Military unit
The 107th Fighter Squadron is a Michigan National Guard Squadron based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base. It is a part of the 127th Fighter Wing of the 8th Air Force. Organized in 1925 as the Michigan National Guard's first flying unit, the squadron consisted of 20 officers and 90 enlisted men meeting weekly in a Detroit garage. It received Federal recognition in May 1926 as the "Air Section" of the Michigan National Guard's 32nd Division. Its primary mission was artillery spotting and observation of troop movements.
Service
Initially organized as the 107th Aero Squadron, the 107th assembled, serviced, and repaired aircraft during World War I. After the war, the squadron was deactivated. In 1936, it was consolidated with the 107th OS, which had been activated in the Michigan National Guard Unit in May 1926.[1]
Called to active duty with Douglas O-38 and North American O-47 observation planes on October 15, 1940, the 107th was sent to the airfield at Camp Beauregard, Louisiana for unit training on October 28, 1940. For many years this airfield was simply called the Artillery Range Airport Camp.
On April 11, 1941, Lieutenant Wilmer Esler was killed in the crash of his O-47 when it experienced an engine failure on take off.[2]
The War Department announced on June 19, 1941 that the Air Corps field at Camp Beauregard would be named Esler Field in honor of his sacrifice. [3]
In 1941, the 107th was joined by two other National Guard observation units to form the 67th Observation Group. The 67th Group did anti-submarine patrolling off the East Coast of the US from mid-December 1941 to March 1942, when it returned to Louisiana for training in fighter aircraft.
The 67th Group was sent to Membury, England, in August 1942 and flew Mk V Spitfires and Tiger Moths for a year until equipped with F-6A's. Pre-invasion missions began in December 1943. For successful photo missions of the French invasion coastline without loss of a single aircraft, the 107th was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation on April 7, 1945. The 67th Group advance detachments landed in Normandy 13 days after D-Day. The Belgian Fourragere was awarded for conspicuous action during the Battle of the Bulge.
On September 29, 1946 the unit passed a Federal Recognition Inspection at the Wayne Airport, and in 1948 became part of the newly organized Michigan Air National Guard's 127th Fighter Group. In 1950, the unit was converted to F-84B & C jets and on February 1, 1951, the unit was activated as part of the 127th Pilot Training Group stationed at Luke AFB. The 107th returned to Michigan in November 1952.
F-16s from the 107th Fighter Squadron deployed to Kirkuk in February 2004 to replace the 354th Fighter Squadron. The 107th became the first F-16 unit to be based in Iraq. It was stationed at Kirkuk Air Base. The unit returned home in early June 2004.
According to the 2005 BRAC decision, the 107th will be converting from the F-16 to the A-10 Warthog in the next few years[4]. It is not known if the Squadron will be deployed as a F-16 unit again before the conversion[4].
Distinguished Members
Among the distinguished former members of the 107th Fighter Squadron is former WWII 361st Fighter Group ace Urban "Ben" Drew, who was a F-51 instructor pilot assigned to the 107th Fighter Squadron in Detroit from 1947 to 1950. During WWII, while flying a P-51 named "Detroit Miss" Lt. Drew was credited with being the only pilot to shoot down two German Me 262 jet fighters on a single mission. He was also credited with distroying the sole German BV 238 seaplane, the largest aircraft to see service during WWII.
