F-22s and F-35s are training together with T-38s, F-15Es, and F-16s, at Tyndall AFB, Fla., in an exercise aimed at bridging the gap between fifth generation aircraft and the Air Force’s legacy fleet. In addition to the fighters, B-52s and E-3 AWACS are participating in the week-and-a-half long Checkered Flag 16-1 exercise on the Florida coast, according to a 325th Fighter Wing release. “This exercise is a building block,” said Col. Joseph Kunkel, vice commander of the 325th FW and commander of the exercise. “We are at the very beginning of the integration of F-22s, F-35s, and fourth-generation aircraft. What this does is lead us to the next step and that next step is to be extremely lethal in combat.”
The Pentagon fulfilled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's promise to slash the number of Religious Affiliation Codes used by the military to track the volume of members adhering to different religions and to shape the chaplain corps to support them. The change reduces the number of religions counted for such purposes…