The New Jersey Air National Guard’s 177th Fighter Wing has just opened a new $13 million alert facility, reports the Asbury Park Press. The facility includes three aircraft shelters to keep the wing’s F-16s readily available, but out of the weather,for the unit’s air defense mission.
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
