Det. 1 of the North Dakota Air National Guard’s 119th Fighter Wing—the Happy Hooligans—has turned over its air defense alert mission at Langley AFB, Va., to the Vermont ANG’s 158th FW. The Hooligans are giving up their F-16s, thanks to BRAC 2005, to fly Predator unmanned aerial vehicles and the new Joint Cargo Aircraft.
The Air Force is putting emphasis on operations and maintenance and research and development. The Army and Navy want to go on a buying spree. The Space Force budget is approaching and may yet surpass the Marine Corps. And non-service “Defense-Wide” funding got the biggest bump of all.