Training Command. ATC equipped the squadron with F-84B Thunderjet aircraft and used it as a training organization. Some fighter pilots went to Korea to fly combat missions. Other squadron personnel, because of their experience, were sent to bases in the U.S. and Japan to train new people entering the Air Force. The squadron was released from active duty and returned to Arizona state control, 1 November 1952. With the release from active service, the federal government authorized the construction of a new base at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix for the Arizona Air National Guard. The 197th returned to flying the F-51H Mustangs as part of Tactical Air Command. Air Defense mission In 1954, the unit was reassigned to Air Defense Command (ADC), with a new mission of Air Defense of the Phoenix area. The prop-driven Mustangs were replaced by F-86A Sabre day fighters, and the squadron was re-designated as the 197th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron. On 2 October 1957, the Arizona Air National Guard 197th FIS was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 161st Fighter-Interceptor Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 197th FIS becoming the group's flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 161st Headquarters, 161st Material Squadron (Maintenance), 161st Combat Support Squadron, and the 161st USAF Dispensary. The F-86A Sabre day fighters were replaced in 1958 by the all-weather/day-night F-86L Sabre Interceptor aircraft, and in 1960, the 197th was one of three selected ANG units to receive F-104A Starfighter interceptors from the ADC active-duty interceptor forces. The Copperheads, as a result of the national recognition as one of the best air defense units in the nation, were chosen to fly the new high performance jet fighter. The 161st FIG was called into active service in November 1961 as the construction of the infamous "Berlin Wall" pushed the world to the brink of war. Within a month after mobilization, 750 personnel and 22 197th FIS F-104 aircraft were in place at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany as the unit took up flying daily air defense patrols at the edge of the Iron Curtain. With world tension easing, the squadron returned home in August 1962. Transport mission With the return to Arizona, the unit was reassigned from ADC to the Military Air Transport Service (MATS) in October 1962. The Mach-2 Starfighters were exchanged for large, 4-engined C-97G Stratofreighters with a mission of worldwide