Lt. Col. (Ret) Jim "WAM" final flight rehearsal

Civilian QF-4E Pilot/Controller Lt. Col. (Ret) Jim "WAM" Harkins, exits his McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II, after a rehearsal for the final military flight and retirement ceremony for the storied aircraft at Holloman AFB, N.M., Dec. 16, 2016. The final variant of the Phantom II was the QF-4 unmanned aerial targets flown by the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron Detachment 1 at Holloman AFB. The ceremonial flight was Harkins last in a cockpit for DoD; he will now be a ground controller for the QF-4's replacement, the QF-16. The F-4 Phantom II entered the U.S. Air Force inventory in 1963 and was the primary multi-role aircraft in the USAF throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The F-4 flew bombing, combat air patrol, fighter escort, reconnaissance and the famous Wild Weasel anti-aircraft missile suppression missions. (U.S. Air Force photo by J.M. Eddins Jr.)