It was initially assigned to VIII Fighter Command, but was reassigned to Twelfth Air Force in December and engaged in combat in the North African Campaign and was later based in Italy as part of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations.

The squadron retired its F-47s in 1951 was re-equipped with long-distance F-51H Mustang interceptors, because jets which were being used by the active duty force and in Korea.

After the Korean War ended, it was planned to convert the 146th Fighter-Bomber Squadron from its propeller-driven F-51Hs to F-86A Sabre jet daylight interceptors.

Squadron pilots stood runway alert for 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the Greater Pittsburgh Airport ready to scramble regardless of the weather conditions to intercept any unidentified aircraft approaching southward from the Canada–US border or toward the United States from the Atlantic Coast.

In May 1999, the 171st activated over 500 members and fourteen aircraft to Budapest, Hungary and Frankfurt, Germany, in support of Operation Allied Force deterring ethnic aggression in Yugoslavia.

In November 2000, the 171st deployed 228 personnel to Istres AB, France in support of Operation Joint Forge, a NATO-led stabilization mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The 171st found itself among the first units called to duty almost immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and in its own backyard in southwestern Pennsylvania.

In an effort to support the international response to the unrest in Libya and enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 of a no-fly zone over Libya, the 313th Air Expeditionary Wing, with the 171st as the lead unit, was stood up in March 2011 by a blend of active duty, guard and reserve airmen.

A total of 1500 sorties, 11000 flying hours, and 70 million pounds of fuel transferred aircraft from more than ten countries was accomplished by this citizen-airmen volunteer militia force.

This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency