U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons assigned to the 120th Fighter Squadron, Colorado Air National Guard, perform air-to-air refueling, and give interviews with a boom operator from a KC-135 Stratotanker assigned to 171st Air Refueling Squadron, Michigan ANG, over the Baltic Sea.
The 120th Fighter Squadron (120 FS) is a unit of the Colorado Air National Guard 140th Wing located at Buckley Air Force Base, Aurora, Colorado. The 120th is equipped with the F-16C/D Fighting Falcon.
The squadron is a descendant organization of the World War I 120th Aero Squadron, established on 28 August 1917. It was reformed on 27 June 1923, as the 120th Observation Squadron, and is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II.
The 120th Fighter Squadron was the first federally recognized Air National Guard unit, receiving this distinction on 30 June 1946. Thus, their motto is, “First in the Air Guard.”
The 171st Air Refueling Squadron (117 ARS) is a unit of the Michigan Air National Guard’s 127th Wing (127 WG) located at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan. The 171st is equipped with the KC-135T Stratotanker.
