The closure of the 133rd Test Squadron, which played a key role in beefing up the nation’s air defenses following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, will be marked with a March 2 ceremony at the unit’s compound by Fort Dodge Regional Airport.

The unit is being shuttered as a result of a decision made by Air Force commanders, according Jackie Schmillen, the public affairs officer for the Iowa National Guard.

“This is coming down from the U.S. Air Force,” she said. “This was their decision to divest this unit.”

Schmillen said in 2023, the Air Force conducted a study of unit roles and missions.

“The mission set of the 133rd was removed as a result of those realignments,” she said.

The unit was established in June 1948 as the 133rd Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron.

It was based at the former Enos Airport on the east side of Fort Dodge.

In 1954 it moved to a building on the north side of Fort Dodge which it initially shared with the Iowa Army National Guard. In 1959 it moved into its current facilities.

Over the years, the unit’s name has changed. It has always had the number 133rd, but it has been called the Aircraft Control and Warning Flight, Air Control Flight, Tactical Control Squadron, Forward Air Control Flight, Air Control Squadron and finally, since 2004, Test Squadron.

It had two missions. Testing electronics, radios, radars and similar systems the Air Force was considering buying was one of those missions. Tracking and directing military aircraft was the other mission.

The entire squadron has been called to active duty twice. Once was in 1951 during the Korean War when it deployed to Alexandria Air Force Base in Louisiana.

The second time was immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks. The unit stayed at its Fort Dodge base and devised a way to eliminate gaps in the nation’s radar coverage using off-the shelf-electronics.

In September 2023, it celebrated its 75th anniversary with an open house and ceremony in Fort Dodge.

But in December of that year, the National Guard announced that the unit would be relocated and given a new mission. Then in May 2024 it was announced that the squadron would likely be shut down entirely.

According to Schmillen, the squadron had an authorized strength of 118 airmen. She said last year, it had about 100 members. Now she said it has 41 members.

“Because it is a priority for our adjutant general, Maj. Gen. Stephen Osborn, every single person has been offered a full-time position with the Iowa Air National Guard,” she said.

She said the majority of the airmen will be transferring to the 132nd Air Wing in Des Moines while some others will be going to the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City.

She said the squadron’s equipment and vehicles will be sent wherever they are needed in the military.

She added that the future of the squadron’s building is “a work in progress with the city and the National Guard.”