US District Court Judge Jeanne Scott in Springfield, Ill., has to reconsider the lawsuit brought by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich over the decision to remove F-16s from the Illinois Air National Guard’s 183rd Fighter Wing and transfer them to the 122nd FW of the Indiana ANG. The Fort Wayne (Ind.) Journal-Gazette reports that a federal appeals court has sent the case back to Scott, who ruled against Illinois initially in September 2005. (The Supreme Court in fall 2005 also rejected a request from Illinois for an emergency injunction against the BRAC 2005 commission.) Meanwhile, Illinois has been pursuing any number of possible new missions for the 183rd.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…