U.S. Sen. Todd Young (R-IN) and Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) sent correspondence this week to Heather Wilson, Secretary of the Air Force, expressing their support of transitioning Fort Wayne Air National Guard Base from a stock of A-10 fighters to F-16s.
Fort Wayne hosts the 122nd Fighter Wing. At this time, the Air Force is moving to F-35As for field operations, opening up older F-16s for stationing at other facilities. They hope to make this change in 2019, and Banks and Young — a former Navy reservist and Marine corpsman, respectively — seek to capitalize on the opportunity for Indiana through their roles on their houses’ Armed Services Committees.
“The Indiana Air National Guard possesses deep experience with F-16s that would minimize or eliminate challenges normally associated with a unit transitioning between aircraft,” Young and Banks wrote in their letter. “In fact, the 122nd Fighter Wing flew F-16s for 18 years. As a result, the unit includes a large number of pilots and maintenance personnel who possess extensive knowledge regarding the F-16. F-16s at Fort Wayne would once again enjoy quick access to nearby airspace and air to ground ranges to maintain readiness.”
The lawmakers also pointed out Fort Wayne’s relationship with the South Dakota Air National Guard, who already host F-16s. Together, they and the Indiana Air National Guard could support one another in deployment, Young and Banks said.
Additionally, transitioning to F-16s at Fort Wayne could present a creative, short-term solution to address the Air Force’s struggles related to A-10 wing replacement.
“The large majority of the A-10s at Fort Wayne have wings with a significant quantity of flight time left,” the legislators wrote. “Transitioning the A-10s at Fort Wayne to other A-10 units throughout the Air Force would stabilize those units and improve their ability to meet Combatant Commander requirements — at least until enhanced wing assemblies can be produced, delivered, and installed.”