The Air Force’s premier fighter aircraft, along with more than 150 airmen from Langley AFB, Va., have traveled to Hill AFB, Utah, for the first deployment of an F/A-22 squadron. Air Combat Command sent Langley’s 27th Fighter Squadron, the initial operational F/A-22 Raptor unit, to Hill to test the unit’s ability to conduct operations in a “remote” environment. The 27th FS has deployed with pilots and maintainers, as well as intelligence and communications personnel. The goal: Determine whether ACC can declare IOC for the unit in December.
Navy Adm. Samuel J. Paparo Jr. assumed leadership of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, succeeding Navy Adm. John Aquilino at a change of command ceremony, urging action amid China's “increasing intrusive and expansionist claims,” on May 3