T?he New York National Guard recently inaugurated a combat-veteran F-16A, now on display outside the state’s Guard joint forces headquarters in Latham, N. Y. The former 174th Fighter Wing jet, serial number 80-0504, flew combat in Operation Desert Storm, as one of only two ANG F-16 units flying close air support, according to a release. The aircraft is displayed alongside an Army National Guard AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter and M-1A1 Abrams tank. “Now it’s going to sit on display where people can see it every day and it serves as a signature symbol of the Air National Guard here at the headquarters,” said CMSgt. Mark Shearer. The “Boys from Syracuse” flew their last F-16 sortie from Hancock Field in March 2010, when the wing became the 174th Attack Wing and converted to MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft. The unit retained the airframe as a weapons-load trainer even after upgrading to the F-16C in the early 1990s.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. still “believes” in his mantra of “Accelerate Change or Lose”—and indicated the doctrinal changes it produced when he was Air Force Chief of Staff played a role in the service’s recent response to Iran’s aerial assault on Israel, he…