[TankerKC]

I saw the sources, but they are wrong. There is no title of "commanding general" in the US Air Force. There also is no such thing as the "187th Air National Guard Wing." They have accuracy problems, which makes me suspect everything.

No offense to you, of course. I've just seen a slew of silly claims about this incident that were not true (ex: there are no 2-seat F-16s, you would never take pictures through a fighter canopy, the F-16 was tailing AF-1 the whole time).

This whole thing is a sham, but wild, ill-informed Internet theories don't help.

[Fred Nerks]

No. 735-08
September 02, 2008

General Officer Announcements

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced today that the President has made the following nominations:

Army Brig. Gen. James L. Hodge for promotion to the grade of major general. Hodge is currently serving as commanding general, Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12176

[Fred Nerks]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/187th_Fighter_Wing

The many accomplishments of the 187th Fighter Wing have received praise and recognition from the highest levels of the U.S. military leadership. The unit enjoyed nineteen years and over 55,000 flight hours without a Class A aircraft mishap and has received numerous Flight Safety awards from the Air Force Air Combat Command and the Air National Guard for its safety record. The Wing has also been recognized by Air Combat Command and the 9th Air Force Inspector General for excellence during Operational Readiness Inspections and Unit Compliance Inspections over the last two decades.

[Beckwith]

Google returne 4,170 items for “187th Air National Guard Wing”

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=187th+Air+National+Guard+Wing&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=images

And, this is the statement from the source/writer:

“An old name and a famous paint scheme is returning to the skies above central Alabama. The commanding general of the Air Force is reactivating the 100th FS as part of Montgomery’s 187th ANG Wing.”

I believe “commanding general” in that context, is correct.

[PLMerite]

There are two-seater F-16s. Do a google image search and you’ll see.

But still, I wouldn’t think a fighter canopy would have the best optics for photography.