111th Attack Squadron

The 111th Attack Squadron (111 ATKS) is a unit of the Texas Air National Guard 147th Attack Wing located at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, Houston, Texas. The 111th is equipped with the General Atomics MQ 9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The squadron is a descendant organization of the World War I 111th Aero Squadron, established on 14 August 1917. It was reformed on 29 June 1923, as the 111th 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. The 111th Attack Squadron is the oldest unit of the Texas Air National Guard, with over 95 years of service to the State of Texas and the United States.

The Texas Air National Guard began as the 111th Aero Squadron on 14 August 1917 at Kelly Field in San Antonio, TX. The unit, composed of teamsters and laborers, was on special duty at Kelly Field and was known as the "Post Headquarters Squadron." The squadron was demobilized 19 August 1919.

The unit was reorganized with the establishment of a permanent air service in 1920, forming in the old Houston Light Guard Armory. The 111th Observation Squadron received Federal Recognition on 29 June 1923, as part of the 36th Division, Texas Air National Guard. until Pearl Harbor was bombed, it was sent to the Mexican border, Fort Clark Springs Texas. The border patrol was short, and on 14 February 1942, the squadron left Texas for Daniel Field in Augusta, Georgia, and became part of the 68th Observation Group. Pilots trained on Douglas O 43A, Vultee/Stinson O 49/L 1 Vigilant and Douglas A 20B Havoc aircraft in preparation for deployment to the European Theater of Operations (ETO). In 1942 the ground echelon and some pilots made their way to Scotland then England in preparation for landing on the Algerian beaches as part of Operation Torch, their shiny new P 39 Airacobras had to be assembled and tested before flying from England to Algeria. Some of the pilots of the 68th Group flew their A 20s directly across the Atlantic on the "Southern Route" and immediately began flying over the Mediterranean in anti submarine patrols, sinking at least one submarine. As the invasion force moved inland, the three squadrons of the group divided up the A 20s and P 39s by squadron and the 111th took on the Fighter Reconnaissance role in the P 39. In March 1943, the 111th left the 68th Group to defend against a possible invasion of French Morocco from Spanish Morocco while the rest of the group was selected to support the Tunisian Campaign of the Army's II Corps. In June 1943 the newly redesignated 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, flying Allison engined F 6A or F 6B Mustangs (taken from a British order of Mk IAs), became the eyes of the 7th Army in Sicily, Operation Husky. They were temporarily assigned to the 5th Army in Italy for the invasion of Salerno, "the 111th Fighter Reconnaissance Squadron had been trained to spot naval gunfire". They returned in July 1944 in time to support the 7th Army's invasion of southern France, Operation Dragoon. In addition to the older F 6A/F 6B Mustangs, they began receiving F 6C Mustangs (the photo recon version of the P 51C). The 111th remained with the 7th Army through the end of the war. From VE Day until December 1945, the Squadron served in the occupation force, and conducted postwar photo mapping of the devastation in France. During 23 months of continuous combat flying, from June 1943 through May 1945, the 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron flew 3,840 reconnaissance missions. While keeping Army Headquarters informed of enemy movements, the 111th destroyed 44 enemy aircraft, damaged 29 others and claimed 12 probable kills. The squadron received eight Battle Stars, a Distinguished Unit Citation, and the French Croix de Guerre for its World War II accomplishments.

The wartime 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was re designated as the 111th Fighter Squadron, and was allotted to the Texas Air National Guard, on 24 May 1946. It was organized at the Houston Municipal Airport and was extended federal recognition on 27 January 1947 by the National Guard Bureau. The 111th Fighter Squadron was bestowed the lineage, history, honors, and colors of the 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron and all predecessor units. The squadron was assigned to the Texas Air National Guard 136th Fighter Group and was equipped with F 51D Mustangs. The mission of the squadron was the air defense of Texas. During the postwar years, the 111th primarily trained over the southern and eastern parts of the state; the 181st Fighter Squadron, based at Love Field, Dallas, and covered the south east, and the 182d Fighter Squadron, based at Brooks AFB, near San Antonio covered the Hill Country and west Texas.

In October 1979, in as part of the inactivation of Aerospace Defense Command, the USAF gained command responsibilities which shifted to Tactical Air Command (TAC) and a sub organization equivalent to a numbered air force designated as Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). In 1982, the F 101s were retired and ADTAC re equipped the 111th with the McDonnell F 4C Phantom II and continued its air defense mission. Most of the F 4Cs the squadron received were Vietnam War veteran aircraft. In November 1986, the F 4Cs were replaced by later model F 4Ds. In December 1989 the 111th FIS started receiving block 15 F 16C/D Fighting Falcon aircraft to replace their F 4Ds. The last F 16 arrived in April 1990.

In 1992, only a few years following the acceptance of their block 15s, they converted to the ADF variant of the block 15. On 15 March 15, 1992 the 111th FIS was re designated the 111th Fighter Squadron when its parent 147th Fighter Group converted to the USAF Objective Organization plan. Also in 1992 the 111th FS celebrated their 75th anniversary. To commemorate this F 16A ADF #82 1001 was painted in special markings including a big Texas flag painted on the fuselage underside. During September 1995, the 111th FS ended its alert detachment in New Orleans with the F 101 Voodoo, also the 147th was upgraded to a Wing, with the 111th Fighter Squadron being assigned to the new 147th Operations Group. In late 1996 the 111th started to retire their ADF F 16s to AMARC. To replace these aircraft the squadron received the block 25 F 16C/D Fighting Falcon. Transition started in September 1996 and was completed by February 1997. This brought a change in role which officially happened in October 1998. The role went from air to air to an air to ground mission. After returning from an Operation Southern Watch mission at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia in October 2000, the squadron added Precision Guided Munitions to its arsenal.

Following the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks, four 111th Fighter Squadron aircraft were launched to escort President George W. Bush, onboard Air Force 1 from Florida to Louisiana, Nebraska and finally back to Washington DC that same day. December 2001 saw the 111th deploy to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to fly Air Defense Combat Air Patrol missions over New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC in support of Operation Noble Eagle. In August 2005 components of the 111th Fighter Squadron and 147th Fighter Wing deployed to Balad Airbase, Iraq to conduct combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism. The men and women of the 111th FS/147th FW once again distinguished themselves by flying 462 sorties and almost 1,900 hours in a two month span; with a perfect record of 100% maintenance delivery (zero missed sorties), 100% mission effectiveness, and 100% weapons employment/hits under the most challenging combat conditions.) pre planned alert launches. With an average combat sortie lasting almost 4.42 hours, the unit accumulated a total of 1537.1 combat hours. Maintenance delivery effectiveness for this deployment was an astonishing 102% due to the inclusion of the unscheduled CAS scrambles. Mission effectiveness and weapons employment were both once again a perfect 100%.

In November 2007, an F 16C Fighting Falcon from the Texas Air National Guard's 111th Fighter Squadron received a special paint job in honor of the squadron's 90th anniversary. All the colors and markings have specific meanings, reflecting the unit's nine decade history. The rudder is painted like a JN 4 Jenny, which the squadron flew in the 1920s. The schemes for the wings and flaps recall the paint schemes of the pre World War II era. The blue fuselage represents the Korean War, in which the squadron earned credit for two air victories. The gray underside represents the jet age. The "N5 A" was the insignia the squadron's P 51 Mustangs sported during World War II, in which the squadron claimed 44 air victories. Also representing World War II is the star on the fuselage, while the star on the wing represents the pre World War II era. "Ace in the Hole" and the star on the tail replicate the markings of the squadron's F 84s during the Korean War. The ventral fin, partially obscured, reads "Est. 1917."

During the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, it was recommended that the F 16 block 25s be retired. Texas Governor, Rick Perry, reacted quickly and made sure the unit could remain alive and did so by securing MQ 1 Predator operations. This is an unmanned aircraft and although not exactly what the 111th FS had hoped for, it would keep the unit going well into the future. As was earlier planned in 2005, the 111th FS gave up its last two F 16s on 7 June 2008 and F 16 operations drew to a close. The MQ 1 replaced the F 16 and the parent wing was renamed the 147th Reconnaissance Wing that same month.