Lt. Gen. Burton Field on Monday assumed command of 5th Air Force and US Forces, Japan, from Lt. Gen. Edward Rice in a ceremony at Yokota Air Base. Field comes to Yokota from the Pentagon where he served since February 2009 as the senior military advisor to the US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. He graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1979 and is a command pilot, with more than 3,400 hours logged in the F-16 and F-22. Rice, who had led 5th AF since February 2008, has received the Senate’s approval for his new assignment leading Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB, Tex. Fifth Air Force, a major component of Pacific Air Forces, assists in the mutual defense of Japan and enhances regional stability in East Asia in partnership with Japan. (Yokota release)
Raytheon, a division of defense giant RTX, recently announced a multiyear deal with the Pentagon to increase annual production of the Air Force’s primary dogfighting missile by more than 50 percent from two years ago.
