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 Dutch F-16 pilots, aircraft return to Tucson By Courtesy Story
 TUCSON, Ariz., - The Royal Netherlands Air Force will soon
resume F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot training at Tucson International Airport
after a three-year absence. The 162nd Fighter Wing of the Arizona Air
National Guard will welcome the first Dutch pilots and aircraft arriving
Oct. 29 at 10:30 a.m. Dutch Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force
for International Affairs Heidi Grant, Tucson Mayor Bob Walkup and Arizona
Air National Guard Commander Brig. Gen. Michael Colangelo will commemorate
the arrival of the first two Dutch F-16 fighter aircraft while recognizing
the Netherland's partnership with Southern Arizona. Walkup will present a
key to the city to Ambassador Jones-Bos. Dutch pilots were the first in a long line of international students to
train with the 162nd Fighter Wing. Starting in 1989, they were a mainstay
program at the Arizona Air National Guard unit for 18 years until they moved
to Springfield, Ohio, for a three-year agreement to train with the Ohio Air
National Guard's 178th Fighter Wing. "The Netherlands and the United States have a longstanding history of
collaboration in peace and security," said Ambassador Jones-Bos. "That
collaboration is displayed in Southern Arizona. For nearly two decades, the
Arizona Air National Guard was home to over 100 Royal Netherlands Air Force
pilots and personnel. "Dutch and American troops have trained side-by-side in Tucson, and the
Netherlands is pleased to return to the 162nd Fighter Wing where our Dutch
pilots will receive advanced F-16 pilot training." The Dutch plan to base 14 of their own jets here to participate in basic
F-16 flight training as well as advanced courses such as flight lead upgrade
and instructor pilot certification. Flight training is scheduled to be in
full swing by January 2011. Their arrival will come on the heels of the departure of the United Arab
Emirates' F-16 training program in December. The Emiratis, and their
squadron of 13 F-16E/F Desert Falcons, will move to the UAE wrapping up a
six-year stay at Tucson's airport. "The Netherlands program will fit perfectly as a replacement for the United
Arab Emirates program, thereby preserving most of the Air National Guard
jobs associated with the UAE. The labor pool in our 148th Fighter Squadron,
currently a UAE-only training squadron, will shift to train Dutch pilots,"
said Col. Ted Maxwell, 162nd Fighter Wing commander. He expects the Dutch program to average about 3,000 flying hours per year,
similar to the amount currently generated by the UAE. The incoming Dutch aircraft, six two-seat trainers and eight single-seat
models, are essentially early-model F-16A/B's that have undergone cockpit
and avionics upgrades that make them as capable as the newer C/D-models. In
the international F-16 community they are known as MLUs, or Mid-Life Update
F-16s. The Royal Netherlands Air Force will send about 10 student pilots to train
in Tucson per year, and six instructor pilots will be stationed here for
three years each. The initial agreement for training in Tucson is a three-year program with an
option to extend based on the needs of the Dutch air force. The 162nd Fighter Wing, a full-time international F-16 pilot training unit,
additionally trains students from Poland, Singapore, Norway and Morocco.
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