• Profile photo of Manou

      Manou posted an update

      a year ago

      Is the 182nd fighter squadron at Lakeland AFB active duty or reserve? They only train students on F-16? 

      • The 182nd gunfighters are Texas Air National Guard

        and a great squadron. 

        It’s confusing because there’s also a USAFR C-5 unit and a huge active duty mission. To further obscure the issue, most of the flyers refer to it as “Kelly” (Kelly Field Annex) while the Acitve Duty calls it Lackland.


        Cheers!

        Husky 

        • The 182nd is an ANG squadron but it’s a weird one. It’s a B-course squadron that hosts the F-16 B-course 1-2 times a year. Since it’s a B-course unit all members are F-16 instructor pilots. Most of their hires come from Rated guys and gals separating from AD, but they’ll host a UPT board once in a blue moon.

          What makes it even weirder is if hired UPT by the 182nd its my understanding that they’ll send you to OTS, UPT, etc. like normal but once you complete the F-16 B-course you head to another ANG F-16 unit to integrate with and receive all of your upgrades (Mission Qualification, 2 Ship Flight Lead, 4 Ship Flight Lead, then IPUG probably missing one here but you get the point.) then after you become an F-16 Instructor Pilot, you go back to San Antonio. So essentially you’ll get hired then be gone for something like 8 years before coming back to the unit that hired you.

          • That checks. Tucson does the same thing; it can be a great way to see the world before you settle into the training mission.