Prompted by Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) to explain what is meant by the forthcoming “Air Guard reset,” Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, ANG director, noted that “it’s a term we’ve never used before in the Air National Guard.” He went on to explain that the Air Guard is in the midst of a “radical transformation” based on the Air Force need to restructure and downsize. Consequently, the Air Guard must look for new missions to replace “missions that have sunset and gone away,” said McKinley. At the same time, he added, ANG decided to rebalance its wings, some of which “had grown at the expense of other states,” and “fix the books” to ensure all remaining programs were “adequately funded.” McKinley concluded, “So you put all those factors together—that is what we call our reset.”
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…