New York ANG Preps for Big Trip: The commander of the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Fighter Wing at Syracuse says the unit is preparing for its largest deployment since it sent forces to the Persian Gulf for Desert Storm in 1991, reports Associated Press news service. Col. Anthony Basile noted that in contrast to 2003 when the wing deployed about 200 Guardsmen to Southwest Asia, it would send around 400 airmen and an unspecified number of its F-16 fighters. The 174th will lose its F-16s over the next few years—fallout from BRAC 2005—and gain a new mission operating Predator UAVs.
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…