“Weapons Away”: 
Lt. Col. Jim Hecker dropped the first bomb from an operational F/A-22 Raptor, entering USAF record books, announced USAF officials on Oct. 21, three days after the fact. Hecker, commander of the 27th Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB, Va., dropped an inert 1,000-pound Joint Direct Attack Munition against a dummy target at the Utah Test and Training Range during Air Combat Command’s first deployment of its F/A-22 squadron. (DR, 10/17/05)
With the first operational T-7A trainer jet in hand, Air Force leaders are already looking ahead to how the Red Hawk will fit with the service’s plans for sixth-generation aircraft.
