T
he bulk of the Air Force’s deployable air traffic control and landing systems reside in the Air National Guard, and Air Guardsmen voluntarily fill some 25 percent of ATC deployments, according to a USAF news release. Recently, members of the Hawaii ANG’s 297th Air Traffic Control Squadron—a combat communications unit—honed their already battle-tested skills in a four-day exercise at Barber’s Point, Hawaii. Airmen of the 297th deployed to Diego Garcia for the opening of Operation Iraqi Freedom and followed that a year later to set up operations in Mosul, Iraq.
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.