Hill AFB to send F-16s to South Dakota in restructuring

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Starting this summer, the first of 22 F-16s from Hill Air Force Base will head to South Dakota Air National Guard's Joe Foss Field as part of a restructuring plan by the U.S. Air Force.

The move means one of the 388th Fighter Wing's three F-16 squadrons will be cut.

The Air Force's plan was announced in 2009, but the implementation of the plan, including the reassignment of the two other planes that make up a 24-plane squadron, is still being discussed.

It was only a week ago that the South Dakota Guard's 114th Fighter Wing learned it would receive jets from Hill that will provide more technological and performance advantages than the wing's older planes.

The 22 planes will allow the 114th to nearly replace its squadron. In turn, it will send its current planes to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in Arizona, and to other units, said Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Reid Christopherson.

Christopherson said pilots, maintainers and the air crew are excited about having newer planes, but there's an issue of pride, too.

"It will solidify our future as a fighter unit in the Air National Guard," Christopherson said.

The 114th Fighter Wing has been flying fighter aircraft since it was created in 1946, he said. And its members deploy to combat zones about every 18 months. Within the past month, the unit's members returned from Balad Air Base in Iraq.

At Hill Air Force Base, located in northern Davis County, various details are still being worked out, said Col. David Hathaway, the 388th Fighter Wing's vice commander.

The wing has known since June that it would lose one squadron and about 600 personnel through restructuring.

"However, we would expect the jets leaving Hill to be relocated across the Air Force during this fiscal year," Hathaway said.

The 388th Fighter Wing is on the Air Force's short list to receive the next generation fighter plane, the F-35 Lightning II. The Air Force is conducting a study on the jets' potential environmental impact at bases in South Carolina, Vermont, Idaho and Florida.

The study's Draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be completed before summer, and once it is distributed, further public comment will be accepted before the final report is published in early 2011.

A record of decision is expected within about 30 days of the final report.

For more information, go to www.airforcef-35opseis.com.

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