Unit Emblem: On a disc Azure, a lightning bolt, bend sinister, overall a Baltimore Oriole Proper rampant bearing boxing gloves Or; all within a narrow Blue border.

[2] In personnel, if not in official lineage, the 104th Fighter Squadron can trace its origins to 1920 when the Flying Club of Baltimore was organized for former World War I Army Air Service reserve officers of that city.

At the time, the number 104 was widely used to designate combat support units in the Maryland National Guard, including the 104th Medical Regiment and the 104th Military Police Battalion.

Initially operating out of the Fort Dix Army Airfield, squadron was moved to the Atlantic City Municipal Airport, as part of the 59th Observation Group using O-46 and O-47 aircraft fling coastal patrol missions.

By this time most of the original Maryland National Guard members had been transferred elsewhere as individual replacements, although a handful were still serving with the unit when it deployed to England in 1943, by which time the 517th Bomb Squadron had been redesignated the 859th Bombardment Squadron, part of the 492d Bombardment Group, Eighth Air Force, a B-24 Liberator group.

It was organized at Harbor Field, Baltimore, Maryland, and was extended federal recognition on 17 August 1946 by the National Guard Bureau.

[6] With the surprise invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950, and the regular military's complete lack of readiness, most of the Air National Guard was federalized placed on active duty.

As a result, the 104th entered the jet age and received Korean War veteran F-86E Sabres to replace its propeller-driven Mustangs, which were retired.

Eventually, the squadron relocated to Glenn L. Martin Company Airport on 1 July 1957 whose longer runway was necessary to support jet operations.

At Cannon AFB, the Group's mission was to act as a filler unit for the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing which were deployed to the Vietnam War.

The units were returned to New York and Maryland state control on 20 December 1968 when the TAC 4429th Combat Crew Training Squadron was activated with regular active-duty Air Force personnel.

The Sabres, however, were not retired, but instead transferred to the United States Navy which used them both as target drones and as MiG simulators for TOP GUN aggressor training.

The F-86H had a similar size, shape, and performance as the MiG-17 fighter then being encountered over North Vietnam, and many a Navy F-4 pilot was "killed" by a F-86H Sabre during these mock battles.

In the OA-37 configuration, the aircraft was equipped with small rocket pods, usually with smoke or white phosphorus warheads used for target marking.

In 1979, the 175th TFG was the first Air National Guard unit to receive the Fairchild Republic A-10A Thunderbolt II ground support aircraft.

Early in the 1990s with the declared end of the Cold War and the continued decline in military budgets, the Air Force restructured to meet changes in strategic requirements, decreasing personnel, and a smaller infrastructure.

Following the terrorist attack of 11 September 2001, members of the 175th Wing repeatedly volunteered or have been mobilized to take part in the Global War on Terrorism.

From January to June 2003, the 104th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron was formed and deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, where it flew strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda forces and earned the distinction of being the longest-deployed Air National Guard fighter squadron at Bagram.

While in Europe, the Fightin' O's also visited Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland as part of Agile Combat Employment training.