Andersen Air Force Base on the US island territory of Guam is taking on new significance in the Pacific, but most Air Force assets operating there will be on rotational tours and not on permanent assignment, reports Gen. Paul V. Hester, commander of Pacific Air Forces. The PACAF chief, in Orlando last week for AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium, told reporters that he expects that the only permanently based aircraft will be the Global Hawk unmanned surveillance aircraft. It is possible that a squadron of a dozen tankers would also permanently bed down on Andersen, said Hester, but that is more unlikely than likely. Other combat forces, such as fighters and the bombers that have routinely rotated to Guam in recent years, will continue to visit the island on a rotational basis. B-1Bs, B-2s, and B-52s all have spent time on the island in recent years.
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.
