The New York Air National Guard’s 174th Fighter Wing at Hancock Field near Syracuse flew its last F-16 missions last week, sending off its last fighters on March 6, according to a Post-Standard report. Media were on hand March 2 as many of the unit’s veteran pilots took their final flights in the unit’s Vipers. Per BRAC 2005, the 174th FW had to shed its fighters. Since learning its fate, the unit has picked up a new mission, operating the MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted vehicle. It began flying MQ-9 combat missions over Afghanistan in December 2009.
While the Pentagon is halfway through its review of the Air Force’s new Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program in the wake of “critical” cost and schedule overruns, the service has declared a similar issue for the helicopters meant to provide security and transport across those ICBM fields. The Air Force recently…