Air Force News From New Mexico

From the (other) Usual Source:

Bye, Bye Black Sheep: Airmen at Holloman AFB, N.M., held an inactivation ceremony for the 8th Fighter Squadron. The "Black Sheep" are standing down after less than two years of operating F-22s due to the Air Force's Raptor fleet consolidation plan, which calls for Holloman to lose its two squadrons' worth of F-22s and take on two F-16 squadrons for training. "We flew 2,500 sorties and over 3,000 hours. That's more than 10 sorties a day, with less than nine F-22s," said Lt. Col. Craig Baker, 8th FS commander, in highlighting his unit's accomplishments during the inactivation ceremony. The inactivation takes effect on July 15. Some of the 8th FS' F-22s are going, for the time being, to Holloman's 7th FS, while others will bolster the ranks of F-22 units at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; JB Langley-Eustis, Va.; and Nellis AFB, Nev. The 7th FS' F-22s will eventually shift to Tyndall AFB, Fla. This is the second time in the 8th FS' 61-year-history that the unit will go on inactive status. The first time was in April 2008 following the retirement of the F-117 Nighthawk. The Black Sheep have flown 15 airframes throughout their history, and they dropped the first bombs in both Operation Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom when they flew F-117s. (Holloman release by A1C Siuta B. Ika) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Eileen Payne/Released)

There's a short video at the "Holloman release" link, above.  I gave that vid a look and the first thing that struck me was "it's painful to watch a unit retire its colors."  I've never personally witnessed a unit inactivation, at least not any unit to which I was currently assigned when it ceased to exist.  I DO have the dubious honor of stating all four radar squadrons I served in have been deactivated (the 669th, the 750th, the 761st, and the 780th) and their physical locations have nearly deteriorated into nothingness.  It's a true fact you can never go home again, particularly when "home" doesn't exist any longer.  The 8FS may live again sometime in the future but it's a pretty safe bet there will never be another radar squadron, because time and technology marches on... relentlessly.