instead of increasing the number of units, the national guard bureau authorized units to increase the number of aircraft assigned to them when the air force made those planes available. in 1982, the south carolina air national guard's 169th tactical fighter group began receiving new general dynamics f-16a fighting falcons. in air force-wide competitions, ang units and individuals frequently placed high or won. this was due in no small part to the ang units being manned by more senior pilots and weapon systems officers, most of whom had recent combat experience as prior active duty officers in the regular air force and who continued to hone their skills in fighter aircraft while their active duty contemporaries had to leave the cockpit for career enhancing non-flying staff assignments. the 169th tactical fighter group garnered top team honors in the air force's worldwide gunnery contest, gunsmoke '89. during the late 1980s, the air national guard's f-106 delta darts, f-4 phantom iis and a-7d corsair iis were being replaced by f-15a and f-15b eagles and f-16a and f-16b fighting falcons as more advanced models such as the f-15c/d and f-16c/d were brought into active service with the regular air force.