PHOTOS: From F-22s to CV-22s, the Aircraft of REFORPAC

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Thousands of Airmen have poured into the Indo-Pacific region over the past few weeks for Resolute Force Pacific 2025, the Air Force’s largest-ever contingency-response exercise in the region. running July 10-Aug. 8. 

REFORPAC, as the service calls the exercise, began July 10 and runs through Aug. 8. Officials have said it features more than 300 aircraft, making it one of the biggest exercises in recent Air Force history. 

Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin first announced the major Pacific exercise in February 2024, and planning started shortly thereafter. The event’s size and scale can be seen in all the different types of aircraft involved and the wide range of locations they’re operating from. 

Air & Space Forces Magazine has compiled photos and a map showcasing them all: 

Hawaii 

Many aircraft passed through Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on their way to the western Pacific. Those included KC-135s, a C-17, and D.C. Air National Guard F-16s. 

Guam 

Andersen Air Force Base on Guam is a major hub for the exercise. F-35s from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska; F-22s from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson; and F-16s from the D.C. Air Guard have operated out of Andersen.

So have B-52s from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., which are visiting Guam for a bomber task force rotation. On the mobility side, KC-46s from the New Hampshire Air National Guard and C-130s from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, are launching training missions out of Andersen as well.

Japan 

Misawa Air Base, located in northern Japan, is another of the exercise’s hubs. Among the visiting airframes are: 

• F-16s from the 35th Fighter Wing, Misawa’s host unit 
• F-35s from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah 
• HH-60Ws and an HC-130J from the New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing  
• A C-5M from the 436th Airlift Wing at Dover Air Force Base, Del. 
• A C-17 from the Alaska Air National Guard’s 176th Wing 
• A C-130J from 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Air Base, Japan 
• An MC-130J from the 353rd Special Operations Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan 

Yokota Air Base, near Tokyo, has hosted KC-135 tankers from the Ohio Air National Guard’s 121st Air Refueling Wing. 

CV-22 Ospreys have also joined the exercise with flights over the Sea of Japan. The Ospreys are part of Yokota’s 353rd SOW.

The event has used installations belonging to other branches of the U.S. armed forces, too: Naval Air Facility Atsugi, not far from Yokota, hosted KC-135s from the 18th Wing at Kadena. Meanwhile, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in southern Japan has hosted F-16s from the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard; a C-130J from Yokota; and a C-17 from the 437th Airlift Wing out of Joint Base Charleston, S.C. 

To date, the Air Force has not published any photos of aircraft at Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, just 100 miles away from Taiwan. 

Tinian, Saipan, and Palau 

F-22 fighter jets based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, flying as part of the 3rd Air Expeditionary Wing, have operated from Tinian and Saipan, a pair of tiny isles that are part of the Northern Mariana Islands. Local media outlets reported that troops will also train on the island of Rota.

The Air Force has spent tens of millions of dollars on Tinian, in particular, to rehabilitate its World War II airfield.  

About 500 miles away, F-35s from the Wisconsin Air National Guard flew from Palau, another small island.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org