The Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field, Ore., recently hosted more than 40 fighters from units in South Carolina, Arizona, Texas, and California as part of Sentry Eagle 2015, a large force dissimilar air combat training event. The exercise put participants into high-end realistic air threat scenarios where they were often outnumbered, said Maj. Victor Knill, assistant project officer for the exercise, running both defensive and offensive counter air events. Over four days, maintainers and air traffic controllers helped facilitate the launch and recovery of some 1,128 arrivals and departures at Kingsley Field, and fuels airmen pumped more than a million gallons of fuel for the exercise. The Oregon ANG also hosted an open house, welcoming the public to the base to watch sorties launching and to visit static displays and other exhibits. The next iteration of Sentry Eagle is tentatively scheduled for 2017, according to 173rd FW officials.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…