The Waiting Game:
The 179th Airlift Wing of the Ohio Air National Guard is waiting—like many ANG and Air Force Reserve Command units across the country—for the answer to the question: What really is an enclave and will there be a new mission? The 179th was among the units identified by BRAC 2005 to lose its aircraft—eight C-130 tactical airlifters—and to enter enclave status. According to the Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal, the unit’s Air Guardsmen are open to suggestions. Col. Bill Waldron, the unit’s vice commander, told the newspaper that another flying mission was “by no means certain,” but he added, that 179th airmen are “extremely resilient and ready for any mission.”
U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagles have roared out of Barnes Air National Guard Base, Mass., for the last time. The 104th Fighter Wing’s last three F-15Cs departed the base Oct. 23 for the “Boneyard” at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., ending the aircraft's era on the frontlines of homeland defense.
