National Guard boss: US can still fund Ukraine F-16 training — for now. The National Guard still has enough money on hand to finish training Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets despite the U.S. running out of funds to send additional weapons and assistance to Kyiv, the head of the Guard.
by MaryADraper
4 comments
Americans just bough 100s of millions of dollars worth of housing and cell phones for immigrants.
The bastard result of escalation management by the Biden administration and MAGA obstruction
The number of Ukrainian pilots training to fly the F-16 with the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Squadron: 4.
These are the only 4 Ukrainian Air Force pilots with the required flight experience and English fluency qualified to go into the stateside AZ ANG F-16 training pipeline.
A similar small number with the necessary English fluency are being trained in Romania by NATO instructors.
A group of Ukrainian Air Force pilots are being trained in the United Kingdom to learn aviation-specific English before they can go into the F-16 pipeline.
And a large group of Ukrainian Air Force pilots who have little English proficiency are going through the language school at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas to learn English. It will be many more months before they can get into the F-16 pipeline.
So, unfortunately part of the reason why F-16 training is going slowly is because Ukraine had trouble finding enough personnel with the required English skills.
If you’re an American who wants your country to do more for Ukraine, you can make a difference by pressing your government and holding demonstrations. We can coordinate over at r/ActionForUkraine. There’s also [a website](https://stopwarinukraine.com/support-ukraine-write-to-your-reps-in-congress/) to help make it clear that you support Ukraine. Feel free to spread the word as much as you can.