Air Force to shift Florida weapons squadron to Hill AFB in Utah

By

The Associated Press

An F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, drops a GBU-24 over the Utah Test and Training Range, in May 2017. Airmen and aircraft from several bases participated in Combat Hammer, a precision-guided air-to-ground weapons evaluation exercise hosted by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. (Air Force)

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — The Air Force plans to transfer a unit that evaluates bombs and other weapons to Hill Air Force Base in Utah from Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

The Standard-Examiner reports that the service concluded that the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron should be relocated because most of the Air Force’s evaluations of air-to-ground weapons are conducted at Hill at the Utah Test and Training Range, but most of the personnel are assigned to Eglin.

According to an Air Force memo, the relocation will better align manpower with workload, decrease temporary duty costs and increase combat readiness.

Republican U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop of Utah said the relocation will shift 55 military jobs to Hill and eventually create dozens of civilian and government contractor jobs.