#107th Fighter Squadron

[nocternalrandomness]

A-10's from the Michigan ANG 107th Fighter Squadron, 127th Wing during Red Flag 11-3

[usafphantom2]

107th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt II during a training mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich., Nov. 7, 2019.

@ron_eisele via X

[militaryleak]

US Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing Participate in Agile Rage Exercise 2024

Two hundred Airmen assigned to the New York Air National Guard's 106th Rescue Wing, honed their combat search and rescue skills, during Agile Rage 2024, from February 28 to March 4 at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center in Savannah Ga., Feb. 26 - March 8, 2024. The goal of Agile Rage 2024 is to practice leading-edge combat in Air Operations Maritime Surface Warfare , Combat Search and Rescue , Agile Combat Employment , and advanced ground operations tactics, techniques, and procedures, according to exerciser planners. Operating locations spanned from F.S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, N.Y., South to Savannah CRTC, Ga., East over the Atlantic Ocean, and further South to Avon Park, Fla. Other participants were the 107th Fighter Squadron of the127th Wing from Michigan , with ten A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft; the 156th Contingency Response Wing, from the Puerto Rico Air Guard, the 236th Combat Communications Squadron from Louisiana's 159th Fighter Wing, and various Air Force Special Warfare (AFSPECWAR) elements. The 106th Rescue Wing maintenance, medical and operations groups all participated in the exercise. While the main role of the 106 RQW was CSAR, a simulated scenario calling for the rescue of two downed U.S. Air Force pilots, other specialized preparedness training was conducted around the core mission. #military #defense #defence #militaryleak

Two hundred Airmen assigned to the New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing, honed their combat search and rescue skills, during Agile Rage 2024, from February 28 to March 4 at the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center in Savannah Ga., Feb. 26 – March 8, 2024. The goal of Agile Rage 2024 is to practice leading-edge combat in Air Operations Maritime Surface Warfare , Combat Search and…

[j-r-macready]

MICHIGAN ANG A-10C by RETRO 11 Via Flickr: 80-0258/MI RAF Mildenhall June 2018

[v-eight-lover]

Warthog Wednesday; one of my local “Red Devils” from the 107th Fighter Squadron based at Selfridge ANGB

[titanium-rain]

Commemorating the first flight of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II on this day in 1972. A Fairchild Republic A-10C Thunderbolt II of the Michigan Air National Guard's 107th Fighter Squadron, "Red Devils", from Selfridge ANG Base heads out to the ranges during the Hawgsmoke 2018 exercise held at Whiteman AFB. In addition to the internally mounted GAU-8/A Avenger 30 mm cannon, this aircraft is also equipped with two AGM-65 Maverick missiles. 

Norman Graf Aviation Photography

[c-m-li]

Captain America: The First Avenger should have been split into two movies

i mean . . . spoilers for Captain America: the First Avenger and Captain America: Winter Soldier?

Now, I was one of those maniacs who accidentally watched the first four MCU movies out of order by accident. That being said, I flip-flopped on liking Captain America: the First Avenger, which really frustrated me for the longest time before I figured it out - they should’ve split the movie into two instead of montaging through the war/action scenes in the last third of the movie.

Like, the first movie could’ve ended right here:

The only tricky part would be what to name them?

Captain America: Project Rebirth

Captain America: Howling Commandos

Captain America: War Against Hydra

See below for an extremely explicit explanation/breakdown that no one asked for:

and some fanfic recommendations

This could have been a great period piece of the Great Depression and WWII, particularly considering who Steve was.

We could’ve had a lot more of Steve in boot camp which, okay, it was second-hand painful to watch, but it would’ve built a better background for him as actually being in the Army and having earned his rank.

It would’ve allowed for a lot more growth of the relationship between Steve and Peggy, because really, you cannot tell me that she didn’t want to eat him alive after the flagpole scene.

Because it’s very important that it’s shown that Peggy was ready to devour Steve before he was injected with the serum. Like, she looked at him the exact same way after he rescued the 107th . . . look at that! If they weren’t surrounded by people, she would’ve scooped him out with a spoon . . .

Also, what was the relationship like between Steve and Colonel Chester Phillips? At first Phillips is totally dismissive of Steve, but when he rescues the 107th, Phillips smiles at him.

That is the face of a man who was proven definitively wrong and is not mad about it at all. Then Phillips throws the entire operation of ending Hydra into Steve’s lap. Where did this faith come from?

And what about the relationship between Steve and Howard Stark?

Do they actually hang out and stuff or are these three instances the only times they ever meet?

How about the fact that Steve commanded a racially integrated unit during a time when the military was segregated?

Steve specifically chose these men for his elite unit, but how hard did he have to fight to keep them? He probably got to keep Bucky and Dum Dum no problem, but Dernier and Falsworth were from other countries so was there resistance there?

We know that because the US military was segregated and African-Americans were relegated to extremely low enlisted positions that Steve probably had to fight tooth and nail to keep Gabe Jones. It’s stated in the movie that Gabe had been to at least three semesters at Howard University before he was probably drafted, but it’s highly doubtful he held any kind of specialized or high position.

And then there’s Jim Morita at a time when the US had interned their Japanese-American citizens. Japanese-American soldiers were under such suspicion that none of them were even allowed to serve in the Pacific theater, even though one of the most decorated units was a Japanese-American fighter squadron.

We’re told that Steve Rogers was one of “the greatest tactical minds of his generation” but there’s really not much in the movie for us to glean this for ourselves beside a few measly scenes of planning.

I’m really salty at how important and pivotal Steve’s relationship with Bucky is supposed to be, but there’s not really much in the movie of them interacting together.

Like they are supposed to be so important to each other that Bucky was able to break through over seventy years of brainwashing and torture, and that Steve was willing to go against 117 countries and break countless international laws in order to protect.

We only got the sense that they were used to fighting at each other’s backs so seamlessly in the fights in CA:CW, but in this movie there was only the one scene right before Bucky falls from the train that hinted at their cohesiveness.

it’s really blurry here but You can see that they were of one mind without even speaking. Steve tossed Bucky his gun, and as soon Steve flushed the Hydra soldier to the other side of the room, Bucky took him down with one shot.

And that’s another thing, I would’ve liked it to be shown how Bucky was an actual soldier and good at his job. Because that’s a big question with the brainwashing him into the Winter Soldier - how do you get such an efficient and obedient soldier? Hydra didn’t give Bucky all these new skills and precision, Bucky already had them. Hydra took away Bucky’s memories and ability to think for himself. Bucky was already a human weapon, but Hydra just changed who was wielding him.

As some of my favorite fanfiction said, Sergeant James Barnes was an “advanced combat asset” and a “wily sonuvabitch.”

By the time that we meet Bucky the second time, Bucky had already been a POW once and experimented on. One of my favorite hints to this is the blink and you miss it scene after Steve makes it back to camp with the 107th and Bucky gives the cheer for Captain America:

He smiles at Steve with that old-Bucky shit-eating grin that speaks to their shared history as best friends, but as soon as Steve looks away, Bucky’s face falls and he looks like he trying to keep his composure. I’ve heard some say it looks like jealousy, but I really think it’s this moment that it really hits Bucky what he had gone through as a POW at Azzano, because they’ve spent the past however many days trekking through the forest to get back to Allied territory without time to marinate on it.

There were really a lot of missed opportunities to have some great battle scenes to show Steve as thee Captain America.

Like, so

many

opportunities.

And that final fight scene with Peggy running into battle with all the other troops? How common was this? How often was she in the field with the Commandos? How many times was she behind enemy lines, digging up intel for Steve?

I have questionssssss

If ya’ll are still here and are itching for some of those missing pieces, have some of my favorite fanfics that deal with that wartime montage in greater detail (historical accuracy may vary):

The Hundred Year Playlist by girlbookwrm

sidereal by girlbookwrm & verbalatte

The Torture and Rescue of Prometheus by EliotRosewater

Devil’s Gonna Set Me Free by rebellconquerer

Somethings wrong with me by alienspronkles

Indisposition by Anonymous

The Night War: 60th Anniversary Edition by praximeter (Zimario)

Better Than To Bend by silentwalrus

Subjective Histories by Odsbodkins

A “Gal” to Call His Own by Anonymous

How the Howling Commandos Accidentally Invented Ultimate Frisbee by Garce

How to Nearly Get Court-Martialed for Sledding by LizzieHarker

in each place and forever by victoria_p (musesfool)

Suspicions by alieanspronkles

The Howling Commandoes: Professional Matchmakers by this_wayward_life

The More Things Change by Skew

you give me a good reason to be heartsick again by cyanica

Before the Fall by SuperStuckyLover (CatherineS)

pro-tip: i found these using the tags “World War II” + “James “Bucky” Barnes”

[iloveahangar]

Beautiful aircraft with a beautiful backdrop. 🤙😎. F-101 Voodoo aircraft over Niagara Falls during exercise Sentry Castle '81. The aircraft are assigned to the 107th Fighter Interceptor Group, 136th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, New York Air National Guard 🌎www.iloveahangar.com 📷Feel free to repost but please remember to tag us 👍😊 #aircraft #airforce #airshow #avgeek #aviation #aviationdaily #aviationgeek #aviationhistory #aviationlovers #aviationphotos #avnerd #ww2aviation #instaaviation #militaryaviation #militaryaviationphotography #oldairplanes #coldwar #planepics #usaf #vintageaircraft #warbird #warbirds #f101voodoo #f101 https://www.instagram.com/p/CNFUqAdh-qn/?igshid=1d7rc98dqka3w

[planesawesome]

A rare tribute A-10 from the USAF 107th Fighter Squadron Red Devils over the shores of Normandy to commemorate the 74th anniversary of D-day. The squadron was critical in the Allied plans for the invasion, conducting dangerous reconnaissance over Nazi controlled territory and capturing over 9,000 aerial photos to help plan the attack.

The paint scheme honours the squadron's 100th anniversary, with D-day stripes honouring the P-51 Mustang which they flew over Normandy so long ago.

It was squadron's first time returning since the invasion, & a huge honour for me to join them. Credits : @mikekillianphotography

[the-fanciful-fangirl]

The 107th Night

Chapter 5 of my Star Wars fanfic Night Terrors:

It was on Veré Naberrie’s one hundred-seventh night on Coruscant that she finally stopped dreaming about her best friend screaming. 

Come to think of it, and she’d been doing a lot of thinking lately, it was the first night she had dreamed about anything other than the day the Emperor had decided that a young woman with her heritage deserved more “than to grow up aboard a battleship like some ill- wanted stowaway.” 

Though Veré hadn’t known entirely what many of Sidious’s words had meant at the time, she soon learned… and learned… and learned. All it seemed her father’s Master wanted was for her to excel at everything. 

She started her mornings early, with one of those ghastly red robed guards barging into her monochromatic “room.” Truthfully it was more like a cell. There were no windows and no decorations. A plain desk sat in the corner, covered with whatever data pads she was to study that day. The guard always gave her precisely five minutes to dress and prepare herself for physical training in the morning. She spent hours dueling with lightsabers and hand-to-hand. It was usually against the Red Guardsmen or training droids, neither of which went easy on her. 

Veré was getting used to seeing her skin mottled with bruises and covered with bacta patches. Despite the intense physical training- torture- Sidious insisted upon for his new pupil, he also insisted there be no scars left. Once, when she’d been only half conscious after a punishment of lightning and a thrashing from one of the more vengeful guards, she’d heard Sidious tell the medic that she was for show. At least she wouldn’t be left with any physical scars from all this. 

Veré found that as the days went on she cared less and less about what was happening around her. The physical training in the morning was always followed by a trip to the medic, then an afternoon and evening of intense academic schooling. She was learning about politics, military codes, planetary law, all sorts of things, and the Emperor was an exacting headmaster. The tutors he had employed for her were no less strict and she’d found her knuckles wrapped in bacta more than once after making an error, no matter how small. 

Whenever the tutors were finished, and it was always late, she was escorted back to her room. A lonely ration bar- that they would force her to eat if she refused, she’d tried that four times before it earned her the sting of force lightning- was her only company. 

Her schedule never deviated, until one night she was awakened by an unexpected sound.

Veré rolled over for the sixth time in as many minutes, unable to fall asleep from the absent throbbing of her left shoulder and hip. The pain was a lesson, a gift, Sidious said often. He was preparing her for her future, one where her strength would serve the glory of his Empire. After so many days, she was starting to think he really could see the future.  

The sound of her door unlocking was not supposed to happen at night. She had done everything that had been asked of her that day. She’d been able to beat four training droids at once, dutifully eaten every ration bar, and studied all her data pads. Her political science tutor had even complimented her knowledge of Nubian monarchs of the last five hundred years. She had gone to sleep convinced that there would be no raids or punishments this night. But if she had learned anything on Imperial Center, it was that she knew very little about her own future. 

She couldn’t get up fast enough- kriffing shoulder- before one of the guards was pulling her out of bed. A few months ago, she might have protested or yelled, or stomped her feet. But instead she allowed him to drag her out the door. 

Veré was for once grateful that they kept the lights dim in this part of the Palace. By the time her eyes adjusted to the lights, they were… no. They were coming up to the doors of the throne room. She pulled back a little at the hand pulling her forward by her bicep and received a bruising squeeze that almost certainly meant to submit. She held back her yelp as the doors parted.  

The throne room was massive, and had a sort of oppressive cold energy that always made her feel like she was suffocating. Her Papa’s presence was cold, but nothing like this. 

“I thought we had discussed letting go of your childish sentiments, my young pupil.” It may have been the middle of Imperial Center’s night cycle, but Sidious’s voice was as foreboding as ever. Veré stepped forward to the throne and knelt down, her head bowed. 

“I forgot myself, Master. I apologize.” Her voice sounded flat in her ears. Sidious chuckled darkly to himself. 

“I am pleased you have finally learned your manners little one. Come up to me.” 

Though she climbed the stairs swiftly, Veré felt like she was walking through a duracrete wall. At the top, Sidious waved her to stand at the side of his throne. 

“I have a new lesson for you today.” He said. Veré held her arms at her back and clutched her wrists to keep them from trembling. 

“Yes Master?” She hated how easy the words came to her mind and her lips. She earned a crooked smile in return. Out of one of the many shadowed side entrances, a pair of guards entereded, dragging a humanoid form between them. For a moment, Veré saw Galen there, where he had been months ago. But no, this was a man, much older than her and Galen, maybe older than her father too. There was a sharp, familiar, and painful tap on the shields of her mind. Focus. 

The quivering man was tossed at the base of the dias and he scrambled to stand before one of the guards brought a force pike down into his back. Veré held back the tasteless ration bar swirling in her stomach. She herself had tried to stand up in the Emperor’s presence without permission three times before she’d learned better. Sidious’s voice echoed lightly in the chamber as he turned to regard his young pupil. The sound of his words skittering off the walls was like the whispers of dark, ill-meaning creatures. 

“This man is a traitor to our Empire.” 

Veré looked at the man. He was thin, scrawny even, not much of a fighter. Sidious’s presence in the force warmed incrementally in amusement. 

“Yes, I agree, he doesn’t look like much, young one. But looks can be deceiving.” Veré nodded slowly. “This man is part of a treasonous group of rebels from the Mid Rim. Last month, their attack on an Imperial shipyard killed fifteen officers and three civilians.” Her nose scrunched up at that. 

Veré’s attunement to the Force had grown in her time with the Emperor, so she felt the frail man’s intent to stand up and shout defiantly before he even moved. Two pikes came down this time. Their now familiar buzzing sound rang in her ears. 

“Because of this man and his pitiful band, the fleet has been unable to achieve control in the sector.” The Emperor sounded sad but Veré could sense his amusement like a foul stench in the air. “Until we learn where the rest of his friends are hiding, I cannot in good conscience bring Death Squadron back to Imperial Center any time soon.” 

It took everything in Veré not to cry right then and there. She’d spent the last three months studying the entire structure of the Imperial military. She knew exactly who commanded that fleet. Her eyes looked squarely at the floor in front of the throne as Sidious spoke again.

“Could you perhaps find out for me, my dear? I would be most appreciative.” 

Another thing Veré had learned was that everything had a cost. As she wedged her presence in the Force past the man’s meager shields, doing her best to block out the sound of his pleas, she tried not to think of what this would cost her. 

That night, Veré’s dreams were different for the first time in months. The sight of an older version of herself almost made her miss the screams of her best friend. 

———

Halfway across the galaxy, Darth Vader awoke alone in his meditation chamber, unable to dismiss the unbidden images that plagued his mind. A young woman, dressed in black, eyes like the fires of Mustafar, the lightsaber in her hand lit, a massacre littering the ground beneath her booted feet. 

The next morning, a command to return to Imperial Center after months away, should have eased his darkened mood. But for the first time since his last trip there, he was afraid of what he would find. 

----

Another heavy chapter but y’all knew it was coming. Check out the rest on Ao3 and FF.net!

[usafphantom2]

F-16A Block 15E (ADF) "Fighting Falcon" (81-0720 & MSN: 61-401) of the 136th Fighter Squadron "New York's Finest", 107th Fighter Wing, based at Niagara Falls ANG Base (Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station), NY.

@Toyru1968 via X

[katsens-writing]

Meeting the Team

Summary: You’re a SHIELD agent doing some research on your future co-workers... until you run into one of them.

Word Count: 2.1k (give or take a few)

Content: Fluff, maybe a little angst? Let me know if I need to add any!

A/N: This. This thing right here was supposed to be just a simple, short and sweet meet-cute. Three stories and three weeks later, I’m done. This and the second story, Meeting the Agent, are parallel running stories but you should read this one first. The third story is called Meeting the Sergeant. It should be read before or after Meeting the Team and Meeting the Agent. Let me know what you think! I might make more from it...

~

     As soon as you got through security at the museum, you went straight to the exhibit you were looking for. It’d been a while since you had been to the Smithsonian, but you knew the way from memory. You smiled wistfully as you walked past other familiar displays and cases. Weaving through them was like walking down memory lane for you. Finally reaching the exhibit you had come to see, you opened your notebook and pushed the brim of your black baseball cap up with the end of your pencil. You remembered the first time you went to see the Captain America exhibit with your mom. You must have been only four or five then, but you loved it so much that you wanted to go there for every birthday and special occasion. By the time you went to see it on a class trip, all the museum employees in that wing knew you by name. Eventually, you guys moved away when your mom was assigned to an embassy. You hadn’t been there in years when your mom heard from some old work friends back in D.C. that the Smithsonian had added an Avengers exhibit. As soon as she heard, she immediately booked some plane tickets to go see it opening day, as a surprise for your birthday. The second you saw it, your jaw dropped in awe. After walking through it you whipped around and told your mom that you were going to be an Avenger one day. You remembered your mother’s amused expression as you marched off to the Captain America exhibit.

     When you got your acceptance letter from the academy years later, you both jumped up and down screaming and crying. Just a month after that, you said goodbye to your mother and moved back to the States. Two years later, your mother wept in the audience as you walked across the stage to receive your badge from Nick Fury and shake his hand at the SHIELD induction ceremony. When you met her for lunch last week in Prague and told her about your new assignment with the Avengers, you could’ve sworn she was going to pass out. Now here you are in D.C., reading up on your future coworkers. You already knew so much about most of the team, but you wanted to refresh your memory before meeting them.

     You read over the story of Captain America again, even though you practically had it memorized even after all these years. As you walked through his exhibit, your eyes fell on the section dedicated to the Howling Commandos. You remembered hearing talks of the museum restoring the mural of Captain America and the Howling Commandos, so you quickly jotted down a reminder to check it out later before you moved over to the panel about them. You read through the brief articles on display about each of the commandos, for fun more than anything.

     ‘Caporal Jaques “Frenchie” Dernier, France, born January 2, 1911. Explosives and demolitions expert. French resistance.’

     Frenchie? You thought with a smirk. How original.

     ‘Private Gabriel “Gabe” Jones, United States. Born August 14, 1918, in Macon, Georgia. Translator and Communications Specialist. United States Army, 92nd Infantry Division.’

     I remember learning about him in high school. You blinked thoughtfully. I think he was the one that arrested Zola.

     ‘Corporal Jim Morita, United States. Born October 20, 1919, in Fresno, California. Marksman and Medic. United States Army, Nisei Squadron.’

     Brigadier James Montgomery Falsworth, Great Britain. Born January 2, 1914, in Birmingham, England. Tactician and Marksman. British Armed Forces, 3rd Independent Parachute Brigade.

     Huh. He had two kids. You blinked, pleasantly surprised.

     ‘Sergeant Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader “Dum Dum” Dugan’.

     Your eyebrows rose a little and you tried to stifle a laugh but it ended up coming out as a small snort. That’s a mouthful. No wonder he went by Dum Dum Dugan.

     You kept reading. ‘United States, born April 11, 1912. Transport specialist. United States Army, 69th Infantry Regiment.’

     You tilted your head curiously at a series of panels you hadn’t seen before, covered in newspaper articles, headlines, and various official reports. Drawing closer, you realized they were a replacement for the old panel ‘A Fallen Comrade’. You began reading the first panel titled ‘James Buchanan Barnes: War Hero, Winter Soldier, Avenger’. You casually scanned the headlines and titles until one caught your attention. Your eyes widened in shock and you froze as you realized just what exactly you were reading-- you had been there.

     You had been working for SHIELD for almost a year when it fell. You were in the control room when Alexander Pierce ordered the manhunt for Captain America and declared him a fugitive. You were in that same room when Captain America revealed over the P.A. system that Hydra had taken over and you did everything you could to fight back, passively and physically. After the helicarriers were launched, you and your coworkers managed to retake the control room, but it was too late. You contacted the aerial commander and told him to gather all SHIELD pilots. You lowered your head, a wave of guilt washing over you. One of them must have been Hydra. They never made it off the ground. 

     You were literally forced to watch helplessly as Steve fought the Winter Soldier on the helicarrier and your heart stopped when you saw him plummeting to the earth, watching in horror as the fiery wreckage rained down upon him from the sky above. You were five floors below where one of the helicarriers crashed into the building. The impact was bone-shaking and caused your Hydra captor to stumble, allowing you to gain the upper hand. After subduing him, you grabbed his radio. Without hesitation or authority, you took charge and immediately organized and coordinated search and rescue teams. You scattered the teams all over the SHIELD compound, the river, and its banks to look for any survivors, before joining one yourself. Now with SHIELD reforming, you were one of the first agents to return. After having already proven your loyalty, you were an easy choice for your new assignment.

     You shook your head to clear your thoughts. ‘James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, possibly the world’s deadliest assassin and Hydra’s greatest weapon and asset.’

     You winced as you read that part. Why did they have to include that? You wondered. He’s not some tank or fighter jet.

     You continued reading. ‘Originally suspected in the terrorist attack on the Sokovia Accords Summit that led to the deaths of many ambassadors and political figures, Barnes was later found to be innocent, another victim of the real culprit, Sokovian nationalist Baron Zemo.’

     Your eyes narrowed as you read exactly how much the article had on the summit bombing. You were one of the few who knew the whole story. After SHIELD had fallen, you went to work for Stark Industries, where you met up once again with Maria Hill. When the news came out naming Barnes as a suspect in the bombing, you were one of those assigned to keep tabs on Steve, though you never found anything... as far as anyone knew. When Maria quietly slipped off the grid without a word to anybody, you were the only one to notice, and you made sure of that by covering her tracks.

     You never really believed that Stark honestly expected you to turn in Steve if you located him, not when he knew your history. He knew how painful it was for you to track Steve and how it reminded you of when Hydra had taken over SHIELD. He knew that for you it felt just as wrong tracking Steve then as it had before, yet he still assigned you to the task. You smiled to yourself, in spite of the painful memories. You would never forget the day when Tony received the call saying everyone had escaped from the Raft; you could hear Ross yelling at him on the phone from two rooms away before Tony sauntered into the main office with a barely concealed grin on his face. He definitely looked far more amused than he should have, considering.

     After you finished reading the new panels, your eyes drifted back to another old one about James. ‘Born in 1917, James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes was the oldest of four kids. He lived in Brooklyn where he was an excellent athlete and student. He enlisted in the Army shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and was assigned to the 107th. His unit was sent to the Italian front where they were captured by Hydra. Separated from his unit, Barnes was starved and tortured...’

     You blinked your eyes and looked away; you knew what happened after that. Your eyes fell on a display of pictures of Captain America, Bucky, and the Howling Commandos. You drifted over to it. Scanning the pictures, you couldn’t help but smile as your eyes fell on one of Steve and Bucky at one of the allied camps. They were standing side by side with lopsided grins, but Barnes looked like he’d just woken up from a nap.

     “Ugh, of all the pictures they had...” you jumped at the sudden voice behind you and spun around to find a man shaking his head, looking down at the ground. “They just had to pick that one.”

     The man lifted his head, revealing his face that had been hidden by the brim of a grey baseball cap, and your eyes fell on a familiar lopsided grin accompanied by a pair of startlingly blue eyes. The man looked a little embarrassed. Your own eyes widened and your mouth opened slightly in surprise.

     “Bucky!” you gasped softly.

     The former assassin just stared at you blankly for a moment. Realizing what you had done, your face reddened in embarrassment. You began to apologize, but Bucky simply waved it off. Shaking his head with a grin, he reassured you.

     “No, it’s ok, really. People just don’t usually recognize me.” His smile faded slowly as his eyes shifted to the notebook in your hands, tilting his head curiously.

     You looked down at the notebook you had forgotten you were holding and quickly pulled it closer to yourself, realizing how you must look. “It's just some research I’m doing for work,” you quickly offered.

     Bucky’s face scrunched in thought before it lit up. “You must be the new SHIELD agent assigned to the compound.”

     “Yeah, I am,” you replied, relaxing a little, but still a bit uneasy.

     “I thought you weren’t due in until next week?” Bucky looked at you, still curious.

     “Well, I wanted to get some research in. I like to learn a bit about who I’m going to be working with,” you shrugged, a little embarrassed but not apologetic. Looking into coworkers was a habit you had formed in the aftermath of SHIELD falling, out of caution and perhaps a little guilt. You had been caught off guard and you vowed you weren’t going to let that happen again.

     “Well that makes sense,” he nodded thoughtfully, almost like he understood what you were thinking. He shook his head lightly and with another lopsided grin, he held out his hand. “I’m James Buchanan Barnes. Or Bucky.”

     You took his hand and shook it, your gaze rising to meet his with the slightest hint of awe. “Y/N. Agent Y/N Y/L/N. It’s nice to meet you.”

     “Y/N,” Bucky repeated, a smile growing on his face. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

     You lowered your eyes to the notebook in your hand, fidgeting awkwardly. Bucky cleared his throat, almost making you jump again.

     “Well Y/N, if you have any questions, I’d be happy to help. The information here isn’t exactly complete...” his voice trailed off.

     “I noticed,” you replied, glancing to the side at the section about the bombing at the summit. Clearing your throat, you turned back to Bucky. “They don’t really have anything on Black Widow or Hawkeye.” That didn’t really surprise you, after all, what good is a spy with their face on display at one of the world’s busiest museums?

     Bucky arched an eyebrow with only the slightest hesitation. “Well, if you would like, I can fill you in on the team.” He glanced down at his watch then rubbed the back of his neck before completely throwing away caution. “Heck, I can even introduce you to some of them if you want.”

     Bucky looked up at you and grinned again, his eyes shining, and you just couldn’t help the smile spreading on your own face as your shoulders relaxed. “I would appreciate that, thank you.”

     Bucky looked down at his watch again. “Great, I’m meeting Clint- that’s Hawkeye- for lunch in an hour. You’re welcome to come,” he looked up at you and hesitated. “In the meantime, have you seen the Howling Commandos memorabilia exhibit?”

     You nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a while though. Are you sure Clint won’t mind the extra company at lunch?”

     “He’ll get over it,” Bucky replied with a grin and you couldn’t resist a small chuckle. Turning back to the direction of the memorabilia display, Bucky nods his head. “Shall we?”

     With a smile you walked alongside the super soldier, laughing and asking questions as he told stories about the items on display. You may not have learned much about the team like you had wanted to that day, but as it turned out, you learned more than you could have ever hoped.

[airmanisr]

McDonnell F-101B Voodoo ‘90418’ by Alan Wilson Via Flickr: c/n 742. Built 1960. US military serial 59-0418. On display at the March Field Museum, Riverside, CA, USA. 28-2-2016 The following service history is from the excellent museum website:- “Built in St. Louis, Missouri, by McDonnell Aircraft and delivered to the Air Force on 23 July 1960. It served in the following locations: Jul 1960 - To 49th Fighter Interceptor Squadron (ADD), Griffiss AFB NY Jul 1968 - To 60th Fiqhter Interceptor Squadron (ADC), Otis AFB MA Apr 1971 - To 107th Tactical Fighter Group (ANG), Niagara Falls AP NY Jan 1973 - 107th TFG became the 107th Fighter Interceptor Group Mar 1982 - Dropped from inventory by donation to school or museum It was received at March Field Museum in 1982.”

[merchpanel]

Us Air Force Michigan Air National Guard 107Th Fighter Squadron A-10 Thunderbolt Ii Hawaiian Shirt

[v-eight-lover]

Warthog Wednesday; 107th Fighter Squadron “Red Devils” at Selfridge ANGB July 2022