Final F-16 to leave city today
By JOHN REYNOLDS
THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Sep 22, 2008 @ 11:24 PM

The last jet assigned to Springfield’s 183rd Tactical Fighter Wing is expected to leave the base at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport about 9:30 a.m. today.

The general public will not be allowed on the base to watch, but people near the airport should be able to see the F-16 Falcon fly away. When it does so, it will end a nearly 60-year tradition of fighter jets being based in Springfield.

Gary Plummer, CEO of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, said Monday that while his group would naturally prefer that the jets remain in Springfield, it is encouraged by the new, non-flying missions the 183rd has been assigned.

One of those missions is as a regional engine repair facility that will service F-16 jet engines from Guard units from as far away as Texas and South Dakota.

“Overall, we have a very optimistic and positive outlook on the situation compared to when the (BRAC) commission issued its report a few years ago,” Plummer said.

In 2005, Illinois Guard officials were told the federal Base Realignment and Closure Commission had decided to reassign the 183rd’s jets. Gov. Rod Blagojevich sued unsuccessfully, arguing that the federal government had no authority to remove the jets without his approval.

The 183rd had 17 jets, which began leaving Springfield a few at a time this summer to bases elsewhere, including in Texas, Vermont and Indiana.

Maj. Brad Leighton, spokesman for the Illinois National Guard, cautioned Monday that while the last jet is scheduled to take of at 9:30 a.m., the time could change because of weather or other factors.

“When you’re dealing with (military) aircraft, you don’t always have an exact time,” Leighton said.

Like Plummer, Leighton preferred to focus on the 183rd’s new missions.

In addition to engine repair, the unit is preparing for its duties as an Air and Space Operation Center that will augment Air Force headquarters staff in planning, coordinating and controlling air operations in wartime theaters.

The Springfield base also has a temporary mission for about a year to operate as a repair facility for F-16s, allowing the base’s 18 firefighters to remain on the job.

Ernie Slottag, spokesman for Mayor Tim Davlin, said retention of the firefighting jobs is another “encouraging sign” as the city and others continue to lobby for a new flying mission for the 183rd.

“We are actively searching for new flying missions,” Leighton said. “That is high on the (Illinois) adjutant general’s list of priorities.”

For now, Leighton said members of the 183rd are looking forward to the new missions.

The first plane assigned to the Springfield Air Guard unit was the P-51 Mustang of World War II fame. When the piston-engine fighter arrived, it had been redesignated the F-51. The local unit received its first jets, the F-86 Sabre, in November 1953. Subsequent planes flown by the unit included the F-84 Thunderstreak and the twin-seat F-4 Phantom.

The 183rd received its first F-16s in 1989.

source: http://www.sj-r.com/homepage/x129157732 ... city-today