Air Combat Command has sent four B-2 bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., to Andersen AFB, Guam, to assume the next “strategic presence” rotation in the Pacific. The Whiteman aircraft replace Barksdale AFB, La., B-52s, which ended their Guam deployment on a high note. The BUFF aircrews got to drop inert weapons during the rotation’s Koa Lightning exercise over Hawaii. The B-2 force last deployed to Guam in summer 2006.
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.