The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Proven Aircraft Systems Program Office (PA SPO), will host a luncheon at noon, Oct. 25, at The Landing. The guest speaker will be Lt. Col. Ron “Elvis” King, who is the Air Force’s last active duty F-4 Phantom II aircraft pilot. The F-4 was the primary fighter-bomber aircraft in the U.S. Air Force inventory throughout the 1960s and 1970s. 

In addition to the luncheon, there will be an F-4 flyby and arrival between 11-11:30 a.m., and a static display from 2-4 p.m. 

The F-4 has served the Air Force for 53 years and has been supported by the men and women of Hill AFB for over 30 years.

Following the F-4’s retirement in the early 1990s, the Air Force needed a Full-Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) aircraft to replace the outgoing QF-106s. The FSAT mission is to provide threat representative targets in support of Live Fire Test & Evaluation missions for all Defense Department weapon systems, as well as support to Air Combat Command’s Weapon System Evaluation Program. The F-4 was selected to continue the FSAT mission and in the mid-1990s, began regeneration from the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group and conversion to the unmanned QF-4 configuration. 

The PA SPO here provides QF-4 FSAT program management, which is now in the sundown phase of its lifecycle as the QF-4 is replaced by the next generation FSAT, the QF-16. Additionally, the PA SPO still provides Foreign Military Sales program management for more than 500 F-4 aircraft operated by countries around the world.

Points of contact for the flyby, luncheon and static display are Wanda Edwards at 801-775-6167 or wanda.edwards.2@us.af.mil and Michael Johnson at 801-586-1206 or michael.johnson.11@us.af.mil.