188th Wing inactivates maintenance group, stands up new ISR units

by Maj. Heath Allen
188th Wing

6/17/2014 - FORT SMITH, Ark. -- The 188th Wing paid proper respect to its well-known and proud heritage while launching into a new era during its Conversion Day event at Ebbing Air National Guard Base here June 7.

The function featured myriad ceremonial changes to the wing's structure as a result of the conversion to remotely piloted aircraft and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions.

The most monumental change was the rebranding of the wing. The shift in platform from a fighter role to multiple primary mission sets of ISR and RPA prompted the redesignation of the 188th Fighter Wing to the 188th Wing.

A packed hangar of more than 1,000 attendants gathered together to bid one mission a fond farewell while welcoming the future with the activation of the new ISR units.

"It was a bittersweet day," said Col. Mark W. Anderson, 188th Wing commander, who flew one of the last two A-10s out of Fort Smith. "This wing has definitely made its mark in both recon and fighter platforms in the past 60 years. But now we go back to our reconnaissance roots with the ISR and RPA mission sets. It's a cutting edge mission and we certainly have an exciting future ahead of us. While we won't rest on the laurels of our remarkable past achievements, we will never forget the hard work and dedication it took to be the best. We will take that approach into the new mission and I have no doubt we will be successful."

The ceremony began with a somber commemoration of the wing's manned flying mission, which officially concluded with the departure of the 188th's final two Air Force A-10C Thunderbolt II "Warthogs" aircraft. Their final farewell capped the June 7 ceremony.

During Anderson's ceremony speech, he paid reverence to the fallen 188th members and lauded the exceptional achievements of both the 188th Maintenance Group and 188th Operations Group for their prowess in the execution of both reconnaissance and fighter mission sets since the first aircraft arrived on station in 1954.

"We cherish this proud aviation heritage our Airmen have worked so hard to build," Anderson said. "Our pilots, maintainers and aviation support personnel have performed admirably over the years despite many challenging circumstances and amid a high operations tempo. I commend all of them for their service to our country."


The 188th Fighter Wing began as the 184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron Oct. 15, 1953. In 60-plus years of manned aviation, the 188th has logged more than 263,000 flight hours and conducted more than 1,100 complex phase maintenance inspections on 16 different aircraft, nine of which were primary mission aircraft.

"I can tell you with complete confidence that we are exiting the manned flying mission at the top of our game," said Col. Brian Burger, 188th Operations Group commander. "We have always been focused on the mission, prepared to fight and have never failed to answer our nation's call in time of war."

That focus was evident in the 188th's last three aviation package Air Expeditionary Forces deployments, which were the largest in unit history. The 188th deployed 276 Airmen and 12 Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon aircraft to Balad Air Base, Iraq, in 2005. In 2010, the 188th deployed nearly 300 Airmen and 10 Warthogs to Kandahar Air Base, Afghanistan.

And in 2012, the 188th registered its largest deployment in history with nearly 400 Airmen and 12 A-10s deploying to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. While at Bagram, the 188th's combat production soared to an all-time high with more than 7,600 combat hours flown on 1,850-plus combat sorties. The wing set deployment records with more than 65,000 30mm rounds fired, more than 250 bombs dropped and 250-plus rockets employed. These actions helped saved countless coalition lives in nearly 500 troops-in-contact missions while maintaining a 100 percent air tasking order completion rate.

"We achieved some pretty amazing feats in the A-10 in a very short time," Anderson said. "It's an outstanding close-air support aircraft and we're certainly going to mission having them on the ramp."

The end of the manned flying mission also spelled the end of the 188th Maintenance Group and its subordinate units. The 188th's maintainers have established a legacy of success renown around the world. The 188th Maintenance Group was a quick study in the A-10 and promptly took the lead in many of the metrics used to gauge maintenance efficiency across the gamut. In the 188th's last full year flying a regular schedule, 2012, the wing ascended to the top on seven of the 10 maintenance tracking categories.

"Across the years at home station, our men and women have exceeded established mission capable, and fully mission capable rates on a regular basis making the 188th Maintenance Group the powerhouse of aircraft maintenance units," said Lt. Col. Anderson Neal, who relinquished command of the 188th Maintenance Group during the ceremony. "No doubt A-10 units around the world will be breathing a sigh of relief as they move up a notch on the maintenance tracking charts. I was proud to report that for the very last time, our fully mission capable rate was 100 percent."

Following their inactivation, the 188th Maintenance Group, 188th Maintenance Squadron, 188th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and 188th Maintenance Operations Flight stood at attention with heads held high and proudly filed element by element from their formations, marching to the cadence and quickly assimilating into their new units in preparation for the activation of the new 188th ISR Group, 153rd Intelligence Squadron, 223rd Intelligence Support Squadron and the 288th Operations Support Squadron. The 188th also welcomed the already-established 123rd Intelligence Squadron into its wing under the 188th ISR Group.

Each new squadron and group also conducted assumptions of command. Lt. Col. Robert Kinney assumed command of the 188th ISR Group. Lt. Col. John Easley was named commander of the 223rd ISS. Maj. Sara Stigler took command of the 153rd IS and Maj. Paul Needham assumed command of 288th OSS.

Kinney applauded the labor and toil that has already transpired and is fueling the wing's conversion progression as rapidly as possible. Kinney also conveyed his ambition for the new group.

"We are about to embark on a journey where we will be more directly involved in real time combat operations than you ever thought imaginable," Kinney said. "My vision is to be the ISR Center of Excellence that others seek to emulate."

Part of that vision will include the 184th Fighter Squadron, which was redesignated as the 184th Attack Squadron as a result of the change from a fighter mission to a remotely piloted aircraft (MQ-9 Reaper) platform.

"Today the Air Force has entrusted us with some groundbreaking mission sets," Anderson said. "These missions will directly support the same customer, the combatant soldier. For the first time in Air Force history, the intelligence analysts of the distributed common ground system and the remotely piloted aircraft crew will conduct combat and training missions side-by-side. The 188th is the lead Air Force unit in this symbiotic pairing. With the anticipated construction of a new state-of the art combined top secret facility and eventual addition of the MQ-9 aircraft, we will become the Arkansas Reconnaissance Center of Excellence."