The sun starts to disappear in the horizon as it lends itself to the golden hour and then blue hour. The man-made lights start to light up the darkness that is enveloping everything in its wake. You start your walk to the jet. It is still hot on a summer evening. The Dedicated Crew Chief (DCC) straps you in and with the A/B-man, you start up the jet. Making sure every reading is in the green, you push the throttle to taxi the jet out. One last crisp salute by the DCC and a ‘Shaka’ and you are off to the arming area. Once the arming process is complete, you taxi out to the active runway. All systems are green – Good to Go. The radio crackles “RAZOR flight, cleared for takeoff. Contact departure on XXX – Have a safe flight”. “RAZOR flight copy. Rolling” You advance the throttles to MAX AB (afterburner) smoothly, release the brakes and start the takeoff roll. You feel the power of the two Pratt & Whitney F-100-PW-220 turbofan jet engines as they slam you back in the seat and off you go thundering down the runway centerline. As the runway lights rush by, you glance at the airspeed indicator – 165 KIAS – rotation speed attained. Slight pull on the stick for a 10-12 degree nose up attitude. Positive rate of climb and up comes the landing gear. With almost 30-foot flames exiting the two-exhaust nozzles in the rear, you rocket into the night sky as stars fill up the view. You realize you are flying the mighty F-15C Eagle – the WGASF (World’s Greatest Air Superiority Fighter).

Nestled in one corner of the Fresno International Airport, are the buildings of the California Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing. Besides the 144th Operational, Medical, Maintenance and other groups, the 194th Fighter Squadron ‘Griffins’ forms the flying component of the Fighter Wing. The primary mission of the 194th FS is air defense of the West Coast of the continental US (CONUS) starting from the Mexican border in the south to Oregon in the north. The 194th FS flies the F-15C/D Eagle and is operationally-gained within the active-duty US Air Force by the Air Combat Command (ACC). The 144th plays a vital role in both homeland defense and overseas operations, supporting missions like Operation Noble Eagle and deployments in the Indo-Pacific region. It is also known for its readiness, professionalism, and deep ties to the Fresno community.

The California Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing, was established in 1948 as the 194th Fighter Squadron, initially flying the P-51 Mustang. Over the decades, the unit evolved to meet the demands of national defense, transitioning through several aircraft including the F-86 Sabre, F-102 Delta Dagger, F-106 Delta Dart, F-4 Phantom II, and F-16 Fighting Falcon. In 2013, the Wing became one of the few Air National Guard units to operate the F-15C Eagle, significantly enhancing its air superiority capabilities. In 2022, the squadron received more F-15C Eagle airframes from the 44th Fighter Squadron ‘Vampires, and 67th Fighter Squadron ‘Fighting Cocks’ that were based at Kadena AB (Air Base) in Okinawa, Japan.

Pixelsnipers spoke to Major Christopher ‘Hijax’ Lacroix during the visit. Giving a brief overview of his career, he said “I was picked up by the Florida Air National Guard in 2009 and got back to the squadron based in Jacksonville in 2013 flying the F15C. I spent about 3 years there before transferring to the Griffins in 2017. I am an Instructor Pilot (IP) and have over 1300 hours in the mighty Eagle.” Running a squadron is a task easier said than done because of the various factors for example maintenance, qualifications (or quals), pilot currencies, medical, and then on top of that is scheduling. Explaining the details, Maj. Lacroix elaborated “It is very much a team effort between operations (Ops) and maintenance (Mx) to provide training and jets on a daily basis. We work together daily to figure out how many jets we need/have available to accomplish various training events for the pilots. On top of the day-to-day scheduling, we also must plan, coordinate, and organize exercises and deployments that are held both internationally and within the US. Effective communication and teamwork are critical for the success of these operations—not only to deploy and redeploy aircraft, equipment, and personnel, but also to maintain operational effectiveness and flight readiness while at these locations.”

Giving an insight into the complexities of scheduling, he added “Because we are a guard unit, we do have members who work part time at the Guard as well as have full time civilian jobs outside of the unit. Our full-time members consist of AGR (Active Guard Reserve) and TFI (Total Force Integration). The difference is that AGR are full time Guardsmen while TFI are active-duty Air Force, who are at the unit for a specific time before being transferred to their next assignment. The challenges involved in scheduling our part time members is that they have to balance working at two jobs. There is a lot of coordination done each week between the scheduling shop and the part time members to help them balance staying current in the jet and work their full-time civilian job.”

There are significant differences between the way one applies for the active-duty Air Force and the Air National Guard. That is extended to flying a specific airframe. Providing details about this, Maj. Lacroix replied “My whole career has been with the Guard, so I am most familiar with applying to be a fighter pilot through the Guard route. With the Guard, it is really like applying for any other job. You make sure you have the required qualifications for the position, then submit an application with the unit. We then take the best applicants and send them to an interview and generally select 1 or 2 individuals and offer them a pilot slot. This sounds simple but it is extremely competitive as we often have well over 100 applicants for each pilot board. The biggest difference between going to pilot training as a Guard pilot vs going to pilot training as an active-duty member is that the Guard pilot goes to pilot training knowing the airframe they will fly whereas the active-duty pilot gets assigned their aircraft just before graduating pilot training.”

The pilot training graduation today happens at the F-15C schoolhouse at 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base (ANGB) at Klamath Falls in Oregon. The 173rd FW is responsible for pilot training and support personnel training on the F-15C/D Eagle models. The initial pilot training for Guard pilots is no different than active-duty Air Force pilots. The initial steps are some sort of bachelor’s degree and completing officer training through different avenues like Reserved Officer’s Training Corps (ROTC), Air Force Academy (AFA), or Officer Training School (OTS). The next stage is the UPT (Undergraduate Pilot Training) phase which goes for around three years with the academic ground school and pilot training on the T-6 Texan II. On completing UPT one receives their pilot wings and are redirected to a specific ‘airframe’ stream. For Guard pilots aiming for a F-15C slot, if they qualify for it, proceed next to the fighter-jet track and train on the T-38C Talon jet trainer. After completing training, the pilots will then proceed to a schoolhouse for example 173rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Airfield to complete basic training on the F-15C. After graduating from the 173rd FW, the pilots then join their home squadrons to further achieve their combat qualifications.

Capt. Annalisa “NōPP” Sanfilippo is the first and only female fighter pilot with the ‘Griffins’ today. Capt. Sanfilippo went to Oklahoma University and got a bachelor’s degree in Metereology. Speaking of her passion for flying “I was always obsessed with the sky and aviation. I did not know flying fighters would be an option for me until I went to college and joined the Air Force ROTC. During my freshman years, I got an opportunity to shadow Air Force officers and from then on, I decided to set my sights on that, and flying fighters is going to be it.” She graduated F-15C pilot training from Kingsley Field ANGB on 14th June 2024. Being a fighter pilot, one needs some qualities in them along with some others “There is a need of a level of aggressiveness, passion and a tenacity to never give up and being responsible for all actions. Above all, being humble, credible and approachable are key qualities.” She has accrued over 200 hours of flying the F-15C Eagle since joining the 194th FS in the summer of 2024. She looks forward to flying the F-15EX in the future as she makes her way through upgrades and combat qualifications.

Shining a light on this last phase of the mission qualification training, Maj. Lacroix said “When we get a new pilot back from pilot training, we put them thru MQT (Mission Qualification Training). This is around 7 flights and several simulator sessions which certifies them as a mission-ready wingman. This can take around 1-2 months depending on jet and IP availability. Once they are a wingman, they will spend about a year sharpening their skills as a combat aviator before we put them through upgrades. They will then have upgrades teaching them how to lead 2-ship then 4-ship formations. After that we will have them complete a mission commander and IP qualification.”

There are many mission profiles that can be flown in the F-15C, and because of the location in the San Joaquin valley, the 194th FS can fly over land with vast ranges over California, and Nevada and out over the sea with ranges in proximity to the California coast. Travis AFB being a tanker base and being situated relatively close by, north-east of San Francisco helps a lot. The F-15Cs takeoff from Fresno, and rendezvous with a tanker at a pre-coordinated point in the sky along the tanker track – refuel and increase their ‘play-time’ aka training time over the ranges before heading back. Going into details, Maj. Lacroix said “We train for OCA/DCA (Offensive Counter-Air/Defensive Counter-Air) missions. One group of fighters act as the friendlies aka ‘Blue Air’ while the other group act as the bad guys aka ‘Red Air’. Flying ‘Red Air’ means you go out to the airspace, replicate adversary aircraft, and create different problems for ‘Blue Air’ to solve. Flying ‘Blue Air’ means you will go to the airspace and practice various tactics and procedures to accomplish set objectives. We also vary this with the number of fighters like 1v1, 2v1, 2v2, 2v4 and so on. For example, the other night, we launched six fighters, four were ‘Red Air’ and two were ‘Blue Air’ for Tactical Intercepts (TI) training”.

Exercises like Sentry Aloha and Sentry Eagle gives us the opportunity to train with different types of airframes that we don’t get to train with on a daily basis. Participating in Ex. Red Flag is a totally on a different level since everything is super-size there. You are participating in a much-organized fight with strike packages, EW (electronic warfare) packages, active SAM (surface-to-air missile) threat presentations and a lot of different aircraft.”One of the other types of flying and the one which is much more visible to the common citizenry is the ‘stadium flyovers’ before a big sports game in town. It is common practice to have fighters, tankers or helicopters perform a flyover synchronizing at the end of the national anthem and start of fireworks being lit at the sports venue. Pixelsnipers asked Maj. Lacroix to add some insights into the planning of such an event “There is a ton of planning that goes into each flyby. First there is a process that each organization must go through to get a flyover approved. Once approved, a unit must volunteer to perform the flyby. The unit that volunteers will then have to coordinate between the organization and the FAA to get the date/time/airspace details worked out so that the airspace is clear for the flyover. Once that is complete the pilots will mission plan the route, altitude, airspeed, and timing for the flyover in order to safely make the desired timing. At this time, they will also plan for contingencies due to weather, jet fallout, or emergencies that may occur. As for the day of execution, there generally is a ground crew positioned at the location of the flyby. Their job is to help the pilots by being on the radio to pass real time updates in order to help them arrive on time.”

Maj. Lacroix was excited over the future of Griffins “As it stands right now, the F-15EX will be the next aircraft that the Griffins will fly. We hope to have jets on our ramp within the next few years! As for me, I love being a Griffin. I am very fortunate to be a fighter pilot with the Griffins and look forward to being a part of the cadre that transitions to the F-15EX!”

Pixelsnipers thanks the Public Affairs Office of the 144th Fighter Wing for their enthusiastic support that enabled us to take unique pictures of their operations and record the journey and experiences of the crew. We wish the best for the Griffins on their future endeavors.

The 194th FS sported a specially painted F-15C (85-113) called the Heritage Jet 2.0. The jet celebrates 10,000 flying hours, and the 75th anniversary of the US Air Force. The jet now sits on the ramp after being decommissioned and will probably head to the scrapyard after giving up useful parts for other jets.