A8
OREGON
East Oregonian
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Ukraine tensions underscore air combat training in Oregon
By GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
PORTLAND — Hornets
and Eagles will battle for
control of the skies over
Oregon the next two weeks.
An Oregon Military
Depar t ment st atement
Sunday, July 10, said air-to-
air mock dogfights to train
pilots will feature the F-15C
Eagle interceptors of the
Oregon Air National Guard’s
123rd Fighter Squadron and
the F/A-18E Super Hornets of
Navy’s Strike Fighter Squad-
ron VFA-192.
The “dissimilar air
combat training” exercises
began July 11 and will run
through July 15 before taking
a weekend break and resum-
ing next week.
The previously scheduled
training comes amid height-
ened tensions over the Russian
invasion of Ukraine. In coor-
dination with allies in NATO,
the Air Force and Navy jets
are among the military options
to respond to an expansion of
the conflict into neighboring
Oregon Military Department/Contributed Photo
An F/A-18E Super Hornet of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA)-192, launches off of the flight deck
of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in January 2022. The squadron is training with Oregon
National Guard F-15C jets in July.
countries or simultaneous
incidents in Asia.
The Oregon training is
meant to train pilots from
different branches of the
U.S. military on how to work
together in a combat situation.
The simulations also under-
score how pilots would both
fight with and against aircraft
with different capabilities and
pilots with different training.
VFA-192, nicknamed
“Golden Dragons,” is one of
the West Coast squadrons
assigned to five nuclear-pow-
ered aircraft carriers, each of
which can carry more than 64
planes and helicopters.
The squadron was most
recently attached to the
Nimitz-class carrier USS
Carl Vinson, homeported in
San Diego.
When not at sea, the squad-
rons are based at Naval Air
Station Lemoore in central
Califor nia. St raddling
portions of Kings and Fresno
counties, it is the Navy’s larg-
est Master Jet base in the
world.
The Navy and Marine
Corps are the only branches
to fly variants of the F/A-18E
Super Hornet, a two-seat
version of the original single-
seat Hornet, which entered
service in 1978.
The Air National Guard
squ a d ron , n ick n a me d
“Redhawks,” flies F-15Cs
whose primary role is to
knock out enemy aircraft to
establish “air superiority”
over a battlefield on land or
at sea.
The Air Force is the only
branch of the American mili-
tary that flies the F-15C. The
123rd Fighter Squadron is
part of the Oregon National
Guard’s 142nd Wing, a reserve
component of the Air Force.
Lt. Col. Joshua Hovanas,
the 123rd Fighter Squadron
commander, said in a state-
ment that the training provides
realistic combat scenarios
for pilots to hone advanced
aerial tactics that may be used
against potential adversaries.
“This training with the
Golden Dragons is a unique
opportunity for the Redhawks
to refine and reinforce joint
air-superiority tactics,” Hova-
nas said.
The Air National Guard
jets have the “F” designation
for an air-to-air fighter. The
Navy jets are designated F/A,
meaning they are designed
for the dual roles of air-to-air
fighters and ground attacks.
The squadrons will take off
and land from the Portland Air
National Guard base at Port-
land International Airport.
The jets will fly out over the
Pacific Ocean for the actual
high-speed maneuvering.
Other sessions would be over
designated airspace in Eastern
Oregon.
In order to avoid noise
disruption in the Portland
area, the aircraft will wait
until after 8 a.m. to launch
and return by 4 p.m.
Oregon commits virtually all funds for emergency rental aid
By PETER WONG
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Oregon has
now committed virtually all
of the $389 million in federal
and state money to provide
emergency rental assistance
to more than 60,000 house-
holds.
The program had a target
of June 30, but some applica-
tions are still being processed.
Tenants who gave proof of
applications to their landlords
— either to the state program
or others in several Oregon
counties — will still have
state protections against evic-
tions for nonpayment through
Sept. 30 or until their appli-
cations are closed, whichever
comes soonest.
The protections do not
forgive any rent owed.
Oregon Department of
Housing and Community
Services reported the money
distributed during the past
year helped keep more than
100,000 people from losing
their housing during the coro-
navirus pandemic. The size
of the average household was
2.2 persons — and accord-
ing to a May 31 report by the
agency, the average payment
per household was $6,400,
which went directly to land-
lords.
Andrea Bell took over
the agency April 1 after her
predecessor, Margaret Sala-
zar, became the regional
administrator for the U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development.
“A one-time payment
keeps a family in their home,
and a landlord is made
whole,” Bell told lawmakers
on the House Committee on
Housing last month. “It saves
the community three to four
times the value of the rental
assistance, if the family had
become homeless.”
As of June 30, the agency
reported that it had commit-
ted $386.66 million to 60,166
households.
A p pl i c a t i o n s f r o m
Multnomah, Washington
and Clackamas counties
accounted for 49.4% of the
statewide total. The counties
took up $221.1 million of the
$386.7 million paid (57.2%),
no surprise given that rents
are more expensive in the
metro area.
Of the total paid, 60% of
the households were white,
12% Black, 2% Asian,
and 5% two or more races.
Hispanics, who can be of any
race, accounted for 15% state-
wide. Some households chose
not to state their race.
The agency distrib-
uted $289 million in federal
money, some if it from legis-
lation that Donald Trump
signed in the final weeks
of his presidency, and the
rest from the $2.2 trillion
American Rescue Plan Act
that President Joe Biden
signed in March 2021. The
Oregon Legislature added
$100 million more from
the 2021-23 state budget;
another $150 million in state
funds were spent before the
current budget cycle started
in mid-2021.
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