Model of famous U.S. Air Force fighter jet joined university’s monuments last fall
Although Dr. Kevin Fleming’s students just beginning to getting virtual looks at flying F-16s in Norwich University’s new flight simulation laboratory, they’ve been able to see an F-16 in miniature since October.
On Oct. 16, the mini F-16 was unveiled behind one of the end zones at Sabine Field at Haynes Family Stadium and commemorated 75 years of partnerships between the Vermont Air National Guard, U.S. Air Force ROTC Detachment 867 and Norwich University
The facsimile jet joined other military artifacts near the stadium, including a large anchor symbolizing the university’s ties to the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps and a World War II tank symbolizing ties to the U.S. Army. (President Mark Anarumo’s new-in-2021 puppy, Sally was named partly for the tank, nicknamed Sabine Sally.)
Although the anchor-tank display also includes part of a propeller blade from a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Anarumo said the new min F-16 would add nicely to the monuments.
F-16s, also called Fighting Falcons, are single-seat, single-engine jet fighters developed by General Dynamics and built by Lockheed Martin Corp. (Lockheed Martin bought General Dynamics in 1993 for $1.53 billion).
Air Force Magazine reported that F-16s, flown as in prototypes in 1974, was first delivered to the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 18, 1978. have been the most popular fighter of their time, involved in more than 200,000 combat sorties. As of 2018, more than 4,000 F-16’s were in service in 24 countries and the aircraft had 110 different versions.
As Lockheed Martin’s website reports, F-16s displayed their versatility particularly in 1991 during Operation Desert Storm, when more missions were flown F-16s than any other aircraft.
U.S. Air Force Col. Mark Ciero, who commands Detachment 867, joined Col. Adam T. Rice ’81, 158th Fighter Wing vice commander; Brig. Gen. Henry Harder Jr., assistant adjutant general, air, of the Vermont Air National Guard at the dedication along with Anarumo, university officials, Air Force ROTC officials and students. Lt. Col. Katherine Irish, ’03, an executive officer with the 158th Fighter Wing and Senior Master Sgt. Michael Davis ’04, were in the audience.
“This F-16 embodies our airmen, inside not only the Air (Force) and Space (Force), but especially in our Air National Guard,” Ciero said at the unveiling. “Together, we honor a three-way partnership that has existed here at Norwich for generations, a partnership that proves innovation in the Air and Space forces and our pilots’ futures — fly, fight and win, up and beyond.”
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