US Air Force, BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq: The 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing here replaced its entire F-16 Fighting Falcon fleet this month with aircraft from throughout the U.S.
The aircraft swap was necessary to maintain a “healthy” force and warfighting capability, said Maj. Leah Fry, 332nd Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron operations officer.
The changeover is part of the air and space expeditionary force rotation: new people, new jets.
Jet for jet, active-duty F-16s from Hill Air Force Base, Utah, were exchanged for those from Cannon AFB, N.M. Guard F-16s from Alabama and Illinois were replaced by Falcons from South Dakota, Michigan, New York and Washington, D.C.
“In a four-month rotation here at Balad, our F-16s fly the equivalent of a full year's flying at home station,” Major Fry said.
The deployed environment and operational demands age the jets, which creates difficult maintenance problems for the F-16s. By rotating aircraft the Air Force is able to smooth out the severe usage across the entire F-16 fleet.
The planning process for the swap out began eight weeks ago, when Airmen began mapping out the details of catching, towing and parking the new jets when they arrived.
This rotation at Balad AB was accomplished differently than previous rotations in that this time each aircraft was safely stowed inside a hardened aircraft shelter during all weapons loading operations, said Col. Timothy Fowler, 332nd Maintenance Group commander.
The efforts of 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron made this possible, the colonel said. The civil engineers renovated three shelters with all new electrical power, lighting and paint. These new facilities offer additional space to store and reconfigure aircraft.
“I challenged 1st Lt. Adrienne Stahl to develop a swap-out plan for the F-16s and more than 700 personnel who ensure that all aircraft are protected inside (hardened air shelters) during the swap-out,” Colonel Fowler said. “Her plan was awesome, and she worked it like a champ. At the end of the day, the swap-out went like clockwork.”
The swap-out was a 332d AEW success and combined team effort, the colonel said.
The operations group continued to fly air tasking order missions without missing a beat, the mission support group renovated the hardened air shelters and paved the way for the transition to begin, and the maintenance group completed the munitions' swap-out and aircraft generation.
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