71st Fighter Wing The 71st Fighter Wing ( 71 FW ) is a disbanded unit of the United States Air Force , last stationed at Lambert Field , St . Louis , Missouri . It was withdrawn from the Missouri Air National Guard ( MO ANG ) and inactivated on 31 October 1950 . This wing is not related to the 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Wing or subsequent units that was constituted on 18 August 1948 and activated on 25 October 1948 . History . World War II . Established and organized at March Field , California in 1943 as a command and control organization . Deployed to the European Theater of Operations ( ETO ) in late 1943 and assigned to IX Fighter Command , Ninth Air Force . Initial Mission of the Wing was to receive operational orders from Headquarters , IX Fighter Command and direct subordinate groups in attacking enemy targets in Occupied France and the Low Countries in preparation for the Normandy Invasion in June 1944 . Targets included bridges , roads , railroads and enemy interceptor aircraft both on the ground as well as in air - to - air combat . After the D - Day invasion , was directed to provide ground support for advancing United States First Army forces in France , attacking enemy targets initially in the Cotentin Peninsula , then supported Operation Cobra , the breakout of Normandy and attacked enemy forces in the Falaise - Argentan Gap . Reassigned to IX Air Defense Command on 1 July 1944 , it ' s mission was changed to provide air defense against attacking enemy aircraft over liberated areas of France and later , the Low Countries . Wing headquarters and subordinate units operated primarily from liberated airfields and newly built temporary Advanced Landing Ground s in continental Europe . Along with air defense , subordinate units engaged in combat in support of ground forces during the breakthrough at St . Lo in July 1944 . Attacked tanks , trucks , and troop concentrations as enemy retreated ; provided armed reconnaissance for advancing Allied armored columns . During September 1944 , attacked flak positions near Eindhoven during Operation Market - Garden , the airborne landing in Holland ; bombed enemy communications and transportation lines in western Germany . Flew armed reconnaissance missions over Battle of the Bulge during December 1944 – January 1944 . Flew missions against enemy transportation systems including motor vehicles , bridges , trains , railway bridges , and marshalling yards during February and March 1945 . Moved to Germany in April 1945 , flying last combat missions on 3 May 1945 . Remained in Europe after the war as part of United States Air Forces in Europe , performing occupation duty and the destruction or shipment to the United States of captured enemy combat equipment . Demobilized in Germany and organization was inactivated as an administrative unit in the United States , December 1945 . Air National Guard . Allocated to the Missouri Air National Guard for command and control origination for units in the Midwest Region ( North & South Dakota , Minnesota , Nebraska , Iowa , Kansas , Missouri ) of the United States . Extended federal recognition and activated on 3 July 1946 . At the end of October 1950 , the Air National Guard converted to the wing - base ( Hobson Plan ) organization . As a result , the wing was withdrawn from the Missouri ANG and was inactivated on 31 October 1950 . The 131st Composite Wing was established by the National Guard Bureau , allocated to the state of Missouri , recognized and activated 1 November 1950 ; assuming the personnel , equipment and mission of the inactivated 71st Fighter Wing .