The first combat coded F-22 Raptor squadron at Tyndall AFB, Fla., reached initial operating capability with the arrival of its final F-22 earlier this month, officials announced. “We have all of our aircraft bed down, but we are still receiving operations and maintenance personnel in addition to a good amount of equipment,” said Lt. Col. Erick Gilbert, commander of Tyndall’s newly activated 95th Fighter Squadron in an April 21 release. “This is another milestone in the long journey of the 95th FS and team Tyndall towards realizing our ultimate goal of having a combat F-22 squadron, mission ready,” he added. Tyndall received the last of 24 Raptors transferred from Holloman AFB, N.M. on April 8. The unit is slated for a Combat Hammer weapon employment evaluation next month to “drop dozens of bombs amidst a robust training threat” in the work-up to full combat capability, Gilbert added.
Today’s armament maintainers are tasked with performing flightline (O-Level) maintenance with an assortment of legacy test sets that greatly limit the ability to quickly and efficiently verify armament system readiness, diagnose failures, and ultimately return the aircraft to full mission...