This interview is from SDPB's daily public-affairs show, In the Moment, hosted by Lori Walsh.
The 175th Fighter Squadron of the SD Air National Guard received federal recognition this week 75 years ago. Joe Foss was appointed to form the Air National Guard Squadron two months earlier, and the original mission of the squadron was defense against airborne weapons.
The wing was first formed as the 387th Fighter Squadron in April 1943. It was activated a month later and flew bomber support in the skies over Europe during World War II.
With the end of war, the 387th took part in the disarmament program, then returned to the United States in September 1945.
The wartime 387th Fighter Squadron was re-designated as the 175th Fighter Squadron, and was allotted to the South Dakota Air National Guard, in May 1946. It was organized at the Sioux Falls Municipal Airport and was granted federal recognition on September 20th, 1946, by the National Guard Bureau.
The squadron was activated for duty during the Korean War and has deployed many times since to the middle east and across the globe.
The squadron was equipped with the P-47 Thunderbolt during the second World War and now flies the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
Today, the 175th is a unit of 114th Fighter Wing, also stationed at Joe Foss Field Air National Guard Station in Sioux Falls. But the 175th was officially extended federal recognition this week in 1946.
Production assistance for "Take a Moment: South Dakota History" provided by Brad Tennant, Ph.D., Professor of History at Presentation College and SDPB's Larry Rohrer.