Airmen of the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Field and the local populace will get to see a presentation in mid-August on the plans to switch the wing from the A-10 to the F-15, reports The Republican. BRAC 2005 spared the ANG unit’s flying mission but opted to switch it from close air support to air defense—a not insignificant change. Last year’s BRAC actions stripped F-15s from the ANG unit at Otis ANG, Mass.—the 102nd FW—which has just learned that it will take up intelligence gathering instead of flying.
The Air Force still needs more than 300 combat squadrons, but the biggest priority is not number of squadrons but capability, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said Sept. 22. He also suggested the records set by the Next Generation Air Dominance prototype likely have more to do…