The federal budget cuts, known as sequestration, have hit Mountain Home Air Force Base. Officials announced today that one of their fighter squadrons will curtail flying operations.
The 391st Squadron, known as the Bold Tigers, stopped flying their planes yesterday. The stand down will remain in effect through the end of the fiscal year in September.
Units that stand down won’t fly, but they will keep training on the ground. Airmen will use flight simulators and keep training in the classroom. Maintenance crews will train, inspect and maintain the planes on the ground.
The Mountain Home Air Force Base website says the 391st includes 86 airmen and 24 F-15E aircraft. The Bold Tigers are just one of seven squadrons in the 366th Operations Group.
Colonel Chris Short is the 366th Fighter Wing commander. “The full impact of the effects at Mountain Home Air Force Base are yet to be realized based on factors that are out of our direct control and budget decisions being made at the highest level of leadership," says Short.
Once an F-15E aircrew stands down, it can take up to 90 days to retrain aircrews to get them back in the air for missions.
Copyright 2013 Boise State Public Radio
