It must be an especially sad day to send off your first F-16 to be upgraded for longer life, knowing that someone else will reap the benefits. Airmen of Air Force Reserve Command’s 944th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Ariz., last week sent off the first of their 17 Vipers to get upgraded under the Falcon STAR (Structural Augmentation Roadmap) program. It won’t be coming back and the other 16 will follow. BRAC 2005 ordered the wing’s F-16s to be dispersed to other Air Force units.
As the Air Force readied for its June 21-22 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the service was also putting its Agile Combat Employment strategy into action, dispersing combat aircraft and Airmen from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in preparation for a possible Iranian retaliatory attack. Some defense experts say…
