It was created in 1942 as a light bombardment group, training with the Vultee Vengeance, before moving on to the A-36 (and the P-51) when it entered combat in India as part of the Tenth Air Force.

The squadron supported Allied ground forces in northern Burma; covered bombers that attacked Rangoon, Insein, and other targets; bombed enemy airfields at Myitkyina and Bhamo; and conducted patrol and reconnaissance missions to help protect transport planes that flew The Hump route between India and China.

Escorted bombers, flew interception missions, struck the enemy's communications, and supported ground operations, serving in combat until the end of the war.

It was organized at Camp Keyes, Augusta, Maine, and was extended federal recognition on 4 April 1947 by the National Guard Bureau.

On the night of 13 August 1961, the East German government erected barbed wire barriers around the 104-mile (167 km) periphery of West Berlin.

But its aircraft and crews ranged throughout the world, touching down at bases in Europe, South America, Alaska, Japan, the Philippines, and Southeast Asia.

With all-volunteer aircrews, the three 133d ATS C-97s delivered 23,000 pounds of cargo, completely collected in New Hampshire, then shipped to Saigon and Da Nang between 26 November and 1 December.

By September 1969 the Group had retrained its pilots to the new aircraft and completed its first Operational Readiness Inspection as a C-124 unit, qualifying to resume global airlift support.

In 1969 the unit transported more than 1,000 tons of cargo and 2,000 passengers, its aircrews logging 5,236 hours on 44 overseas missions to Vietnam, England, France, West Germany, Greece, Japan, Portugal, Newfoundland, Puerto Rico, and Taiwan.

The 157th was also transferred to Tactical Air Command (TAC), with a mission to provide mobility and logistical support for ground forces in all types of operations.

It was all part of a nationwide program involving one-third of the Air National Guard's flying units and inspired by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird.

The turbo-prop aircraft with its five-man crew could carry nearly 20 tons of cargo or 92 fully equipped troops, 64 paratroops or 74 litter patients and attendants.

By September heavy Phase I transition training was underway with both aircrew and support personnel at schools throughout the United States.

First drops of paratroopers and cargo began in early May, and in mid-month, the 157th passed a "no notice" Twelfth Air Force Management Effectiveness Inspection (MEI).

The Energy Crisis caught up with the 157th at the end of 1973, and all flying activity was suspended from 22 December until 7 January 1974, due to fuel shortages throughout the country.

By October 1976, the 157th Air Refueling Group and the 509th Bombardment Wing shared the same mission and response times, giving them a link to the "Total Force Concept".

This airpower exercise tested the deployment capability of Air Force fighter aircraft moving from the U.S. to Europe in support of NATO war efforts there.

The 157th AREFG finished 1979 by winning the "Navigation" Trophy at Giant Voice '79, a four-month competition among SAC, TAC, ADTAC, ANG, AFRES, and RAF-manned bomber and air refueling tankers.

On 1 August 1999, it was resolved that the 157th Air Refueling Group, New Hampshire ANG, would remain at Pease, and the facility would be redeveloped as a civilian airport, among other planned uses by the community.

Utility deficiencies were so severe that the program also included the complete replacement of the power and communications distribution system, and also eventually the construction of a heat plant.

Early on the morning of 7 August 1990, Operation Desert Shield, a build-up of friendly forces designed to contain the spread of Iraqi aggression, began.

A telephone alert asked every crew member of the 133d Air Refueling Squadron to provide maximum availability so that an immediate response capability could be developed.

Forty-two Desert Shield missions would be flown in the month of August as the 133d helped refuel transport aircraft and fighters heading to United States Air Forces Central (CENTAF) bases in the Middle East.

By 1 October, the 157th's heavy support of MAC flights in transit from the West Coast to bases in Saudi Arabia began to slow.

Operation Desert Storm, the attack phase of the Allied plan to liberate Kuwait and destroy Iraq's army, was ready to begin.

The Samantha Smith Foundation flight saw a Soviet Ilyushin Il-62, technically a military aircraft, land for the first time at a SAC base.

The unit engaged in routine deployments and training until 1994, when the 157th began operating the Northeast Tanker Task Force together with the Maine Air National Guard.

At Pease, "Operation Phoenix Moat" missions required 157th participation to help with the flow of personnel and materiel to the area.

Consolidating assets, the Air Guard left Istres AB, France, and operated exclusively out of Pisa, rotating units through on a month-to-month basis.

Three months later, in February 1998, the 157th, augmented by four transient aircraft, flew 28 sorties offloading gas to an air convoy carrying Army personnel and equipment from Georgia to the theater area.