The Air National Guard’s 188th Fighter Wing at Ebbing ANGB, Ark., will temporarily host seven F-16C Falcons and 40 maintenance, operation, and support personnel from the Oklahoma Air National Guard’s 138th Fighter Wing. The aircraft and airmen will remain in Arkansas until mid-June when runway and taxiway construction at the 139th FW is slated for completion, states an April 7 release. “The 188th is no stranger to F-16 operations and we’re happy to share our facilities with our Air National Guard brothers and sisters from the 138th,” said188th FW Commander Col. Mark Anderson. The F-16s will be housed in former A-10 shelters vacated during the wing’s conversion to an “intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance, space-focused targeting and remotely piloted aircraft mission,” states the release. The last of the 188th FW’s A-10s are slated to leave on June 7, states the release.
F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard have deployed to Puerto Rico in recent days, continuing a major buildup of U.S. Air Force assets in Latin America aimed at combating drug trafficking and pressuring the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.
