Air Force Reserve Command’s 419th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, Utah, has sent off its last Block 30 F-16 fighters to other Reserve and Air National Guard units around the country. As we reported in April, the 419th is joining forces with the other F-16 unit at Hill, Air Combat Command’s 388th FW, which will own the aircraft both units fly and maintain. SrA. Daniel Durbin reports that the 388th is getting additional Block 40 Vipers to increase its fleet to more than 85 aircraft.
After a long period in which munitions were almost an afterthought and sacrificed to pay for other priorities, the Air Force needs to focus on them in order to have the right “package” of capabilities for future conflicts, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7.