Last squadron F-16 flight held at base

The last F-16 flight of the 389th Fighter Squadron was held Friday.

A large group was in attendance as Mountain Home Air Force Base bid farewell to the last of the F-16 Fighting Falcons to be based here during a traditional send-off ceremony last Friday afternoon.

The 389th Fighter Squadron's sole F-16 unit flew their last mission under commander Lt. Col. Phillip Hoover, with a visual display symbolic of the F-16 "passing the torch" to an F-15E Strike Eagle in mid-air, after which the aircraft taxied to the hangar, passing underneath an arcing fountain of water sprayed from the base fire trucks.

The unit's F-16s are being replaced by F-15Es from Elmendorf AFB.

"Since 1991, the 389th Fighter Squadron and its fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcons served with distinction at Mountain Home Air Force Base as a crucial role in the defense of our nation," remarked Hoover.

"Together with their F-15 counterparts, the 389th Thunderbolts provided around-the-clock precision strike capability anywhere around the world. Our last F-16 sortie from Mountain Home Air Force Base closes a significant chapter in the history of the Gunfighters and this base," Hoover said. "As we prepare to bid farewell to our Falcons, we are proud of the accomplishments these aircraft and the people that flew and maintained them played in the pursuit of peace."

According to the base Public Affairs office, the 389th's final five F-16s actually will leave the base on March 29 as the 366th Fighter Wing continues its transition from a multi-role F-16, F-15C, and F-15E base to an all F-15E Strike Eagle installation by 2011.

The 366th Fighter Wing Squadron began transferring its squadron of F-16s in November 2006 with individual or small groups of jets leaving the base at regular intervals, being scattered to bases all over the country as part of the mandated Base Realignment and Closure Commission moves.

The remaining five F-16s will transfer to the 157th Fighter Squadron at McEntire Air National Guard Base in South Carolina.

Most of the last nine F-16 pilots are expected to leave the base in May while about 40 of the 107 Falcon/Viper aircraft maintenance troops will remain at the base and retrain into F-15 jet maintenance.

The 389th FS continues to receive F-15E Strike Eagles from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, as part of a move that was outlined in the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure recommendation to consolidate the Air Force's F-15 and F-16 fighter aircraft into the Air Force's leaner force structure.

The first of the air-to-ground attack jets arrived here in December 2006 and currently there are eight of the jets at Mountain Home.

The last of the squadron's fleet of 21 fighters is due to arrive at the base sometime in May.

As part of the military's realignment plans, the wing is scheduled to transfer its one squadron of F-15C air-to-air combat jets to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada and Jacksonville Air Guard Station in Florida by 2011.

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission chose Mountain Home to become a core F15E installation because of its premier training range, which is suited for a multitude of air-to-ground, low-level and air-to-air flight training.