The 522nd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron at Andersen AFB, Guam, just helped defend the island’s airspace and intercept a simulated threat with their F-16 Vipers. MSgt. Art Webb reports that Operation Jungle Shield provided a quick-reaction exercise, testing the ability of the deployed Viper pilots, crew chiefs, and ground controller interceptors to handle alert scramble operations. Capt. Wyckliffe Furcron, 522nd EFS project officer for the exercise, said the exercise “helped to keep personnel in a ready mindset.” Working with the F-16s were two KC-135 tankers of the 173rd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron, used to simulate the threats.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
