Harold “Buck” Rigg retired Oct. 18 as curator of the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale AFB. La., a job he held for three decades. In fact, Rigg was the founding curator of the museum, which opened in 1979. Throughout his career, Rigg worked to acquire all the aircraft on display in the museum’s air park as well as all internal displays. “My favorite acquisition was a solid silver punch bowl that was used as a trophy for the annual 5th Corps Army golf tournament,” said Rigg. He added, “Upon reading the inscription, I saw that the first recipient was Lt. Eugene Hoy Barksdale, the base’s namesake.” (Barksdale report by SSgt. Michael Andriacco)
The crews of the two-ship F-15E formation that stared down the leading edge of Iran’s massive aerial assault against Israel in April 2024 were presented with the Mackay Trophy last week, further cementing their place in Air Force history.


