Final Flight of the Falcon's View Published March 28, 2011 By Maj. Nancie Margetis 183 FW Public Affairs ABRAHAM LINCOLN CAPITAL AIRPORT, Springfield -- "The only thing constant is change", is a phrase that has been heard and quoted often. Anyone born in the 1900s can attest to how many technological changes have taken place in such a short amount of time. The 183rd has also seen its share of changes in the last few decades. Yet, everyone has survived those changes, and hopefully came out a better person or is in a better position than before the change. The Falcon's View is flying its last printed flight and the transition from the printed monthly newsletter to the online version is another one of the many changes the unit will face. Like the rich fighter-tradition of the unit, the newsletter has been an integral part of the unit. From the records maintained in the Public Affairs office, it appears the first official newsletter for the unit named, "News 170, Tactical Fighter Squadron", began in 1957. While there are no available printed copies earlier than 1961, I'm sure the unit had a newsletter from its inception in 1948. In October 1963, the unit was reorganized and became the 183rd Tactical Fighter Group, and with the unit designation change, so did the name of the newsletter. It was simply, "183rd News." It remained the 183rd News until renamed Falcon's View in 2001. The official purpose of the newsletter is derived from Air Force Instruction 35-101, Public Affairs Responsibilities and Management. It is a part of Command/Internal Information. It ensures a free flow of information to Air Force members and their families, achieves informed internal support for the Air Force mission, responds to inquiries by Air Force members and their families and maintains the morale, readiness, productivity,and retention of a well-informed force. Besides serving the official purpose, it is a way to tell the stories of unit accomplishments, highlight personal accomplishments and inform unit members of what is going on. With the transition to the online version, that useful purpose will not change. It will actually be enhanced. We will no longer have some of the constraints we had with a printed version, such as limiting how many pages we can publish due to costs. There are many advantages to producing an online version of the monthly newsletter. As mentioned above cost is just one of them, although in these tough budget times, a very important one. Another advantage is it will be considered "going green", saving valuable resources such as paper and preserving the environment. In addition, it will be readily available in a much faster production time, you can't lose it or misplace it like a paper copy, and did I mention the cost savings? The transition from paper to electronic was also mandated by Air Force policy, as evidenced by many other Guard units transitioning to online versions, including one of our Air Guard neighbors, the 182nd Airlift Wing, also transitioning to an electronic version in January 2011. This change is in alignment with many of the other changes resulting in advanced technology. Soon you will get notifications from the base via text messages on your cell phone or via email. Or sometime soon, you may be asked to become a friend of the 183rd through Facebook. To view the online paper beginning March (no February issue due to double January UTAs), simply access our public website at: www.183fw.ang.af.mil, click on Resources and a hyperlink (left hand side) to the Falcon View present and past newsletters are available to view and/or print. If you have any questions regarding the electronic newsletter, please contact Capt. Brian Hodge at (217) 757-1374. Times are changing and the best thing to do is get on board with the changes so you don't get left behind!