The Exercise King:
USAF’s B-2 bombers—and their aircrews and maintainers—are using back-to-back exercises to practice for long duration missions and continuous operations. This week it’s Valiant Shield run out of Guam and the previous two weeks it was Northern Edge out of Alaska, both of which have been orchestrated by Pacific Air Forces’ new Kenney Headquarters. Flying out of Andersen AFB, Guam, the B-2 force from Whiteman AFB, Mo., has conducted consecutive training missions—both pilots and maintainers performing at a high ops tempo—and matching up with a wide variety of joint aircraft. In Alaska, the B-2s flew 24-hour sorties followed by strikes on multiple dynamic targets and were paired up with USAF’s other premier stealth aircraft, the F-22 for a “kick-down-the-door” mission. (Read more here.)
A half-dozen pilots from one of the Air Force’s premier F-16 units, the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., have been awarded one of the service’s highest decorations for their role in Operation Midnight Hammer, the June 2025 strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.