News

Air Force leaders announced the next commander for Misawa Air Base and its 35th Fighter Wing. Brig. Gen. (select) Salvatore "Sam" Angelella is to take over the reins from Brig. Gen. William "Kanga" Rew later this year.

The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron,"Thunderbirds," have announced their new pilots for the 2006 demonstration season which includes the first female demonstration pilot in the 52 year history of the Thunderbirds.

For seven years, the Republic of Singapore's air force shared the eastern New Mexico skies with Cannon Air Force Base. That relationship is coming to an end next month as the 428th Fighter Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base near Clovis, New Mexico, is being inactivated

The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, announced today they will continue to fly a five-ship demonstration at air shows around the country until a newly assigned right wing pilot completes training required for the position.

A squadron of 15 F-117A Nighthawks flew to South Korea last week as part of an Air Expeditionary Forces (AEF) rotation. It provides F-117 pilots and crews with the opportunity to train alongside the F-16 and to conduct operations in a deployed environment with a variety of weather conditions.

Six F-16C Fighting Falcons from the 183rd FW Illinois ANG departed to Poland to train with Polish MiGs-29A and Su-22 jets. The exercise called Sentry White Falcon 2005 will be held from 3rd to 17th June in 31st AB in Krzesiny- Poznan, Poland.

Twenty-five years ago last month, when Col. Lance Undhjem had completed his F-16 pilot training and was named the "top dog" in his class, he was called up on a graduation stage to receive his official certification.

Col. Brian T. Bishop assumed command of the 8th Fighter Wing in South Korea on Tuesday, calling on airmen of the "Wolf Pack" to stay honed to "take the fight north."

The Base Re-alignment and Closure plans call for 178 F-16 fighting falcons to be retired, and 39 more to be used as backup aircraft. In total, fifteen F-16 bases will lose 15 aircraft or more each, while 16 bases will gain between 1 and 10 aircraft. This article provides a detailed overview per base, unit, and block.

More than 200 Air National Guardsmen of the 138th Fighter Wing in Tulsa deployed Thursday morning to provide air support for ground troops in Iraq. After a near 20 hour transport flight, the F-16C fighter unit will spend the next 45 days based in southwest Asia, flying missions to support ground troops in Iraq.

Today the Pentagon released the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) report which contains the plans for major cutbacks at selected bases around the USA. One of the major F-16 bases to be impacted is Cannon AFB in New Mexico, which will close.

When Col. Michael Boera touched his F-16 to the tarmac Wednesday afternoon and shut down the engine, he couldn't help but smile. A process that began 15 months ago, when Boera led a group of four Misawa F-16s across the Pacific Ocean to Hill Air Force Base Depot, Utah, had come full circle.

An Air Force pilot with 3,100 hours in an F-16 cockpit has taken command of the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base. A change of command ceremony in which Col. Robert Beletic was installed as the wing's commander was held Wednesday morning.

The first of the Block 25 F-16 Fighting Falcons passed the 6,000-hour milestone earlier this year, and four more are expected to do so later this year, thanks in part to the engineering and depot-level modification efforts of the Ogden ALC.

Shaw Air force Base grounded their F-16 jets for a day. The planes were given a good once over after an F-16 crashed in the Ashley River in Charleston last week.