An F-16C Fighting Falcon is flying with a special paint job in honor of the squadron’s 90th anniversary. The newly painted F-16C flew from the Texas Air National Guard’s 111th Fighter Squadron. All the colors and markings have specific meanings, reflecting the unit’s nine-decade history.

The rudder is painted like a JN-4 Jenny, which the squadron flew in the 1920s. The schemes for the wings and flaps recall the paint schemes of the pre-World War II era. While the blue fuselage represents the Korean War, in which the squadron earned credit for two air victories. The gray underside represents the jet age. The “N5 A” was the insignia the squadron’s P-51 Mustangs sported during World War II, in which the squadron claimed 44 air victories. Also representing World War II is the star on the fuselage, while the star on the wing represents the pre-World War II era. “Ace in the Hole” and the star on the tail replicate the markings of the squadron’s F-84s during the Korean War. The ventral fin, partially obscured, reads “Est. 1917.”

Today the 111th FS is part of the 147th Fighter Wing, based at Ellington Field in Houston.

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The Lockheed F-117A Blackjet is a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground attack aircraft operated solely by the United States Air Force (USAF). It was the first operational aircraft initially designed around stealth technology. Also known as the Nighthawk, it has a string of other nicknames. Before it was given an official name, engineers and test pilots referred to it as “Cockroach”, a name that is still sometimes used. As it prioritized stealth over aerodynamics, the first model was nicknamed “The Hopeless Diamond”. It was also called “Wobblin’ Goblin” due to its alleged instability at low speeds. Locals in the area around Holloman Air Force Base (AFB) referred to it as simply “Stealth”.

The unique design of the F-117A provides exceptional combat capabilities. The aircraft can employ a variety of weapons and is equipped with sophisticated navigation and attack systems. A digital avionics suite increases mission effectiveness and reduces pilot workload. The first Blackjet was delivered in 1982, and the last delivery was in the summer of 1990.

The F-117A has been used several times in war. It first saw combat in the United States invasion of Panama, during which two Blackjets dropped two bombs on Rio Hato airfield. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, F-117As flew approximately 1,300 sorties and scored direct hits on 1,600 high value targets in Iraq. Although the F-117As flew through some of the most heavily defended areas in Desert Storm, not one aircraft was shot down or damaged.

Since moving to Holloman AFB in 1992, the F-117A has been deployed to Southwest Asia more than once. On the first trip of the 49th Fighter Wing, Blackjets flew nonstop from Holloman to Kuwait for approximately 18.5 hours – a record for single-seat fighters that stands today. The F-117A has since been used in the Kosovo War in 1999, Operation Enduring Freedom, and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Only one aircraft has been lost in combat, to Serbian forces. On March 27, 1999, during the Kosovo War, an Isayev S-125 Neva-M shot down an F-117A with a Serbian improved Neva-M missile. The pilot survived.

Despite its successes in the Kosovo and Iraq Wars and its high mission-capable rate, the F-117A was nevertheless designed with late 1970s technologies. Program Budget Decision 720, dated December 28, 2005, proposed retiring the entire fleet by October 2008 to make way for more F-22 Raptors. By late 2006, the Air Force had closed the F-117A pilot school, and announced the retirement of the Blackjet. The first six F-117As to be retired made their last flight on March 12, 2007 after a ceremony at Holloman AFB to commemorate the aircraft’s career.

On June 28, 1919, World War I officially ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany, however, had ended seven months earlier with the armistice, which went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. November 11 thus became Armistice Day, the first of which was proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919.

Armistice Day officially became a holiday in the United States in 1926 and a national holiday in 1938. On June 1, 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation changing the name to Veterans Day to honor all US veterans. In 1968, new legislation changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. However, November 11 was a significant historic date to many Americans. Since the change to the fourth Monday in October, 46 states had either continued to commemorate November 11 or had reverted back to the original date based on popular sentiment. In 1978, Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.