Air Force Reserve warns F‑16 divestment at Nellis will cut adversary‑air instructor capacity
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Summary
Lieutenant General John Healy and other witnesses said divestment of pre‑block F‑16s at Nellis threatens the aggressor (adversary‑air) mission and will reduce instructor‑pilot capacity unless replacement options are funded.
Lieutenant General John Healy, Chief of the Air Force Reserve, told the subcommittee the 706th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base is scheduled to divest 19 pre‑block F‑16s between October and December of this year and there is currently no program of record to replace those aircraft.
Healy said the divestment will remove training aircraft and reduce instructor‑pilot capacity used to provide adversary air training. “It’s gonna be about 88 people that are ops and maintenance folks currently working on the F‑16 program that are gonna be reprogrammed,” Healy said, and he estimated losing roughly 40 percent of instructor pilots that provide adversary‑air training to the fight.
The Air Force Reserve presented options discussed in the hearing, including contracting civilian adversary air services or reallocating other aircraft to preserve training capacity; Healy said civilian contract air support would likely cost an additional $12 million to $18 million per year compared with current costs. Members pressed the Reserve and Air National Guard on transition timelines and on mitigating gaps as aircraft are divested.
No acquisition decision was made in the hearing. Members asked for follow‑up briefings on replacement options, cost estimates and timelines to avoid a degradation of adversary‑air training availability for the broader Air Force.
