158th Fighter Wing

158th Fighter Wing
158th Fighter Wing, Vermont Air National Guard F-16 being refueled by a New Hampshire KC-135
Active	1956-Present
Country	United States
Allegiance	Vermont
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Wing
Role	Fighter/Air Defense
Part of	Vermont Air National Guard
Garrison/HQ	Burlington Air National Guard Base, Burlington, Vermont
Nickname(s)	The Green Mountain Boys
Tail Code	A green tailband with yellow text 'Vermont' included. A standing man fills the entire tail with the serial underneath. On the tailbase the words 'The Green Mountain Boys' are painted.
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Patrick M. Guinee
Insignia
158th Fighter Wing emblem

The 158th Fighter Wing (158 FW) is a unit of the Vermont Air National Guard, stationed at Burlington Air National Guard Base, Burlington, Vermont. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The mission of the 158th Fighter Wing is to utilize the F-16 Fighting Falcon to provide a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations.

The 158th Fighter Wing consists of the following major units:

In 1956 the Maine Air National Guard 101st Fighter-Interceptor Wing was expanded to an Air Defense Wing and reorganized by Air Defense Command. As a result, the Vermont Air National Guard 134th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 158th Fighter Group (Air Defense) was established by the National Guard Bureau; the 134th FIS becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 158th Headquarters, 158th Material Squadron (Maintenance), 158th Combat Support Squadron, and the 158th USAF Dispensary.

The mission of the 158th Fighter Group (AD) was the air defense of Vermont. Its 134th FIS was initially equipped with the F-94 Starfire interceptor.

On 25 June 1960, Air Defense Command inactivated the active-duty 14th Fighter Group at Ethan Allen AFB, and the base reverted to full Air National Guard jurisdiction. The 158th Fighter Group (AD) now manned alert hangars 24 hours a day. In the summer of 1960, summer field training was conducted at Otis Air Force Base at Cape Cod, MA, from 18 June to 2 July. When the unit returned to Burlington, the Maintenance and Operations Squadrons immediately moved into the facilities that had been vacated by the Regular Air Force with the closure of Ethan Allen AFB. The aging F-94s were replaced by twin-engine F-89D Scorpion fighters in 1958. Two years later F-89Js replaced the D models. The J model was designed to carry two AIR-2 Genie nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles under the wings to defend against enemy bomber attack.