Sioux Falls, S.D. residents are worried that the F-16s flown by the South Dakota Air National Guard’s 114th Fighter Wing could go away despite the fact they were spared under BRAC 2005. The new concern is that the Air Force’s long-term plan to phase out F-16s in favor of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could leave Sioux Falls without a fighter mission. Some residents are taking pre-emptive action, just in case USAF cuts its buy of F-35s or doesn’t decide to place them with the 114th FW, by forming a task force, reports Associated Press news service.
President Joe Biden is nominating Air Force Lt. Gen. Gregory M. Guillot to add a fourth star and succeed Gen. Glen D. VanHerck as the head of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD)—one of several high-level nominations the Pentagon announced May 31.