Members of the Alaska Air National Guard’s 176th Wing and the Regular Air Force’s 3rd Wing witnessed the unveiling of a new tail flash here Oct. 1 on the C-17 Globemaster IIIs assigned to the 176th Wing’s 144th Airlift Squadron.
Current and former 144th AS Airmen took a moment to reflect on their history and future together with their associate unit, the 517th Airlift Squadron, whose Regular Air Force aircrews also fly the Alaska Air National Guard’s eight-ship C-17 fleet.
“The occasion of the unveiling of a new tail flash [is] one that represents a… joining of forces of the 144th and the 517th Airlift Squadron(s) under one new tail flash -- a tail flash representing the heritage of both and the future of the same,” said Chaplain (Maj.) Brad Burns, the 176th Wing head chaplain, during the ceremony invocation.
Although the C-17 association between the Alaska Air National Guard and Regular Air Force was established in 2009, the 144th AS’s active-association total-force integration with the 517th is new as of August 2018 when the squadron assumed responsibility for the C-17 mission.