Five 
years after standing up, Air Force Reserve Command’s 477th Fighter Group at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, is now fully capable of executing its combat mission, announced group officials. “Fully operation[ally] capable means that we are ready and able to execute our wartime tasking,” said Col. Bryan Radliff, 477th FG commander, who announced the milestone to the group’s airmen on Sept. 9. The group cooperates with Elmendorf’s Active Duty 3rd Wing to operate and maintain the base’s two squadrons of combat-coded F-22s. The 477th FG was activated at Elmendorf in October 2007, becoming the Air Force’s first Reserve F-22 unit and the only AFRC unit in Alaska. In September of the following year, the group, along with the 3rd Wing, attained the capability to assume initial F-22 operations. The 477th FG traces its heritage back to the Tuskegee Airmen’s 477th Bombardment Group of World War II. (Elmendorf report by Capt. Ashley Conner)
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…