The Governor of Kentucky, Ernie Fletcher, said Tuesday that the Kentucky Air National Guard would create a new unit—the 123rd Contingency Response Group—at Louisville where it will be “the light on in great times of need,” reports the Louisville Courier-Journal. Comprising some yet-to-be-identified 144 Air Guardsmen, the 123rd CRG will be the first all Air Guard “air base in a box” unit. The unit will work with the active duty 615th Contingency Response Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., providing the capability to set up bare base operations anywhere in the world.
Under a late summer sun, Air Force basic trainees practice safely rearming a retired F-16 Fighting Falcon at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, with mock AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles. Nearby, a bulldozer levels the ground where the rest of this first new airbase training range will sit.
