I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5228 

To direct the Secretary of the Air Force to develop a plan for the recapitalization of fighter squadrons of the Air National Guard and the Air Force 

Reserve and to limit modifications to the flying missions of such squadrons until such plan is complete. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 18, 2023 

Mr. BACON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of the Air Force to develop a plan 

for the recapitalization of fighter squadrons of the Air 

National Guard and the Air Force Reserve and to limit 

modifications to the flying missions of such squadrons 

until such plan is complete. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Air Reserve Compo5 nent Fighter Recapitalization Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON TERMINATION OF FIGHTER SQUAD2 RONS. 

3 (a) LIMITATION.—The Secretary of the Air Force 

4 may not terminate the fighter flying mission of any fighter 

5 squadron of the Air National Guard or the Air Force Re6 serve until a period of 180 days has elapsed following the 

7 date on which the Secretary submits the plan required 

8 under subsection (b). 

9 (b) PLAN REQUIRED.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Air 

11 Force, in coordination with the Director of the Air 

12 National Guard and the Commander of the Air 

13 Force Reserve, shall develop a notional plan for the 

14 recapitalization of all fighter squadrons of the Air 

15 National Guard and the Air Force Reserve. 

16 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan under paragraph (1) 

17 shall— 

18 (A) provide options for the modernization 

19 of fighter squadrons of the Air National Guard 

20 and the Air Force Reserve and the replacement 

21 of the aircraft of such squadrons at a rate that 

22 ensures recapitalization of such squadrons with 

23 relevant and more capable replacement fighter 

24 aircraft; 

25 (B) ensure that each fighter squadron of 

26 the Air National Guard and the Air Force ReVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:19 Aug 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5228.IH H5228

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1 serve has the required minimum of primary 

2 mission assigned fighter aircraft to meet force 

3 presentation requirements of geographic com4 batant commanders for both steady-state and 

5 operational contingency planning and execution; 

6 (C) include consideration for the tem7 porary reassignment of aircraft to such squad8 rons from other components of the Air Force, 

9 as necessary to meet the requirements of the 

10 plan; and 

11 (D) include the Secretary of the Air 

12 Force’s assessment of any effects of the force 

13 presentation on— 

14 (i) combatant commanders; 

15 (ii) aircrew accession absorption ca16 pacity; 

17 (iii) industrial capacity to support any 

18 additional production above programmed 

19 quantities; and 

20 (iv) costs aside from normal training 

21 and personnel costs of unit mission transi22 tions. 

23 (3) SUBMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary 

24 of the Air Force shall submit to the congressional 


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1 defense committees the plan required under para2 graph (1) together with an explanation of— 

3 (A) any programmatic funding required to 

4 implement such plan; and 

5 (B) how the plan differs from other plans 

6 of the Secretary of the Air Force with respect 

7 to fighter aircraft squadrons of the Air Na8 tional Guard and the Air Force Reserve (includ9 ing any such plans in effect as of the date of 

10 the submittal of the plan under paragraph (1)); 

11 and 

12 (C) any effects of the plan on operations 

13 and efforts to recapitalize or transition existing 

14 fighter aircraft squadrons of the Air National 

15 Guard and the Air Force Reserve as proposed 

16 in the future-years defense program submitted 

17 to Congress under section 221 of title 10, 

18 United States Code, for fiscal year 2024. 

19 (c) CONGRESSIONAL DEFENSE COMMITTEES DE20 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘congressional defense 

21 committees’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

22 101(a)(16) of title 10, United States Code. 

Æ 


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