D.C. Guard helps protect Louisiana skies

[unhappycamper]

D.C. Guard helps protect Louisiana skies
By Patrick Winn - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jan 15, 2008 12:33:37 EST

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. — F-16s from the District of Columbia Air National Guard are in Louisiana to defend a region typically manned by grounded F-15s.

In early January, airmen from the 113th maintenance, mission support and operations groups of the D.C. Air National Guard deployed to Naval Air Station New Orleans to prop up the region’s Air Sovereignty Alert mission. Many F-15s that traditionally defend those skies remain grounded.

A nonfatal Missouri Air National Guard F-15 crash in November prompted Air Force leaders to ground early-model F-15s and evaluate their structural integrity. A decision on the return to flight of 191 grounded F-15 Eagles will be made on a “plane-by-plane basis,” the head of Air Combat Command, Gen. John Corley said last week at the Pentagon.

Corley OK’d the return to flight of 254 F-15s, roughly 60 percent of the Air Force’s F-15A through D models. Those jets passed the inspections.

The 113th Wing, known as the Capital Guardians, will continue defending the airspace over Washington, D.C., as only some of the squadron’s airmen and aircraft are deployed.


Article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/01/airforce_dcf16_080115w/