Japanese F-15s based on Okinawa returned to the skies Wednesday for the first time since a fleet-wide grounding due to a fatal crash earlier this month during a training sortie from Naha Air Base. The Japanese defense ministry initially suspended all Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-15 operations after the July 5 mishap, pending structural evaluation of the country’s 202 license-built Mitsubishi F-15s. Sorties from mainland bases resumed last week, followed by Okinawa flight operations after the JASDF undertook “elaborate security precautions to ensure safety in both the aircraft and mental and physical aspect of the pilots,” said Naha spokesman Maj. Minoru Takara, reported Stars and Stripes.
Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, the Department of the Air Force’s top internal watchdog, has been nominated to lead Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.