The past year definitely finished on a high note for the Illinois Air National Guard’s 182nd Air Mobility Wing. The BRAC commission overruled the Pentagon, stripping the 182nd at Greater Peoria Airport of four C-130s and eliminated a planned personnel increase. Yet, the Peoria unit, according to the Peoria Journal Star, is about to embark on a nearly $10 million construction project. It is just in the design phase, expected to be completed this spring, but the plan calls for a new 37,700 square foot squadron operations building.
Less than a day after arriving in the Middle East, F-15E Strike Eagles from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. defended Israel from an Iranian attack in April 2024. DUDE flight, four F-15Es from the 335th Fighter Squadron, downed two dozen Iranian drones in roughly 45 minutes.