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1947
Feb. 4 – The 101st Fighter Group is federally recognized and stationed at Camp Keyes in Augusta under the command of Col. Philip E. Tukey Jr.
Feb. 5 – Additional units of the 101st Fighter Group are federally recognized and stationed at Dow Air Force Base in Bangor.
Feb. 5 – The propellor-driven F-47 Thunderbolt becomes the wing’s first airplane.
Sept. 18 – The United States Air Force is established as a separate branch of the military.
October – The Air National Guard employs six part-time firefighters, but has no assigned vehicles.
1948
Aug. 1 – The Maine, Nebraska and California Air Guard are the first units to receive jet aircraft. The 132nd Fighter Squadron is renamed the 132nd Fighter Squadron (Jet) and receives the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star.
1950
Oct. 31 – The 243rd Electronics Installation Squadron is federally recognized and located at Fort Preble, South Portland. The squadron is part of the Maine Air National Guard, but does not fall under the command of the 101st.
1951
Feb. 1 – The Pentagon calls up the 101st to serve 21 months of active duty during the Korean War. Most units, except for the 132nd Fighter Squadron (Jet) and weather station, move to Grenier Air Force Base in New Hampshire, returning April 23, 1951, while 19 officers and 16 airmen serve at Larson Air Force Base in Washington. Control of the 101st reverts to the state of Maine on Nov. 1, 1952, after the federal war mission is complete.
1952
March 19 – Maine Air National Guard state headquarters at Camp Keyes in Augusta is organized and federally recognized.
November – The wing is re-designated the 101st Fighter Interceptor Wing.
1954
April 16 – The wing converts to the Air Defense Command structure and is re-designated Headquarters 101st Air Defense Wing. Air National Guard wings in northern states are assigned to the air defense mission to complement Air Force radar bases in the Arctic, a “national blind spot” in a time when national defense feared Soviet long-range bombers.
1955
May 11 – Second Lt. Earl Pardy, pilot, and 2nd Lt. Floyd Lovejoy, radar intercept officer, crash their F-89 Scorpion into the woods near the Odlin Road in Bangor, but escape uninjured. The nose of the jet splits in half and trees rip off a wing as it crashes and bursts into flames.
1956
June – Maine Air National Guard receives its first nurses. The nurses are withdrawn from Bangor two years later when the unit is deactivated.
July – The Continental Air Command passes responsibility for training and inspection of each Air National Guard unit to its major air command. The 101st Air Defense Wing falls under the jurisdiction of the Air Defense Command.
Oct. 1 – The 265th Combat Communications Squadron is recognized and located at Fort Preble, South Portland. The squadron is part of the Maine Air National Guard, but does not fall under the command of the 101st.
1960
Aug. 31 – First Lt. George Shaskan, 24, of Dover-Foxcroft and 2nd Lt. Thomas Gibbs, 23, of Bangor crash their F-89 Scorpion into the Bay of Fundy about 20 miles from Weymouth, Nova Scotia. A fire in the left engine forces the two to eject. Uninjured they are picked up by a fishing vessel.
1964
Nov. 19 – Official closure of Dow Air Force Base is announced.
1966
In this year – Maj. Gen. John Pesch is named the first deputy director for the Air National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C. A member of the 101st from 1946 to 1959, he becomes the bureau’s director in 1974. A base street is named in honor of his achievements.
June 4 – First Lt. Theodore Roy, 26, of Bangor and 2nd Lt. Carl Maran, 25, of Bangor crash their F-89J Scorpion in the woods of East Franklin. Roy parachutes to safety, but Maran is found dead near the crash site. A base road is named in honor of Maran.
1967
In this year – The Maine Air National Guard receives its first permanent fire vehicle.
Sept. 12 – The number of F-89J aircraft is reduced from 25 to 18, resulting in 101 lost positions, including three pilot and three radar observer slots.
1968
June 30 – Dow Air Force Base is deactivated and the 101st Fighter Group is no longer situated next to an active-duty base. The base employed 4,079 military personnel and 555 civilians before its closing.
Nov. 23 – Ernest Park, who later became Maine’s adjutant general, and Nicholas Eremita, who later became the 101st wing commander, take off from Bangor International Airport in an F-89J Scorpion when it catches fire on the runway. Both escape the aircraft with minor injuries.
1969
August – The 132nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron cuts 11 positions because the new single-seat fighters, the F-102A Delta Daggers, do not require a radar observer. By mid-November the 11 positions are restored when the two-seat fighters, F-101B Voodoos, arrive in Bangor.
1971
Jan. 10 – Maj. Lyman Bucklin, 34, of Bangor and Maj. Harville Hobbs, 34, of Hampden Highlands eject from their F-101B after experiencing problems on a training mission. The crew plunges into the Atlantic about a mile from Great Duck Island, part of Frenchboro. Lobstermen watch their descent and rescue them.
July 21 – Maj. James E. Ashley, 40, of Woodland and Capt. Christopher H. Glenn, 31, of Skowhegan die when their F-101B bursts into flames at the end of the Bangor International Airport runway while taking off. It is believed the plane lost an engine when a bird flew into it just after takeoff. Two roads on the base are named for the men.
1972
In this year – Maj. Gen. Paul Day becomes the first Air Guard member to be appointed adjutant general of the Maine National Guard at Camp Keyes, Augusta.
March 18 – A slippery runway causes Capt. Tom DeRoche to crash his F-101B into a snowbank. He is not seriously injured, but wing members joke for years about how the parts from this jet keep the fleet running.
May 7 – Airman 1st Class Ellen Ford becomes the first woman to join the Guard unit after transferring from active duty service at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.
May 10 – Airman Deborah Pease becomes the first enlisted woman to join the wing without previous service.
1973
In this year – Staff Sgt. Arthur Jean becomes first full-time recruiter for the wing. Before his time, recruiting was a passive process.
1974
In this year – The 101st wins first place in F-101B category of the Air Defense Command’s “William Tell” aerial weapons competition at Tyndall AFB, Florida. The victory makes the wing the “Top Gun” of the Guard.
1975
In this year – The 101st wins the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award. The wing wins the award nine times since its first victory: 1979, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1997, 2004.
June – Guard firefighter positions are abolished and fire protection becomes the responsibility of the city.
1976
April 1 – KC-135 Strato-tankers are assigned to Bangor, and the wing’s air command changes from Air Defense Command to Strategic Air Command. The new mission results in the wing’s most current name change, the 101st Air Refueling Wing. The 132nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron is re-designated the 132nd Air Refueling Squadron.
1978
June – A new operations building is constructed to address the extra space needed for the tanker mission and its larger crews of four: pilot, co-pilot, navigator and boom operator (refueler).
1979
In this year and in 1981 – The wing is awarded the SPAATZ Trophy as the outstanding Air National Guard flying unit for those years.
August – The 101st becomes the first Air National Guard unit to host a tanker task force.
1984
July – Air National Guard firefighters reassume responsibility for airport fire protection, and city firefighters are withdrawn.
Aug. 4 – Seven nuclear war demonstrators who crawled under the base’s fence are arrested by police.
1985
May 15 – The active duty unit 776 Radar Squadron moves to the Bangor base to execute its Over The Horizon Backscatter mission. The Air Force builds a dormitory, a commissary and mess hall. The squadron leaves the base March 29, 1995.
1990
Aug. 1 – Iraq invades Kuwait. The 101st is mobilized to support Operation Desert Storm. The unit begins around-the-clock refueling and has two KC-135 tankers based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, until March 1991. The unit offloads nearly 4 million gallons of fuel and flies 2,122 hours in support of the operation.
1992
June – Command changes from Strategic Air Command to Air Mobility Command.
1994
In this year – The Civil Engineer Squadron deploys to Guatemala on a humanitarian mission. Wing members construct buildings and facilities to meet residents’ general needs.
September – The Northeast Tanker Task Force begins operating at the base.
1997
In this year – The 101st wins the U.S. Air Force Flight Safety Plaque for the first time and again in 2002. The wing also wins the Air National Guard Safety Award in 1996, and the National Safety Council Award of Commendation for ground safety performance in 1997, 2000 and 2001.
1998
January – The base opens its hangar as an emergency shelter to community members displaced by the ice storm.
2000
March – The 101st Medical Group travels to Lempira, Honduras, on a humanitarian mission, treating more than 3,000 patients in seven days. Thirty Air Guard members participate in the trip and provide preventive health care and education.
2001-present
In this period – The 101st Medical Group, the Security Forces Squadron, Air Guard firefighters and air crew deploy to various locations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
2003
Jan. 24 – The wing is asked to lead the Northeast Tanker Task Force in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
August – The wing forms the Northeast Tanker Task Force Trans-Atlantic Air Bridge scheduling office that is responsible for scheduling all refueling missions.
2005
September – The 101st Medical Group and Security Forces Squadron deploy to Gulfport and Waveland, Miss., to support relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina-ravaged communities.
2006
June – Brig. Gen. Frances Auclair becomes the first woman to earn the rank of general in the Maine Air National Guard. In 2000 she becomes the first nonrated (not a pilot or navigator) vice wing commander in the nation.
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