F-16C Fighting Falcon Honors 100 Years of Colorado Air National Guard
The 140th Wing, Colorado Air National Guard (COANG) celebrated its 100th anniversary in May at Buckley Space Force Base in Aurora, Colorado. This unit is a pioneer in modernizing aviation to use as defense for the state and nation with the motto “Always Ready, Always There.”
On June 27, 1923, the 120th Aero Observation Squadron, 45th Division Air Service, became the first military aviation unit in the state of Colorado. The unit had eight officers and 50 enlisted men, and they flew Curtis Jennies. Interestingly, Jennies were not a great airplane for the altitudes of Colorado and were mainly used for flight just before sunrise and after sunset.
In 1941, 11 months before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the 120th moved to Biggs Field, Texas, and remained intact until the outbreak of war when the unit was disbanded, and members were called upon to share their knowledge with the country’s new and growing Army Air Force.
By 1946, the war was over, and the Colorado Air National Guard became a separate arm of the state’s National Guard. The new 120th Tactical Fighter Squadron was now flying P-51 Mustangs. It also formed the 140th Fighter Group, known today as the 140th Wing.
Just a year later, in 1947, this group of pilots created a demonstration team called the Minutemen, which built upon the Barnstorming excitement of the era and performed demonstrations across the country. The Minutemen were federally recognized in 1956 as the first and only Air National Guard precision aerial demonstration team. They would go on to perform in more than 100 air shows for a combined audience of more than three million people in 47 states and five foreign countries. Eventually, the group was disbanded, and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds took their spot.
Today, the unit has the F-16C+ Fighting Falcon at its disposal, which stands alert 24/7 to protect the central U.S. from airborne threats. The Fighting Falcon is a compact, multi-role fighter aircraft with superior maneuverability for air-to-air and air-to-surface combat. The first F-16A flew in 1976 and featured a single seat. F-16Bs incorporated a second cockpit in a tandem configuration. Improvements in cockpit control and display technology have led to the F-16C and D models, which are flown by all active units and many Air National Guard units like Colorado’s.
Bringing modern aviation and history together, an F-16C assigned to the 120th Fighter Squadron has been painted to commemorate 100 years of that unit’s flight service to their state and country. This aircraft is housed at the Colorado Air National Guard in Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado.