Check Six: HIANG’s Beginning
Sixty eight years ago, on August 3, 1946, an Executive Order of Governor Ingram M. Stainback established the Hawai‘i Air National Guard. Four Army Air Force units were accepted:
– 199th Fighter Squadron – 199th Utility Flight – Detachment “C” 199th Air Service Group– 199th Weather Station
The first 199 FS commander was Lieutenant Colonel Walter H. Dillingham. The unit’s first station was the Honolulu Armory in downtown Honolulu. Built in the 1800s, the armory was razed to make way for the new State Capitol that opened in the 1960s.
The Honolulu Armory. Note the pillars in the foreground: the photo was taken from the back of ‘Iolani Palace, looking toward the site of the present Capitol building.
By November 4, 1946, while operating out of Bellows Air Field, Waimānalo, the 199th Fighter Squadron had recruited sufficient personnel to be recognized Federally and was approved by an Army Air Force inspection team from Hickam Field. This Federal recognition is the official start of the Hawai‘i Air National Guard.
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