Members of the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Fighter Wing in Syracuse began flying training sorties with MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft out of the Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield on the grounds of Ft. Drum. Federal Aviation Administration approval for these flights came earlier this month, enabling the first sortie to occur on Oct. 18, according to wing officials. These training flights will support the new MQ-9 formal training unit that is scheduled to begin operating at Hancock Field, the wing’s headquarters, in November. Initially, the wing will conduct approximately three training sorties per week from Wheeler-Sack in the special-use airspace in that area. The Air Guardsmen of the FTU will train active duty, ANG, Air Force Reserve, and foreign military MQ-9 pilots and sensor operators. Ft. Drum is located near Watertown, which is north of Syracuse near eastern shore of Lake Ontario. (Hancock Field release)
Air Force Academy Keeps Majors Intact amid Faculty Cuts
Aug. 20, 2025
Twenty-five faculty members—about 5 percent—have left the U.S. Air Force Academy so far this year, including those who opted into the federal Deferred Resignation Program, retired, or were not renewed for another term. Nearly 10 percent of the academy’s 1,500 or so civilian jobs were identified for elimination in 2025,…