They’re Ready

Ask the director of operations for the first F-22 squadron to go into combat and he will say the crews—pilots and maintainers—are ready. Lt. Col. Kevin Fesler, DO for the 27th Fighter Squadron at Langley AFB, Va., told Air Force journalist Louis Arana-Barradas that the 27th FS trains everyday “as if the phone is going to ring and we’re going to be told to go and meet our wartime commitment.” Air Combat Command officials said a year ago that the 27th FS would rejoin the service’s Air and Space Expeditionary Force rotation in January 2007. But Fesler says, “We could go right now.” In Fesler’s view, the Raptor’s situational awareness capability will add “synergistic effects” that equate to “a more lethal force.” Although, he noted that the Raptor is lethal enough on its own.