377th Fighter Squadron

377th Fighter Squadron
F-16 Fighting Falcons of the 100th Fighter Squadron
Active	11 February 1943 – 1 August 1946, 17 October 2014 – present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Fighter
Role	Multirole
Part of	Air Combat Command Ninth Air Force 495th Fighter Group
Garrison/HQ	Montgomery Air National Guard Base
Engagements	World War II
Decorations	Distinguished Unit Citation
Insignia
377th Fighter Squadron
Aircraft flown
Fighter	P-47 Thunderbolt P-51 Mustang F-16 Fighting Falcon

The 377th Fighter Squadron is an United States Air Force active duty unit stationed at Montgomery Air National Guard Base, Alabama. It is an Active Associate Unit administratively assigned to the 495th Fighter Group at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina and integrated operationally into the 100th Fighter Squadron of the Alabama Air National Guard’s 187th Fighter Wing. Prior to its reactivation in 2015, the unit was last stationed at Biggs Field, Texas, where as a subordinate unit of the 362nd Fighter Group they flew the North American P-51H Mustang.

Current Operations

Active Associate Unit

The 377th Fighter Squadron was reactivated at Montgomery Air National Guard Base during a ceremony on 17 October 2014, replacing Detachment 100 of the 495th Fighter Group.^[1] As an Active Association Unit it is part of the Total Force Integration (TFI) initiative whereby Regular Air Force personnel work side-by-side with host Air National Guard personnel in a mutually beneficial relationship to share resources, reduce duplications of effort, and ultimately, increase the Air Force's ability to provide dominant combat airpower for America.

History

World War II

The 377th Fighter Squadron was established on 1 March 1943 at Westover Field, Massachusetts as part of the 362nd Fighter Group, equipped with Republic P-47D Thunderbolt. A year later, on 8 February 1944 they deployed to the European Theater of Operations (ETO) for combat as a part of the Ninth Air Force in England. There they remained engaged in combat operations until 1 May 1945.

On 9 September 1945 they were reassigned back to the United States and assigned to First Air Force at Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, while being programmed for deployment to Okinawa to take part in the planned Invasion of Japan. As a result of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the sudden end of the Pacific War, the deployment plans were canceled, however the unit was retained as part of the Second Air Force under Continental Air Forces and reassigned to Biggs Field, Texas, where they were equipped with the North American P-51 Mustang. The 377th Fighter Squadron was later Inactivated on 1 August 1946 due to postwar budget restrictions.^[2]

Lineage

• Constituted as 377th Fighter Squadron on 11 February 1943. Activated on 1 March 1943. Inactivated on 1 August 1946. Activated on 7 November 2015.

Assignments

• 362nd Fighter Group, 1 March 1943 – 1 August 1946
• 495th Fighter Group, 7 November 2015 – present

Stations

Westover Field, Massachusetts, 1 March 1943 Bradley Field, Connecticut, 21 June 1943 Suffolk AAB, New York, 16 September 1943 Mitchel Field, New York, 7 October 1943 RAF Wormingford (AAF-159), England, 30 November 1943 RAF Headcorn (AAF-412), England, 15 April 1944 Lignerolles Airfield (A-12), France, 7 July 1944 Rennes/St-Jacques Airfield (A-27), France, 12 August 1944 Prosnes Airfield (A-79), France, 22 September 1944

Verdun Airfield (A-82), France, 22 November 1944 Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Airfield (Y-73), Germany, 14 April 1945 Furth Airfield (R-30), Germany, 2 May 1945 Illesheim Airfield (R-10), Germany, 4 May 1945 AAF Station Straubing, Germany, 15 May 1945 Seymour Johnson Field, North Carolina, 9 September 1945 Biggs Field, Texas, 6 December 1945 – 1 August 1946 Montgomery Air National Guard Base, Alabama, 7 November 2015 – present

Aircraft

• Republic P-47D Thunderbolt, 1943 – 1945
• North American P-51H Mustang, 1945 – 1946
• General Dynamics F-16C/D Fighting Falcon, 2015 – present

Campaign and Award Streamers

Campaign streamer	Campaign	Dates
	World War II: European Theater of Operations; Air Offensive; Air Combat	20 October 1943 – 5 June 1944

Decoration streamer	Decoration	Dates	Location
	Presidential Unit Citation (formerly the Distinguished Unit Citation	25 August 1944	Brest France
	Presidential Unit Citation (formerly the Distinguished Unit Citation	16 March 1945	Moselle-Rhine River Triangle

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

1. "IN FORMATION" (PDF). IN FORMATION is the official publication of the 187th Fighter Wing, Alabama Air National Guard. 11 November 2015.
2. Maurer, Maurer (1982). Maurer Maurer’s Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II. Headquarters USAF: Office of Air Force History. pp. 466–467.

• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.