350th Fighter Squadron

157th Fighter Squadron
Swamp Foxes in the air. Demon flight of F-16 pilots from the 169th Fighter Wing, South Carolina Air National Guard flies a training mission in the KIWI MOA airspace over the coast of North Carolina.
Active	1 October 1942 – present
Country	United States
Allegiance	South Carolina
Branch	Air National Guard
Type	Squadron
Role	Tactical Fighter
Part of	South Carolina Air National Guard
Garrison/HQ	McEntire Joint National Guard Base, Eastover, South Carolina
Nickname(s)	Swamp Fox
Tail Code	South Carolina
Engagements	World War II, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom
Insignia
157th Fighter Squadron emblem

The 157th Fighter Squadron (157 FS) is a unit of the South Carolina Air National Guard 169th Fighter Wing located at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, Columbia, South Carolina. The 157th FS is one of the few Air National Guard squadrons to operate the HARM Targeting System (HTS)-equipped F-16C Block 52 Fighting Falcon, also known as the F-16CJ.

Activated in late 1942. Trained under First Air Force in northeastern United States with P-40 Warhawks, also performing Air Defense as part of Norfolk and Philadelphia Fighter Wings. Deployed to European Theater of Operations, June 1943, being equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts in England. Assigned as a heavy bomber escort squadron under VIII Fighter Command. Re-equipped with long-range P-51D Mustangs, July 1944, Thunderbolts being transferred to IX Fighter Command as tactical fighter-bombers supporting ground forces in France. Performed bomber escort missions until the end of the war in Europe, April 1945.

Squadron demobilized in England during the summer of 1945, inactivated in United States as a paper unit, October 1945.

The wartime 350th Fighter Squadron was re-activated and re-designated as the 157th Fighter Squadron, and was allotted to the South Carolina Air National Guard, on 24 May 1946. It was organized at Congaree Air Base, Columbia, South Carolina and was extended federal recognition on 9 December 1946 by the National Guard Bureau. The 157th Fighter Squadron was bestowed the history, honors, and colors of the 350th Fighter Squadron and assigned to the Georgia ANG 54th Fighter Wing, an umbrella organization formed for administrative and logistical support for many Air National Guard units in the southeastern United States. It remained, however, under the operational control of the South Carolina Air National Guard.