Portland Air National Guard Base Portland Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base , located at Portland International Airport , Oregon . It is located northeast of Portland , Oregon . Overview . The base is the home of the 142d Fighter Wing , Oregon Air National Guard . The 142d FW participates around the globe supporting drug interdiction , USAFE air defense , as well as contingency operations such as Operations Noble Eagle , Enduring Freedom , and Iraqi Freedom . To complete these missions , four groups are assigned to the 142nd Fighter Wing : 142nd Maintenance Group , 142nd Operations Group , 142nd Mission Support Group and the 142nd Medical Group . In addition , the Portland , Oregon Air National Guard Base is host to several tenant units : History . The base ' s history begins in 1936 when Works Progress Administration ( WPA ) funding allowed the City of Portland to purchase 700 acres of land along the Columbia River and bordering the Columbia Slough for a " Super Airport . " , to replace an earlier faculty established in 1926 . On 1 July 1940 the GHQ Air Force Northwest Air District established a small depot to provide service for military aircraft using the airport . The 57th Service Squadron moved to the airport from Hamilton Field , California on 31 March 1941 , the Air Corps facilities being designated Portland Army Air Base . Due to tensions between the United States and the Japanese Empire , the Oregon National Guard , sent its 123d Observation Squadron with North American O - 47 s to conduct patrols over the Columbia River approaches and the Oregon Pacific Ocean coastline . The initial Air Corps use of the base was when Northwest Air District moved the 55th Pursuit Group ( Interceptor ) to the new base in late May 1941 from Hamilton Field . Three squadrons of P - 43 Lancer s ( the predecessor to the Republic P - 47 Thunderbolt ) operated from the base . Portland AAB was also used as a transport field , with the 64th Transport Group at March Field , California stationing its 16th Transport Squadron at the base in July 1941 with C - 47 s . Later , during World War II , the base was a very active air transport center handling about 47 military transport landings a day . World War II . After the Pearl Harbor Attack , the 17th Bombardment Group at Pendleton Airport sent the B - 25 Mitchell - equipped 34th Bombardment Squadron ( as part of the Sierra Bombardment Group ) to conduct antisubmarine and coastal patrols along the Pacific Coast . The P - 43s from the 55th PG also flew reconnaissance missions until February 1942 when they were moved to Paine Field , Washington ( although two of the squadrons had been dispersed to various fields in the Pacific Northwest right after the attack ) . The 42d Bombardment Group used Portland for a B - 25 Mitchell training base early in the war . Its 75th Bombardment Squadron moved to the field in January 1942 , and until March trained B - 25 combat crews . The squadron itself was deployed to New Caledonia in April and entered combat in June of that year . The 28th Composite Group at Elmendorf Field , Alaska Territory stationed its 406th Bombardment Squadron at Portland during the summer and fall of 1942 as a B - 25 OTU . Pilots and crews were then deployed to the Aleutian Campaign . The squadron moved to Alaska in November to engage the Japanese in combat , after the end of the campaign in October 1943 , it returned briefly to Portland in October 1943 for re - equipping with new B - 25s from North American before again deploying to RAF Alconbury , England . The 47th Bombardment Squadron ( 41st Bombardment Group ) also received B - 25s at Portland prior to its deployment to the Pacific Theater at Tarawa . In late 1943 , IV Fighter Command established a third - phase fighter training program at Portland , to finish training of squadrons after their initial formation . The 354th Fighter Group moved to field in October 1943 , and flew P - 39 Aircobra s for about a month before deploying to England . The 354th , however was the only combat unit to train at Portland , with Fourth Air Force converting the field to a replacement training field . The 372d Fighter Group was assigned to Portland in November 1943 , and performed the RTU mission with three squadrons of P - 39s until March 1944 . It was reassigned to Third Air Force in Louisiana in April 1944 . With the departure of the fighter RTU in April 1944 , Portland Army Air Base returned to its transport mission for the remainder of the war , being operated jointly with the civilian airport . It was inactivated in 1946 . Cold War . In 1947 , the Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) re - established a United States Air Force presence at Portland Airport , Portland Air Force Base being activated as a joint military / civil facility . The Air Force Reserve 349th Troop Carrier Group at Hamilton AFB , California began deploying C - 46 Commando transports of several troop carrier squadrons to the airport under the TAC Twelfth Reserve Area . In 1949 , the USAFR 403d Troop Carrier Wing , Medium , was stationed at the airport . In 1952 , the 406th deployed to Far East Air Forces in Japan for Korean War duty . It returned to Portland in 1953 and remained until 1947 , flying C - 119 Flying Boxcar s until being moved to Selfridge AFB , Michigan . In March 1948 , Air Defense Command ( ADC ) activated the an AN / TPS - 1 B radar at Portland Airport . It was installed and activated on a 24 - hour - a - day basis in March 1948 as an ' Interim ' site to protect the air approaches to Hanford , Washington . In August 1950 , the site was incorporated into the ' Lashup ' system , given designation " L - 33 " . In 1951 the AN / TPS - 1B search radar was joined by an AN / CPS - 5 search radar . Operations ceased in February 1952 with the activation of site " P - 12 " at North Bend AFS in southern Oregon . In 1952 jurisdiction of Portland AFB was transferred from TAC to Air Defense Command . ADC activated the 503d Air Defense Group on 1 February 1952 . The 503d ADG controlled the F - 94 Starfire 497th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron and the F - 86D Sabre 357th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron from the base . In 1955 , the group was re - designated as the 357th Fighter Group . The 357th remained at Portland , controlling several interceptor squadrons until 30 March 1966 when ADC inactivated the base . Oregon Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command . The 142d Fighter Group was activated at Portland on 1 March 1951 . The Group being allocated to the Oregon ANG on 24 May 1946 , being re - designated from the World War II 371st Fighter Group . After Air Defense Command closed its facilities in 1966 , Portland AFB was inactivated and the military facilities were reduced in size . The 142nd Fighter Interceptor Group became the host unit of the military facilities at Portland International Airport . Around 1990 , the Air Force facilities were designated as Portland Air Reserve Station , being a secure facility on the south side of the main airport runway and remaining a very active presence at the airport . Following a major overhaul of the USAF organizational structure in 1992 , the 142d was redesignated as the 142d Fighter Wing ( 142 FW ) and became an Air National Guard unit operationally - gained by the Air Combat Command ( ACC ) . In addition to the Oregon Air National Guard , the facility also hosted the 939th Rescue Wing ( 939 RQW ) of the Air Force Reserve Command ( AFRC ) , equipped with HC - 130 and HH - 60 combat search and rescue ( CSAR ) aircraft . In 2000 , the 939 RQW began to divest itself of the CSAR mission , transitioning to the KC - 135 Stratotanker aircraft and being redesignated as the 939th Air Refueling Wing ( 939 ARW ) . BRAC 2005 brought the F - 15C / D to the 142 FW , replacing its early 1970s A / B model Eagles , as well as directing the inactivation of the 939 ARW by 2008 . The BRAC commission retained the 142 FW ' s Expeditionary Combat Support elements at the installation , to be renamed Portland Air National Guard Base , along with the 244th and 272d Combat Communications Squadrons ( ANG ) , and the 304th Rescue Squadron ( AFRC ) , the 304th to be a geographically separated unit ( GSU ) of the Air Force Reserve Command ' s 920th Rescue Wing in Florida .