Photo By Staff Sgt. Zachary Rufus | A U.S. Air Force pilot prepares to step for the 2023 William Tell competition at the...... read more read more
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Savannah, Ga. – After a 19-year hiatus, the Air Force’s historic William Tell William Tell Air-to-Air Weapons Meet took place at the Air Dominance Center (ADC) located at the Savannah Air National Guard Base in Savannah, Georgia, September 11-15, 2023.
The competition joined together participants from across the active duty, Reserves and Air National Guard to compete for the chance to be named the top fighter integration team in the Air Force.
“Approximately 1,300 warfighters, 65 aircraft, from 11 different states descended upon Savannah for this event. For one week, Savannah hosted the Super Bowl of fighter aviation,” said Col. Stephan ‘Tracker’ Thomas, ADC commander.
The week-long event includes air to air combat competitions for F-15C Eagles and Strike Eagles, F-22 Raptors, F-35 Lightning IIs and the list of participants from this year’s William Tell included: 4th Fighter Wing, Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base; 366th FW, Mountain Home AFB; 1st FW, Joint Base Langley-Eustis; 388th FW, Hill AFB; 3rd Wing, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson; 154th FW, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam; 354th FW, Eielson AFB; 104th FW, Barnes Air National Guard Base; 158th FW, Burlington ANGB; 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base; 552nd Air Control Wing, Tinker AFB.
The Savannah Combat Readiness Center (CRTC), also known as the ADC, is in close proximity to a military operations airspace that allows warfighters to operate in their full capacity in a is over 200 x 250 nautical mile area from zero to 60,000 feet high. This airspace is conveniently located to three bombing ranges and is adjacent to three U.S. naval bases.
“All of this overwater airpace is frankly a national treasure,” said Gen. Mark Kelly, commander, Air Combat Command. “We cannot replicate these kinds of ranges over land hardly anywhere in the U.S., even up in Alaska. We can’t hold these kinds of exercises anywhere except over the water. And the facility here is like the airspace, it’s a national treasure. We just don’t have the hangar infrastructure, runway infrastructure and airspace infrastructure but in a handful of places in the entire United States and this is one of them.”
| Date Taken: | 09.19.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 09.28.2023 18:52 |
| Story ID: | 454631 |
| Location: | SAVANNAH, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 335 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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