The Arizona Air National Guard’s 107th Air Control Squadron at Luke Air Force Base recently ceased operations after more than four decades of activity. The Thunderbolt, the base newspaper, reported on Oct. 11 that Luke officials inactivated the unit during a ceremony on Sept. 30. The unit had run Air Education and Training Command’s weapons director schoolhouse and also provided command and control for thousands of sorties flown each year by F-16s of Luke’s 56th Fighter Wing and the Arizona ANG’s 162nd FW in Tucson, according to the report. The Air Force in March 2012 announced plans to inactivate the 107th ACS. In June of this year, it shifted the Active Duty 607th ACS from Air Combat Command to AETC in order to take over the schoolhouse functions.
The U.S. military is sending more fighter jets to the Middle East to step up its war with Iran, adding to what is already the largest buildup of airpower in the region since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. For now, the operation shows little sign of coming to a quick…