More than 190 members of the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Fighter Wing left Hancock Field ANGB in Syracuse yesterday (June 4) on the unit’s final F-16 deployment to the Middle East before transitioning to a new mission later this year. The four-month tour is the unit’s eighth to Southwest Asia since 1991 and its first since January 2007, Syracuse’s Post-Standard reported June 4. In all, about 500 wing personnel will rotate in and out of the combat theater on this deployment, the newspaper said. Upon returning, the wing will begin to convert this fall from flying F-16s to operating MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles, wing spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Greta Lewis told the Daily Report June 4.
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.