148th Fighter Wing unveils 75th anniversary heritage jet, which will be in the skies soon

The 148th Fighter Wing will celebrate 75 years of service on September 17th.

On Tuesday, they showed the media the 75th Anniversary Heritage F-16 Fighting Falcon.

A heritage jet is an authorized, designated aircraft with non-standard markings that represent the history of a unit and enhance unit pride.

For the 148th, it includes the Ursa Minor constellation, two fighter jets, and a Minuteman, among other symbols.

A select team of airmen from the 148th designed it. One of them was Master Sgt. Karl Goon, a maintenance analyst.

“It gives you the chills to see it in person. Seeing everyone else on the whole base get to see it for the first time was pretty neat,” Goon said.

All of the airmen were able to see it for the first time during drill this past weekend.

There were 680 on-aircraft hours, and 19 gallons of paint on it.

You can keep an eye out for the heritage jet, as it starts hitting the flight line. It will be at the Duluth Airshow coming up in July.

Wing Commander Col. Nate Aysta added, “We hope we can continue to fly piloted fighters in the future. The National Guard is unique. There are citizen airmen who have jobs in the community. That are rooted in their community, but also serve their nation and their state. It’s very special to be part of this community.”

Over 1000 airmen are assigned to the wing.