The airmen of the Virginia Air National Guard’s 192nd Fighter Wing at Sandston, Va., took their last flights and performed their last maintenance checks on the wing’s F-16 Vipers on June 20 as promised. The transition they began two years ago to integrate with the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., is almost complete, making them the first Air Guard unit to fly the service’s new F-22A Raptors.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
