Although the Air National Guard did not have to stand down any of its combat squadrons like Air Combat Command following the implementation of budget sequestration, it’s still feeling some effects, said ANG Director Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke in his address on Tuesday at AFA’s 2013 Air and Space Conference in National Harbor, Md. “We have really backed out of a lot of the training we used to do,” such as Red Flag, said Clarke. He added, “We’re not as connected to the Total Force from a training perspective.”
The Maryland Air National Guard may be starting to say goodbye to its A-10 “Warthogs,” but it is not slowing down in the meantime, as it recently wrapped up a 11-day “combat readiness” exercise along the East Coast to prepare some of its Airmen for a planned deployment to the…