News
Pegasus Civil Air Patrol Visits Air Force F-16 Fighter Wing
January 29, 2023
The Pegasus Squadron of Civil Air Patrol (CAP) located at Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas, recently visited the 149th Fighter Wing, Kelly AFB, San Antonio on Saturday January 28, 2023. The fighter wing flies the F-16 Falcon and are part of the Texas Military Department Air National Guard. The wing has 24 F-16 C and D models. For most of the cadets this was their first time up close with an Air Force front-line fighter. Instructor pilot Major ‘Cooter’ Morris gave the attendees a great tour of the fighter, and cadets saw two different types of bombs and how they are fitted with different types targeting GPS and laser targeting modules, visited the life safety support shop and the flight operations area. Cadets were also shown two different types of missiles that are used by the F-16. Maj Brown then showed them flight suits, G-suits, helmets that can also be fitted with night vision goggles as well as a small pull-down helmet flight systems cueing system that pilots control with their eye.
Cadets asked such questions as ‘How far and how long can they fly?’, ‘How many bombs can they carry?’, ‘What type of other rockets or missiles do they carry?’, ‘Have any of the units pilots been in combat?’, “How much fuel is contained in that external fuel tank (about <2,000 pounds).” The 149th FW is also an F-16 pilot training unit and all of their instructor pilots have seen combat. They were also shown some of the curriculum that F-16 student pilots must go through during their 6-month training program. All of the attendees were given ANG t-shirts, tote bags and squeeze balls. Lt Col Eibe will be having them come to the squadron to talk to the unit about what the ANG has to offer those that are interested. All of the attendees had an enjoyable time and thanked the staff for their time as it was also an active-duty Air Guard weekend and attendees got to see Air Force Guard members working on the aircraft and other related flight or maintenance duties. After the tour ended, they then drove along the flight line at Kelly AFB to see the Air Force Reserve C-5 aircraft and take pictures of it.
After lunch, the group then went to Lackland AFB to the Basic Military Training (BMT) graduation parade grounds and toured the static displays of over 40+ aircraft from the Air Force’s history of flight. There are planes from WWII right up to the SR-71. Each aircraft has a display telling them the part that plane played in the history of Air Force aviation
About Civil Air Patrol
Established in 1941, Civil Air Patrol is the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force and as such is a member of its Total Force. In its auxiliary role, CAP operates a fleet of 555 single-engine aircraft and 2,250 small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) and performs about 90% of all search and rescue operations within the contiguous United States as tasked by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center. Often using innovative cellphone forensics and radar analysis software, CAP was credited by the AFRCC with saving 108 lives last year. CAP’s 58,000 members also perform homeland security, disaster relief, and drug interdiction missions at the request of federal, state, and local agencies. As a nonprofit organization, CAP plays a leading role in aerospace education using national academic standards-based STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) education resources. Members also serve as mentors to 24,000 young people participating in CAP’s Cadet Programs.
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