In 1940, the 121st Observation Squadron was organized and began operations out of Bolling Air Field. This Army Air Corps unit would later merge with the 121st Fighter Squadron, Single Engine, and the 352nd Fighter group at the end of WWII, creating the lineage of the 113th Wing.

The 113th Wing, District of Columbia Air National Guard, carries the campaign credits from the Antisubmarine Campaign, the Po Valley Campaign, the North Apennines Campaign, and the Rome-Arno Campaign.

In 1947, the Air Force was designated a separate branch of the military. The D.C. Air National Guard became a reality in 1950, when the 113th Wing received federal recognition. The 113th Wing has been all over the world since then. In 1961, the 113th Wing spent a year activated in support of the Berlin Crisis. In 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson activated them in response to the Pueblo Crisis. Later, many of these Airmen deployed to the Vietnam Theater of Operations. More recently, they have served in Iraqi, Afghanistan, and other Global war on Terror missions around the world.