Under BRAC 2005, the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing at Fort Smith, Ark., has to trade its F-16 Vipers for A-10 Warthogs, a change expected to begin this October, reports the Arkansas News Bureau. Unlike many of their fellow Air Guardsmen, the 188th FW airmen do not have to give up manned aircraft, but there is a world of difference between the two fighters. The wing’s pilots begin training on the Warthog in October, and the maintainers and weapons loaders in January 2007.
The Air Force wants to pump more than $12 billion over the next five years into its new affordable long-range missiles program and recently asked industry to push the flights of some of those munitions beyond 1,200 miles.