Its mission is to provide the nation with a superior F-16C+ Block 30 Aviation Package, RC-26B Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance platform, and Expeditionary Combat Support functions organized, trained, and equipped for rapid worldwide deployment, domestic relief, and law enforcement operations.

The F-4D Phantoms were part of a batch equipped to use the AVQ-23 Pave Spike laser designation pod and the AGM-65 Maverick ASM in the 1970s.

By 1988 the Phantoms were being withdrawn from the Air National Guard inventory, and the 160th began to receive early F-16A/B Block 10 Fighting Falcons.

These deployments have taken the men and women of the 187th to exercises in South Korea, Norway, Guam, Hawaii, Alaska, and many other stateside locations.

After the 9/11 attacks, the 187th performed Combat Air Patrol flights as part of Operation Noble Eagle in the United States.

The 187th was again called to active duty from January 2003 until April 2003 as part of the largest military mobilization since the 1991 Gulf War.

In September 2004, the unit again deployed over 300 personnel with aircraft and equipment to Al Udeid AB, Qatar for Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The GBU-38 is a 500 lb global positioning system (GPS) guided bomb which, while being very effective, minimizes collateral damage.

In 2007, the Alabama legislature requested the National Guard Bureau to allow the Alabama Air National Guard's 160th Fighter Squadron to be re-designated as the 100th Fighter Squadron so the state could honor the legacy of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen.

[4] The conversion process to the new aircraft began in March, and on 21 April the F-16s of the 187th Fighter Wing were retired from service following a formal ceremony.