156th Wing

The 156th Wing is a unit of the Puerto Rico Air National Guard (PR ANG), stationed at Muñiz Air National Guard Base, in Carolina, Puerto Rico. If activated to federal service with the United States Air Force, the wing is operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command (AMC). It was first activated as the 156th Tactical Fighter Group in 1962.

The wing's flying unit, the 198th Airlift Squadron (198 AS), was inactivated circa 2019.

The 156th Airlift Wing consists of the following major units:

On 15 October 1962, the Puerto Rico Air National Guard was expanded to a Group status, and the 156th Tactical Fighter Group (156 TFG) was recognized and activated by the National Guard Bureau. The 156th was transferred to the operational claimancy of the Tactical Air Command (TAC), with the 198th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron being reassigned from Air Defense Command (ADC), becoming a tactical fighter squadron as the 198 TFS assigned to the 156 TFG. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 156th Headquarters, 156th Material Squadron (Maintenance), 156th Combat Support Squadron, and the 156th USAF Dispensary. With the transfer to TAC, the 198th TFS received F-86H Sabre tactical fighters.

In 1967, F-104C Starfighers (and an F-104D two-seat trainer) were assigned to the 156th, upgrading the group to Mach-2 supersonic tactical fighter-bombers, replacing the elderly F-86H Sabre fighter-bombers. The F-104C was equipped to carry bombs or rocket pods on under-wing and fuselage points. The upward-firing Lockheed C-2 rocket-boosted ejector seat was standard. The internal 20-mm rotary cannon of the F-104A was retained, as well as the ability to carry an AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missile on each wingtip to fill an air defense interceptor mission.

In 1975, the F-104s were retired, the 198th being the last USAF unit to fly the Starfighter. The F-104s were replaced by A-7D Corsair II attack aircraft. Although designed primarily as a ground attack aircraft, it also had limited air-to-air combat capability.

On 12 January 1981, the Boricua Popular Army, also known as the Macheteros, a group of home grown Marxist aligned Puerto Rican terrorists advocating separation from the United States and establishment of Puerto Rico as an independent nation, infiltrated Muñiz Air National Guard Base. Armed with pipe bombs, they destroyed or damaged a total of eleven PR ANG aircraft: ten A-7D Corsair IIs and a single F-104 Starfighter being retained for eventual static display as a memorial. The terrorist attack was the largest on any U.S. Air Force installation since the Vietnam War, although the ongoing hostage situation in Iran at the time overshadowed this incident in the news media. The eleven Air National Guard jets at Muñiz Air National Guard Base were alleged by socialist organizations to be destined for use against popular insurgents in El Salvador. These allegations were never proven and may have been self-serving propaganda.

At the time, the 156 TFG had a combination of both part-time Traditional Guardsmen (TG) and full-time Air Reserve Technicians (ART) and Active Guard and Reserve (AGR).