On 20 November, the regiment flew from Sanshilipu to Anshan, under the command of Colonel V. Ia. Terentyev. It was not yet combat ready, and spent the next weeks familiarizing itself with the area of operations and practicing formation flying. It also had to wait for the arrival of more drop tanks after the other regiment of the division, the 29th Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, began flying combat missions on 30 November. Pilots from the regiment flew their first combat sortie on 12 December, but did not encounter enemy aircraft. A squadron from the regiment moved forward to Antung on 15 December and began flying missions, and was joined by the two remaining squadrons on 25 December. The 177th's pilots first met enemy aircraft on 17 December, but the action concluded without result. The deputy commander of the regiment's 1st Squadron, Captain Nikolay Vorobyov, was the second Soviet airman to claim a North American F-86 Sabre fighter downed on 22 December, but this claim was the first corroborated by American records. Later that day, eight aircraft from the 2nd Squadron, still flying from Anshan, dueled with 16 Sabres, claiming three kills with the loss of two MiGs and a pilot, although the USAF did not report any losses for this engagement. On 27 December, eight MiGs of the 1st Squadron and several from the 3rd Squadron scrambled to intercept an American raid in the Chongju station area of Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star fighter-bombers escorted by Sabres. A 1st Squadron pilot claimed a Sabre downed, which was not corroborated by the USAF. Six aircraft from the 2nd Squadron took off following the other two squadrons, Captain Mikhail Fomin downing an F-80 of the 25th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron after the MiGs bypassed the Sabre escort. During the month, the regiment's pilots flew half of the division's 452 combat sorties, claiming to have downed eight F-86s and two F-80s for the loss of two MiGs and one pilot. The 177th flew missions on 3 and 6 January 1951, but did not encounter enemy aircraft. On 10 January, a lone Boeing RB-29 Superfortress reconnaissance aircraft was intercepted and reported to have been downed in the Anju area by pilots from the 1st Squadron under Major Pavel Mikhailov, the only enemy aircraft encountered in early January; no RB-29 was recorded as lost by the USAF on that date.