The Pentagon confirmed Dec. 3 that Maj. Troy L. Gilbert, the pilot whose F-16 crashed in Iraq on Nov. 27, died when the fighter crashed some 20 miles northwest of Baghdad. Officials had listed Gilbert, who was deployed to Balad AB, Iraq, from the 309th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Ariz., as whereabouts unknown while remains found at the crash site underwent DNA analysis. An Air Force statement says the Armed Forces Medical Examiner’s office made formal identification on Dec. 1.
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.