154th Fighter Squadron , along with detachment B , 237th Air Services Group and the 154th Utility Flight reported to active duty for service in Korea . The unit went to Langley Air Force Base , VA where it was re - equipped with the F - 84E fighter and completed transition training . The 154th flew its first combat sortie 2 May 1951 . Initially operating out of Itaeke , Japan the unit later moved to Taegu , Korea . The 154th returned to Arkansas and was relieved from active duty 1 July 1952 . While in Korea the 154th flew 3 , 790 combat sorties and was awarded the Presidential Korean Citation for its service The squadron was inactivated in 1952 and redesignated the 154th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron . The squadron was then relocated to Little Rock Air Force Base , Arkansas , and reorganized as the 189th Tactical Reconnaissance Group , absorbing elements of the 123rd Air Base Group . The squadron moved from Adams Field to Little Rock Air Force Base , Jacksonville , AR , in September 1962 The 154th was the first Air National Guard unit to be equipped with the RF - 101 Voodoo in 1965 . Soon after , the squadron was again activated to respond to the Pueblo Crisis in January 1968 . In July , the 154th deployed to Itazuke , Japan , but was inactivated that December . On 1 January 1976 , the unit converted to KC - 135 and was redesignated the 154th Air Refueling Squadron . It was then assigned to the Strategic Air Command , one of the first Air National Guard units to be assigned as such . The unit maintained a 24 - hour alert and supported worldwide tanker task forces by performing in - flight refueling of all types of aircraft . The unit received its first C - 130 on 1 July 1986 and began training C - 130 aircrews . By 1 October , the unit had fully converted to the C - 130 . Student training began on 25 September . The unit was redesignated the 154th Airlift Squadron on 16 April 1992 . Since 1998 , the squadron has been the exclusive provider for instructor training . The school instructs courses for all crew positions on board the C - 130 , and has taught students from all branches of the military . Members of the 154th flew in Operations Desert Shield , Desert Storm , Enduring Freedom , Iraqi Freedom , and Noble Eagle . These operations did not affect the wing ' s training mission .