The commander of US Central Command Air Forces, Lt. Gen. Gary North, said in a statement that he worries “about the health of our aging fleet,” but the continued grounding of the F-15 fleet would not diminish airpower support to operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. The F-15E Strike Eagles in the theater are on ground alert. North said he expects the accident “investigation to get to the cause of the accident.” Unnamed officials have speculated that the F-15C that crashed last week came apart in flight.
Airmen basic rarely go on to become four-star generals, but one who did retired last week after a 42 year career that saw him rise from a lowly slick-sleeve to the head of one of the Air Force’s most important major commands.