184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron

184th Attack Squadron
Lt. Col. Brian Burger, an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot and the 188th Fighter Wing operations group commander, Ft. Smith Air National Guard fires off a flare while banking into a high angle firing position during a training exercise on Razorback Range located at Fort Chaffee maneuver training center, June 4, 2012.
Active	1953–present
Country	United States
Allegiance	Arkansas
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Attack
Role	Attack
Part of	Arkansas Air National Guard
Garrison/HQ	Fort Smith Air National Guard Station, Arkansas
Nickname(s)	"Flying Razorbacks"
Tail Code	Red tail stripe "Arkansas" "FS"
Insignia
184th Fighter Squadron emblem

The 184th Attack Squadron (184 ATKS) is a unit of the Arkansas Air National Guard 188th Fighter Wing located at Fort Smith Air National Guard Station, Fort Smith, Arkansas. The 184th is equipped with the MQ-9 Reaper. In June 2014 the squadron transitioned from A-10C to the MQ-9.

Authorized by the National Guard Bureau in 1953 at the 184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. Organized at Fort Smith Regional Airport, Arkansas and extended recognition as a new unit on 15 October 1953. The squadron was assigned to the Tennessee ANG 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, Berry Field, Nashville, for administration, operational control was exercised by the Arkansas Air National Guard.

The 184th TRS was initially equipped with World War II-era RB-26C Invader night photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The black-painted RB-26s were originally medium bombers that were modified for aerial reconnaissance in the late 1940s. Most of the aircraft received were Korean War veterans, were unarmed and carried cameras and flash flares for night aerial photography. In 1956, the B-26 was reaching the end of its operational USAF service, and the squadron was re-equipped with RF-80A Shooting Star daylight reconnaissance aircraft that were also nearly obsolescent.

In January 1957, the 184th retired its worn-out RF-80s and received new RF-84F Thunderstreak reconnaissance aircraft, manufactured for Air National Guard use. During the 1961 Berlin Crisis, the squadron was federalized and assigned to the mobilized Kentucky ANG 123d Tactical Reconnaissance Group however it remained at Fort Smith and was released from active duty and returned to Arkansas state control on 22 August 1962.