NY Guard wing to fly final F-16 mission - Military News | News From Afghanistan, Iraq And Around The World - Military Times

NY Guard wing to fly final F-16 mission

Saturday marks the end of the F-16 era for the 174th Fighter Wing in New York.

That’s the afternoon the Air National Guard wing in Syracuse flies its final F-16 mission, after 22 years of flying the fighters.

The wing will then shift to its new mission: flying remote-controlled MQ-9 Reapers.

The wing started flying operational Reaper missions over Afghanistan in December while it phased out F-16 sorties.

Over the past week, wing pilots have flown what are likely their last F-16 missions.

“To be honest, this is the last time a manned fighter is going to land at Syracuse from the 174th and that kind of touches a spot in my heart,” Lt. Col. D. Scott Brenton said after touching down Tuesday.

The wing’s notable F-16 assignments have ranged from deployments over Iraq, most recently in 2008, to flying over the new Yankee Stadium on Opening Day last year.

The wing’s F-16 mission was a victim of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission that decided to send the wing’s jets elsewhere. The unit began flying fighters 68 years ago, taking to the skies in P-47D Thunderbolts.

To mark the last day of F-16 flights, the wing is hosting a 2 p.m. “fly-off” ceremony at Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse, including an aerial demonstration by the last two F-16s at the base.