The following is a news article from the 125th Fighter Wing of the Florida Air National Guard's Summer 2002
Eagle's Eye quarterly publication:
Sitting atop its new home as the newest memorial at the Camp Blanding Museum, near Starke, Fla., an F-106 Delta Dart fighter jet rests upon a steel beam—forever ‘soaring’ through the sky. The renovated Cold War-era aircraft was positioned recently at the memorial site and is the centerpiece of the Florida Air National Guard Heritage exhibit dedicated to the men and women of the FANG—both past and present.
The project represents three years of hard work by a self-proclaimed “Can Do” team made up of volunteers from the FLANG Retirees Association, the 202nd Red Horse Squadron, the Southeastern Area Defense Sector and the 125th Fighter Wing.
“We decided that we’ve got a lot of people (in the retiree association) who worked on that aircraft,” said retired Brig. Gen. Donald E. Barnhart, former assistant adjutant general for air in Florida.
“So, retired Master Sgt. Jack B. Stuart made the plea and there was about 15 retirees who said ‘yeah’ we can do that,” said Barnhart. Barnhart was the catalyst and co-chairman for the project along with retired Colonel Frank Kozdras.
Plans for the museum exhibit began in 1998 when the Camp Blanding Museum Association received permission from the United States Air Force Museum located at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, to turn the aircraft into a static display.
“One of the aircraft the FANG flew for the longest time was the F-106. It commemorated the Cold War-era and it seemed to be the perfect centerpiece,” said Barnhart.
The team of volunteers located an F-106 ‘drone’ at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and in March 2001, began dismantling the aircraft, according to Barnhart. Once dismantled, the jet was loaded onto tractor-trailers and transported to Camp Blanding where it would be renovated and, ultimately, placed at the memorial site.
The biggest challenge for the group of volunteers was taking an airplane that was built in 1959 and moving it 350 miles, said retired Lt. Col. Ernie L. Webster, another volunteer and former F-106 pilot for the FANG.
“It’s quite a task,” said Webster. “We found that it was a much larger job than what we had anticipated.”
After three years of hard work, Barnhart and his ‘Can Do’ team are both pleased and relieved that the ‘centerpiece’ of the project has finally been completed.
“It’s quite a relief. We’ve had a lot people help us. I can’t say enough about the 125th and the 202nd — they’ve been a tremendous help,” said Barnhart. “The hard work that everyone has put forth for this project is a wonderful testimony for the men and women of the Guard.”
Funding for the memorial was contributed soley through donations made by guardsmen, both retired and active.
The F-106 was selected as the centerpiece of the exhibit because of the critical role that it played in the “Cold War Era.” The new static display is surrounded by unit monuments from each of the
Florida Air National Guard’s units located throughout the state.