“… what I remember most about the F-86, it was an excellent plane to fly.” 

 The 190th got their first jets, T-33A trainers, followed very soon by F-86A Sabre Jets, which replaced their P-51s.  The F-86 replaced the P-51s and was famous for its Korean War combat ratio, achieving a ten-to-one shoot-down advantage over the Russian-made MiG-15s.  Credit is often given to the aircraft; however, each Sabre had as standard equipment a qualified pilot, whose skills, training, and tactics also helped achieve this one-sided ratio.

The 190^th’s role as a Fighter Squadron remained unchanged, but its title had changed just as the unit returned from its 21-month Korean War activation, see p. 47.  Along with the new fighter interceptor designation, many fighter units were assigned under the USAF's Air Defense Command (ADC), which was a part of NORAD, the North American Air Defense Command, see APPENDIX D, NORAD.  Beginning in the early post-war period, our U. S. national defense strategy anticipated a possible nuclear attack by the Soviet Union’s long-range bombers.  Due to the limited range of its existing interceptor aircraft, the Air Force couldn't fully protect our west coast.  To fill this defense gap, the Idaho Air Guard and other ANG units began a fourteen-hour daylight alert commitment, supplementing the regular Air Force defense of the Pacific Northwest.  Runway alert required the 190^th to launch two armed interceptors within 5 minutes of the ‘scramble’ call, and to intercept and  identify any unknowns, and if necessary, shoot down any enemy invaders. "I left Idaho in 1951 to serve a tour in the Pentagon as a member of the Reserve Forces Policy Board.  When I returned to the 190th in 1955, F-86A day fighters had replaced our Mustangs.  We were supervised by the 4th Air Force, who needed the Air Guard's help to fulfill their jet fighter mission."'Armed interceptors' for the NORAD alert commitment meant F-86As, each equipped with six .50 caliber machine guns.  The F-86As were considered ‘day fighters’ because they lacked an all-weather and night intercept capability.  This problem was being addressed by the Air Force through the development of the F-94 and F-89, and a radar-equipped version of the F-86, the F-86L.  The 190^th eventually flew all these interceptors (see Chapters 6, 7, and 8).  The changeover to the 'interceptor' role motivated the squadron to redesign its squadron insignia and aircrew patch--to a new swept-wing, high-altitude look--appropriately depicting their new mission.