page_title: 162d Reconnaissance Squadron
section_title: BRAC 2005 and closeout of F-16 operations
hierarchical_section_title: 162d Reconnaissance Squadron / History / Ohio Air National Guard / BRAC 2005 and closeout of F-16 operations
caption_attribution_description: English: Pilots from the 178th Fighter Wing gather in front of an F-16 July 30 in Springfield, Ohio. It is the last time these pilots would fly together here at Springfield. (U.S. Air Force photo by SrA Anthony T. Graham)
context_page_description: The 162d Reconnaissance Squadron is a unit of the Ohio Air National Guard 178th Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing located at Springfield Air National Guard Base, Springfield, Ohio. The 162d is equipped with the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator UAV.
context_section_description: Under the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC), a decision came down that the parent 178th Fighter Wing would lose its sixteen F-16s and ultimately convert to a drone squadron. The Springfield aircraft would be distributed to the 132d Fighter Wing, Des Moines IAP AGS, IA (nine aircraft); the 140th Wing (ANG), Buckley AFB, CO (three aircraft) and 149th Fighter Wing (ANG), Lackland AFB, TX (four aircraft).  It was later revealed that the decision may have been a mistake as the 2005 BRAC decision did not take into account that the 162d FS was indeed a training squadron, however the decision stood.
  In the interim, through the Foreign Military Sales program, the 178th was able to obtain another training mission with the Royal Netherlands Air Force.  In April 2007 the Dutch 306 Detachment from Tucson Air National Guard Base, Arizona moved to Springfield to provide a different training environment. The detachment was not associated directly to the 162d FS. However the Springfield facilities were F-16 ready so as a result, when the 162d FS shut down their F-16 operations, the Dutch detachment would leave shortly after. The current RNlAF training mission at Springfield ANGB ended in 2010 when the unit returned for Arizona. About 6 classes graduated out of the Dutch detachment while at Springfield.
  The 162d FS graduated its final American F-16 Basic Course class on 12 December 2009. The class had started on 30 March 2009. In the squadron's tenure, as a training squadron, a total 77 pilots went through the B-course. Another 273 people went for pilots upgrading to operational or formal training instructor pilot. This made a total of 350 pilots that received any pilot training at Springfield.
  Knowing the American training mission would be ending soon, the 178th pursued another foreign military training
  mission with the Singapore Air Force. However, in 2009 it became apparent that mission would not be coming to Springfield due to economic limitations.
  Just prior to the squadron closing out Viper operations, on 22 April 2010 the squadron had a more well received deployment in Hungary. The fifteen-day deployment allowed USAF F-16s to fly with Hungarian Air Force Saab JAS 39 Gripens, MiG-29s and the Mi-24s. The American pilots and Hungarian AF pilots had the opportunity to engage in various air-to-air scenarios.
  For the 162d FS the final sortie was on 30 July 2010. To celebrate the squadron's history, F-16C #86-0364 was painted up in special markings and incorporated some markings from the famous Second World War P-51 Mustang 'Old Crow'. On the last flight four of the most senior pilots in the squadron with the most hours in the F-16 flew. The four pilots had a combined 100 years in fighters and topped out at 15,920 hours in fighters with 12,380 of those hours in the Viper.
  Although the last sortie had been a few months earlier, the last American aircraft departed Springfield on 20 September 2010. This ended the manned flying mission of the 162d FS. The Dutch detachment was scheduled to return to Tucson AGB, Arizona by January 2011. Instead they pulled out early and were gone from Springfield by 15 November 2010 when the last Dutch F-16 departed.
caption: Pilots from the 178th FW gather in front of F-16C block 30 #86-0364 from the 162nd FS on 30 July 2010 in Springfield, Ohio. It is the last time these pilots would fly together here at Springfield.
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