188th Wing

188th Wing
Lt. Col. Brian Burger, an A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot and the 188th Fighter Wing operations group commander at the time, banks into a high angle firing position during a training exercise on Razorback Range located at Fort Chaffee maneuver training center 4 June 2012.
Active	1962–present
Country	United States
Allegiance	Arkansas
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Wing
Role	Attack
Part of	Arkansas Air National Guard
Garrison/HQ	Fort Smith Air National Guard Station, Arkansas
Nickname(s)	Flying Razorbacks
Motto(s)	Videre Scire Est (Latin: To See Is To Know) Vigilius Animus (Latin: We Are On Guard)
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Insignia
188th Fighter Wing emblem
188th Tactical Reconnaissance Group emblem
Tail markings	Red stripe with Arkansas in white, Code FS

The 188th Wing is a unit of the Arkansas Air National Guard, stationed at Fort Smith Air National Guard Station, Fort Smith, Arkansas. If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command.

The 188th Wing is a Remotely Piloted Aircraft (MQ-9 Reaper), Space Focused Targeting, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Unit based in Fort Smith, Ark. The men and women of the 188th are able to rapidly deploy and support ground forces all over the world.

The 188th Wing consists of the following units:

On 22 August 1962, the Arkansas Air National Guard 184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 188th Tactical Reconnaissance Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 184th TRS becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 188th Headquarters, 188th Material Squadron (Maintenance), 188th Combat Support Squadron, and the 188th USAF Dispensary. The 184th TRS was equipped with the RF-84F Thunderstreak.

In 1970 with the winding-down of the Vietnam War, the 184th began receiving McDonnell RF-101C Voodoos, replacing the RF-84Fs the unit had been flying for over a decade. The USAF had, however, planned for the RF-101C to be gradually phased out of USAF service in favor of the McDonnell RF-4C Phantom II and the aircraft remained with the 184th TRS for only a brief period of time, and in 1970 was retired.

Following their withdrawal from the Vietnam War, numerous USAF F-100D Super Sabres were turned over to the Air National Guard. Tactical Air Command realigned the 151st into a Tactical Fighter Group in 1972, and equipping the unit with Vietnam Veteran F-100D and twin-seat F-100F Trainers. In 1979, the Super Sabre was being retired and the 184th TFS began receiving F-4C Phantom IIs to be used in an air defense role. In 1988, as part of the retirement of the Phantom II, the squadron began receiving Block 15 F-16A Fighting Falcons. The first F-16 delivery to the squadron was on 1 July 1988 and the formal acceptance of the F-16 happened on 15 October. On 15 March 1992 the 184th dropped the Tactical name from the squadron as the parent 184th converted to the USAF Objective organization.