Air Guard Block 52 F-16s from the 169th Fighter Wing at McEntire JNGB, S.C., deployed to Lask AB, Poland, on May 28, as part of a training deployment to support Operation Atlantic Resolve. The deployment will pair 169th FW F-16s crews with their Polish Air Force counterparts to conduct bilateral training events from Lask, as part of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa’s allied reassurance initiatives. The US and Poland agreed to establish a permanent aviation detachment at the airfield back in 2012, the first full-time USAF presence in the country, and the location has served as a hub for rotational training and cooperation activities.
On Jan. 7, President Donald Trump declared in a social media post he would propose a $1.5 trillion defense budget for fiscal 2027, a record-breaking figure that called to mind the Reagan buildup of the 1980s. Nearly eight months later, experts and Congress watchers agree that the prospects of the…