While I understand the Air Guard pilots do have to run drills and stay practiced and trained, over the past couple of months it has been EVERYDAY! Last Sunday I was doing some lawn work in the late morning and I had to listen to the jets roar. Really? I would be curious why they need to run these drills everyday and fly so low over Sioux Falls. Are we preparing for war or some other mission? Or are we just blowing taxpayer money when most of these drills could be done on simulators? I would think if you are an experienced pilot, you don’t need to be running drills everyday.
Well, for once, I am happy to say ‘Thanks for Nothing’ to Thune, Rounds and Noem;
Jacksonville will have to beat out at least three of the other bases in consideration since two of the five will ultimately receive F-35 squadrons.
The other locations in contention are Montgomery, Ala.; Boise, Idaho; Selfridge, Mich., and Dane County, Wis.
So this happened back in April of this year;
WASHINGTON (AFNS) — Air Force officials announced April 12 that Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona; Homestead Air Reserve Base, Florida; Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas; and Whiteman AFB, Missouri, are candidate bases for the first Reserve-led F-35A Lightning II location.
The preferred and reasonable alternatives are expected to be selected in the fall and the F-35As are slated to begin arriving at the first Reserve-led F-35A location by the summer of 2023.
Maybe I missed the fine print, but it seems Sioux Falls isn’t even in the running.