Former Kingsley dependent returns, wearing four stars

by 173rd Fighter Wing Public Affairs Staff
173rd Fighter Wing

9/23/2014 - KINGSLEY FIELD, Ore. -- The commander of the U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command made his first official visit to Kingsley Field Aug. 27, a base he is very familiar with.

Gen. Robin Rand remembers the time he spent here long before his acceptance to the Air Force Service Academy in 1979 and long before he earned his place in the cockpit of the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.

This visit took him back to 1962 when his father, Col. Phil Rand, commanded the 408th Fighter Group at Kingsley Field.

"I played basketball in this gym and this court hasn't changed one bit," he said. "The base theater hasn't changed much either. I remember coming in here as a child to watch 25-cent movies."

The base's history has a few twists and turns and in those days it was an active-duty air force base, but was originally constructed as a navy base during WWII to train naval aviators.

Today a training mission is alive and well, and though designated an Air National Guard base, Kingsley Field is responsible for training every single F-15C Eagle aircraft pilot who enters the cockpit whether they are from the reserve or active components. For this reason, the AETC commander visited the base to see first-hand the work the 173rd Fighter Wing does.

But beyond his familiarity with Kingsley's picturesque setting the changes to the mission over the years are monumental. Since Rand's childhood days here, the mission adopted new aircraft from the F-101 Voodoo aircraft, the F-4 Phantom II aircraft, the F-16, to the F-15.

The mission has also changed several times but when the base joined the reserve component it returned to its roots--training. The 300-days of sun a year and proximity to large flying ranges make it an ideal location for just that.

Kingsley Airmen from maintenance to operations showed the general an organization flying more aircraft and more hours than any other guard unit in the country. With 32 F-15s assigned, flying logs tallying 4,730 flight hours last year alone, and a planned increase in sorties  the base has never been busier.