Pacific Air Forces chief Gen. Paul Hester on a visit to Yokota AB, Japan, told reporters that the F-22 Raptor will arrive at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska in August and the number of C-17 airlifters in the region will grow to 16 when eight new airlifters beddown in Alaska in June 2007, joining the eight already calling Hawaii home, reports Stars and Stripes. It was a message intended to show the growing emphasis placed on the Pacific region. In talking with airmen at Yokota, Hester was on point with other key Air Force messages, including the fact that the service’s high operations tempo likely would continue and that the service’s force-shaping effort—cutting some 40,000 personnel over three years—is offset by modernization plans because new systems require fewer bodies.
President Donald Trump on July 4 signed into law $150 billion in defense funds as part of the tax-and-spending package known as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” after congressional Republicans approved the legislation in narrow, drawn-out votes earlier this week.
