A former aircraft flown by Meridian’s 186th Air Guard Unit is scheduled to return home in June after more than 30 years.

The RF-4C Phantom II Jet will be transported from Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tuscon, Arizona to Meridian, where it will be put on display at the East Mississippi Veterans Memorial Park.

Jeffrey Summerlin, President of the East Mississippi Veterans Foundation, first located the jet in 2018 when he started developing plans for the memorial park in Meridian. Since then, he’s been working to bring it home.

The RF-4C Phantom II first arrived in Meridian on Sept. 21, 1979, where it was used as an unarmed reconnaissance vehicle to track weather. It came equipped with multiple film and radar sensors and required two crew members to fly.

The jet was retired and delivered to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis Montana AFB in September 1991, where it sits today.

On June 6, Meridian’s Phantom is set to be disassembled and prepared for the long trip to Meridian. Once here, it will be unloaded and reassembled at it’s final resting spot next in the veterans memorial park next to Key Field. From start to finish, the moving process is expected to take several weeks.

Summerlin said the RF-4C Phantom II will serve as both a display within the veterans memorial park and a tribute to the military service members of East Mississippi.

“The jet will become a static display within the East Mississippi Veterans Memorial Park honoring the past and present men and women who have served with Meridian’s Air Guard unit since it was official established on September 27, 1939,” he said. “The jet will also stand in honor of all service members who served during the Vietnam War, Cold War and Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield.”