Air National Guard
The airport is currently home to the 181st Intelligence Wing (181 IW) of the Indiana Air National Guard. As an Air National Guard unit, it is operationally gained by the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA).
The unit previously served in World War II, flying anti-submarine patrol along the East Coast of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico. It was also activated for the Korean War and the Berlin Crisis of 1961. In 1962, it was established as a fighter unit, the 181st Tactical Fighter Group (181 TFG), operationally-gained by the Tactical Air Command (TAC). Initially equipped with the RF-84F Thunderstreak, the unit transitioned to the F-84F Thunderstreak in 1964, the F-100D/F Super Sabre in 1971, the F-4 Phantom II in 1979 and the F-16 Fighting Falcon in 1991. Known as the Racers, the then-181 TFG participated in the first Gulf War from 1990 to 1991. With the disestablishment of TAC in 1992, the unit was redesignated the 181st Fighter Group (181 FG) and operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command (ACC). In 1995, it was redesignated as the 181st Fighter Wing (181 FW) and deployed to Kuwait on two separate occasions in support of Operation Southern Watch.
On 11 Sep 2001, the 181 FW flew combat air patrols over the Midwestern United States less than four hours after the attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. The wing drastically increased its operations tempo, deployed members and equipment to 19 countries, and simultaneously supported seven different military operations, including Operation Southern Watch, Operation Northern Watch, Operation Joint Forge, Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Deep Freeze, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
In 2005, concurrent with an Air Force initiative to phase out F-16C/D aircraft Block 30 and older, the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission mandated the end of flying operations for the 181 FW. On 8 September 2007, the wing's F-16C Block 30s flew their last training mission out of Terre Haute Field International Airport/Hulman Field Air National Guard Base. The wing's squadrons were redesignated as a Distributive Ground Station (DGS) and an Air Support Operations Squadron (ASOS) and on 3 May 2008 the 181st Fighter Wing was re-designated as the 181st Intelligence Wing (181 IW).
Read more about this topic: Terre Haute International Airport
Famous quotes containing the words air, national and/or guard:
“Many divorces are not really the result of irreparable injury but involve, instead, a desire on the part of the man or woman to shatter the setup, start out from scratch alone, and make life work for them all over again. They want the risk of disaster, want to touch bottom, see where bottom is, and, coming up, to breathe the air with relief and relish again.”
—Edward Hoagland (b. 1932)
“I would dodge, not lie, in the national interest.”
—Larry Speakes (b. 1939)
“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.”
—Bible: New Testament, Luke 21:34.35.