Two 
expeditionary contingents, each comprising 12 F-22s and nearly 290 airmen, are back home at Holloman AFB, N.M., and Langley AFB, Va., after four-month tours in the Asia-Pacific theater. These overseas deployments—Holloman’s 7th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron to Kadena AB, Japan, and Langley’s 27th EFS to Andersen AFB, Guam—were part of a normal rotation of US combat forces to that region. Both represented a first: Holloman’s first-ever F-22 deployment to the western Pacific, and Langley’s maiden F-22 dispatch to Andersen, after several rotational deployments to Kadena over the past several years. During their time at Kadena, Holloman’s F-22s trained alongside USAF F-15s and KC-135 tankers and Marine Corps F/A-18s and flew to South Korea for training. Among their activities, Langley’s F-22s participated in US Pacific Command’s Valiant Shield joint training exercise. Both contingents returned to the US in early October. (Andersen report by SSgt. Beth Del Vecchio) (Holloman report by Arlan Ponder) (Langley report by A1C Jason J. Brown)
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…