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Wing’s move from Richmond is emblematic of eroding state powers

There’s a barren look to Col. Jay Pearsall’s office. Pearsall commands the Virginia Air National Guard’s 192nd Fighter Wing. The headquarters is in a corner of Richmond International Airport known locally as Sandston airfield. During my June 9 visit, Pearsall’s desktop was bare but for a single document. A nameplate was displayed on the desk, but a slot meant for his business cards sat empty. There was no “in” or “out” box.

The office will soon be gone, as will Richmond’s last four F-16 Fighting Falcons (from a one-time, full-strength total of 18).

To Virginians, for whom Sandston airfield has been a fixture since it trained P-47 Thunderbolt pilots during World War II, an era is ending. The 192nd began operations there in 1947 and, during half a century, flew P-47s, F-84F Thunderstreaks, F-105 Thunderchiefs, A-7 Corsair IIs and F-16s. Members of the wing deployed often to global hot spots. Now the wing is moving to Langley Air Force Base, about 70 miles to the southeast, where its pilots will fly the F-22A Raptor in a “classic associate” relationship with the active-duty 1st Fighter Wing.

Pearsall, who spends most of his time at Langley, said he has more than 200 guardsmen there, including 14 pilots checked out in the Raptor (he is one). Eventually, all 964 members of his wing will be at Langley.

“We’re not being assimilated by the active-duty force,” Pearsall said. “We will not wear their patches.” He said his wing, operations group and the 149th Fighter Squadron will remain intact.

The new arrangement is a partnership, and Pearsall said only positive things about it.

Similar arrangements are being implemented elsewhere in the Air Force.

As this paper reported in its May 21 issue [“‘Total Force’ hits cruising speed”], active-duty and Guard squadrons will fly F-22A missions with no boundaries drawn because of a pilot’s active-duty or Guard status. Active-duty and Guard maintainers will work together.

But the classic associate arrangement is not a merger of equals.

The active-duty force owns the F-22As. The 1st Fighter Wing commander occupies a brigadier general’s slot (the incumbent is Col. Mark Barrett) and “provides operational direction for all day-to-day activities,” reads an official directive. The 192nd commander’s job is slated for a colonel.

Guardsmen with the 192nd will no longer own their base or their planes. Pearsall said their role in serving the state governor won’t be diminished. Still, in a small way, this arrangement adds to federal muscle at the expense of my state — a dangerous trend in America, where the founders feared strong central control and wanted most powers left in the hands of states and the people.

Despite sadness over the loss of Sandston, the classic associate arrangement is a sensible approach to the diminishing size of the overall fighter force, fiscal realities and the need for jointness.

Guardsmen of the 192nd will continue to add to their achievements while flying the F-22A. In the dominion that produced one of America’s most respected generals, Robert E. Lee, my fellow Virginians could do no less.

The writer, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of “Air Combat,” a history of fighter pilots. His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.