F-15 Training Consolidation

The Oregon Air National Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field is slated to become the Air Force’s sole F-15 training base,” Army Maj. Gen. Raymond Rees, adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, has confirmed. “We are very pleased with that and looking forward to that added responsibility,” Rees said in an interview. Under a proposal in the Air Force’s Fiscal 2010 budget plan, F-15 training operations would be phased out at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and consolidated at Kingsley Field. If Congress approves this proposal, F-15 training activities would cease at Tyndall by the end of Fiscal 2010, 1st Lt. Cody Chiles, spokesman for Tyndall’s 325th Fighter Wing, told the Daily Report yesterday. Earlier this year, we reported that the Oregon legislature was considering closing Kingsley Field as a cost-saving measure. But upon closer examination, Rees said, it became clear that “it was kind of like cutting off your nose to spite your face to talk about reducing state fiscal responsibilities to Kingsley Field.” As a result, he continued, “I think the legislature is going to come away here with a much-renewed appreciation for the 173rd and what its role is and why it should continue to support activities there.”