Residents of Burlington, Vt., on March 7 will vote on whether the Burlington City Council should use “lawful means to keep the Vermont Air National Guard at home.” The point of ballot question No. 6 is to “to prevent” the ANG’s 158th Fighter Wing, housed at the Burlington Airport, from being sent overseas “to drop bombs in wars of aggression against other nations.” Local and federal elected officials have gone on record against the question. A statement from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D) and Sen. Jim Jeffords (I) notes their opposition to the war in Iraq, but says they support the Vermont ANG. Passage of the ballot question, the statement reads, would be “harmful to both the airport and the Vermont Guard.”
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.