Swansong for WA coded legacy Eagles

While the US Air Force is continuing to modernise its future fighter force, a part of that evolution includes the sunset of the McDonnell Douglas F-15C/D legacy Eagle division of Nellis's USAF Fighter Weapons School Weapons Instructor Course.

Nowadays the 433rd Weapons Squadron (433rd WPS) Satan's Angels, resorting under the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB (NV), is the sole responsible unit for carrying out the F-15C/D Weapons Instructor Course (WIC).

As a successor to many USAF F-4 Phantom and F-15A/B Eagle units, the Fiscal Year 1978 legacy Eagle entered the USAF inventory in 1979 and weapons instructors have been trained on the aircraft’s tactics at the Weapons School at Nellis since 1978.

On 8 December 2021, those years of F-15C/D air superiority WIC tradition at Nellis came to an end, as the last cadre of students and instructors flew the final Defensive Counter Air (DCA) VUL (VUL is the Vulnerability Window i.e. the time period a flight plans on being on station or overhead).

With the Fiscal Year 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) lurking, some 48 F-15C/D legacy Eagles will be disposed off. Although some of the former WA coded Eagles will be transferred to other operational units, a part will be stored at the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, also known as the Boneyard, near Tucson (AZ).

The 433rd Weapons Squadron Raptor division at Nellis also operates the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor. At this moment it is not known if the unit will be gaining newer aircraft, like the F-15EX Eagle II, in the future.

The 53rd (422nd TES) and 57th Wing F-15C/Ds are used in a pool at Nellis. The 757th AMXS will transfer all sixteen F-15C/D Eagles, 11x WA and 5x OT, to other units or the 309th AMARG. The OT coded aircraft will actually be transferred to Eglin AFB (FL) and will return to Nellis when needed.

Photos by Rob van Disseldorp / patch via https://www.aviatorgear.com/