If activated to federal service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency.

The 181st Intelligence Wing consists of the following units: On 1 October 1962, the Indiana Air National Guard 113th Tactical Fighter Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 181st Tactical Fighter Group was established by the National Guard Bureau.

In addition, the 113th deployed to Vincent AFB, Arizona for extensive gunnery, rocketry and special weapons delivery training.

The F-84F remained with the 181st until December 1971, when they were retired to AMARC and replaced by North American F-100C/D Super Sabres following their withdrawal from the Vietnam War.

With the receipt of the Phantoms in 1979, the 113th began using Tactical Air Command Tail Code "HF" on their aircraft (Hulman Field).

On 1 October 1995 the 181st Fighter Group was changed in status to a Wing, this being part of the Air Force's One-Base, One-Wing requirement.

On 11 September 2001, the 181st Fighter Wing wasted no time in joining the War on Terrorism as it responded after the attack on the World Trade Center and The Pentagon in less than four hours to the task of flying Combat Air Patrols over the Midwest as part of Operation Noble Eagle.

The 181st Fighter Wing drastically increased its operations tempo during the early 2000s to guard America's skies and protect freedom.

The DGS is an intelligence based mission, monitoring near real time video feed from Predators, Global Hawks and other unmanned aerial vehicles hovering the skies over any military area of operation.

The servicemembers will process, exploit, and disseminate the video feed, providing actionable intelligence to the ground commanders and war-fighting forces.