NAS JRB Fort Worth bids farewell to final ‘Viper’

The last F-16C Fighting Falcon assigned to the 457th Fighter Squadron (FS) ‘Spads’ – a component of Air Force Reserve Command’s (AFRC’s) 301st Fighter Wing (FW) – departed Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) Fort Worth Texas, on December 4.

Lockheed Martin F-16C Block 30 Fighting Falcon (86-0229/TX) – the last F-16C Block 30 assigned to the 301st FW’s 457th FS ‘Spads’ at NAS JRB Fort Worth – taxis for its final departure from the Texas base on December 4. Keith Synder

The final 457th FS F-16C (86-0229/TX) was flown to Nellis AFB, Nevada, where it was handed over to the 706th Aggressor Squadron (AGRS) ‘Cajuns’. Reporting to AFRC’s 926th Wing at Nellis, the 706th has received 11 F-16C Block 30s in total from the 301st FW, with the 457th FS now beginning its transition to the F-35A Lightning II – becoming the first AFRC unit to adopt the fifth-generation multi-role stealth fighter.

The decision to base the F-35As at NAS JRB Fort Worth was announced in January 2017, before the move was finally approved by the USAF in October 2020. Beginning in late 2024, the 301st FW will receive up to 26 F-35As, with two of them being assigned as Backup Aircraft Inventory (BAI) airframes. Like the ‘Vipers’, the responsibility for operating and maintaining the Lightning IIs will be shared by the 24th FS ‘Leaping Tigers’, which is co-located at NAS JRB Fort Worth. The active associate squadron is a component of the 495th Fighter Group at Shaw AFB in South Carolina.