August 20, 2010 (by Capt. Ashley Conner) - Any pilot flying sorties during Red Flag-Alaska can expect long days filled with mission planning, and pre and post flight briefings.
Maj. Chad Feucht, 302nd Fighter Squadron F-22 Raptor pilot, is fulfilling his Reserve flying commitment during the realistic 10-day air combat training exercise, but is also working his civilian job as the 3rd Wing's lead F-22 mission support software engineer for Lockheed Martin.

As a software support engineer Major Feucht is coordinating with the squadron weapons shops to optimize programs and lethality of the F-22.

"There is so much cross over between both my civilian and military jobs," he said. "Being a pilot, a mission commander and weapons officer makes me a better software engineer and vice versa."

On days when Major Feucht is not mission planning and flying sorties for Red Flag he can be found in the vault of the Red Flag building ensuring the integrity of the F-22's software system.

During RF-Alaska missions, Major Feucht and 14 other reserve pilots assigned to the 477th Fighter Group integrate with their active duty counterparts in the 90th and 525th Fighter Squadron's under the 3rd Wing.

"During normal training there is seamless integration with the active duty squadrons," said Lt. Col. Hubie Hegtvedt, 302nd Fighter Squadron commander. "In Red Flag it is no different."

After Air Force leaders noticed high casualty rates in deployed combat engagements, RF-Alaska's were established in the early 1990's is to give pilots their first 10 combat missions in a safer environment. The first RF-Alaska was held in 1992.

Our top priority during red flags is to ensure that young pilots are receiving the combat training they need to go to war, said Colonel Hegtvedt. Our second priority is to get new F-22 pilots combat training, regardless of their prior fighter aircraft experience.

As a former F-16 pilot Major Feucht falls into the second category of pilots.

"In the F-16 I probably flew in over 16 different flag exercises," the major said. "Nothing compares to training in RF-Alaska because of the F-22s situational awareness. It acts as a force multiplier and it increases other aircrafts lethality and survivability.

"The flying operations are geographically separated between here and Eielson and the size of the range allows for more realistic training."

The 477th Fighter Group has integrated with the 3rd Wing' s active duty flying squadrons during normal flying operations and RF-Alaska exercises since the group stood up in 2007.

August 12, 2010 (by SrA Alyssa C. Wallace) - More than 150 Airmen and 12 F-22 Raptors from the 43rd Fighter Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., arrived here July 31 in support of the Air Force's first Exercise Global Gem joint training.
Members of the 389th and 43rd Fighter Squadrons will continue their training through Sept. 2, during which the F-15E will fly against the Raptor as an adversary, or "red air," as well as next to the aircraft in a friendly "blue air" mission.

The local area also provides a chance for specialized training since the airspace and terrain allows the F-22 to employ air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities in mountainous areas, a vast difference from the environment they usually conduct training in.

"We brought the 43rd to Mountain Home for many reasons, mainly to work with the Strike Eagles here and get some similar training from a 'blue air' standpoint as well as use the ranges here for the mountainous terrain and the ability to drop inert weapons out there," said Lt. Col. Bradley Bird, 43rd FS commander and F-22 pilot. "The majority of the flying we do is over the water. Obviously when we go to war, we're not always flying over water."

The land around Tyndall AFB is flat with very few obstacles. According to Colonel Bird, Mountain Home's mountainous terrain requires a lot more attention to detail and a skill set the Raptor pilots are trying to provide the younger pilots with in case they're called on to fly over rugged terrain.

Capt. Jessica Hietpas, from the 389th Fighter Squadron, is one of several F-15E pilots who are supporting the 43rd by giving the Raptors a target to shoot. While flying against them, she was able to witness the aircraft's capabilities first-hand.

"We're starting from beyond visual range and moving into visual range, and they did exactly as advertised with the fifth generation fighter - you can't really see them until it's too late," she said.

The F-22 brings an extremely high-powered engine for high thrust-weight ratio which gives outstanding manoeuvrability, while its integrated avionics give an outstanding sensor sweep and low observability. The aircraft's advanced features separate it from the F-15E, but the colonel says the older aircraft "is still a viable platform in today's fight based on the numbers they have and the ordnance they can carry."

"If you look at the history of airpower, every time they build a new aircraft it's one step up," he said. "The F-22 is that next step in the advancement of American airpower."

As both squadrons practice manoeuvres during this month-long exercise, the advancement is apparent as they perform manoeuvres they may one day perform together during a real-world mission.

"It benefits us because we see what's going to be on our side once we integrate with them into some kind of larger scenario," Captain Hietpas said. "So instead of being targets, we'll be teamed with them into a package."

With the F-22's advancement and the F-15's capability to fight its way to a target over long ranges, the captain said she is happy to have the Raptors on her side.

"We'll have good guys watching out for us and we can focus on getting things on the ground," she said. "The Strike Eagle's a deep strike type platform, and we're multi-role, but it's also nice to have people who have your back in the air-to-air environment and are taking care of that, so you can focus on the deep strike mission."

August 6, 2010 (by A1C Anthony Jennings) - History was made Aug. 4, as the first accelerated packaged maintenance plan, or PMP, on an F-22 Raptor in a deployed environment came to a conclusion.
Members of the 27th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit, deployed here from Langley AFB, Va., completed what has never been done with a fifth-generation aircraft before. A PMP is a scheduled, long-term, heavy maintenance on a fighter aircraft, performed every 300 flight hours.

"It's much like your car," said 2nd Lt. Lauren Chaffee, 27th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron. "Every few thousand miles you bring it in for a tune up. Well with fighter aircraft, it's every 300 flight hours."

The process normally takes a month complete. The deployed unit was tasked to accomplish an accelerated PMP in 10 days.

"A dedicated team of 16 personnel working 12-hour shifts around the clock, to get the job done made this possible," said 1st Lt. Ikedinachi Akagha, 27th EAMU. "It's just incredible we were able to get this, not only planned, but executed. Everything fell into place so well over these past ten days."

The project has been in the works since January. The unit went over several scenarios to try and predict what could go wrong before anything actually did.

"We were, in essence, trying to build the perfect plan for a jet that has never had an inspection of this magnitude," Lieutenant Akagha said. "With the aircraft being relatively new, the engineers and maintainers are still finding issues, as with any new aircraft."
"You are going to have to address some changes that are needed so you can apply those lessons learned to newer aircraft," he added.

In order to meet their goal, they started by re-doing the entire schedule.

"Usually we have each team on the aircraft separately," said Lieutenant Akagha. "With the accelerated PMP, we tried to consolidate everything. We had to figure out how many different agencies or teams can we have on the jet at once."

A low observable team would pick off any panels the PMP inspection team may need to get into. The inspection team then runs through their list of checks ensuring everything is operational. They then re-panel the aircraft and hand it back over to the low observable team so they can re-layer the jet.

"Despite the crunch, high ops tempo and stress of just performing a month-long inspection in such a limited time, we pulled it off which is just huge," Lieutenant Akagha said.

Once an aircraft comes within 30 to 40 flight hours to its next scheduled PMP, it is grounded and won't be allowed to fly until it has gone through a proper inspection. There are different criteria at the 300, 600 and 900 marks. This particular jet was at its 900 hour mark, which can be the most intense and comprehensive inspection, said Lieutenant Akagha.

"With potential threats and the potential for conflict in this region, we need to ensure there is a plan in place in case we have to send jets to fight when there is too little time between its next flight and next PMP," he said.

"It's better to send a jet that is fresh and inspected and ready to fight for a long period of time. This was kind of an experiment to see if it could, in fact, be done and we did it."

July 29, 2010 (by Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense) - The Department of the Air Force announced today its actions to consolidate the F-22 fleet. The secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff of the Air Force determined the most effective basing for the F-22.
This requires redistributing aircraft from one F-22 squadron to units at four F-22 bases. A second squadron will be relocated to an existing F-22 base.

The affected bases are:

Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.: Deactivate one squadron of F-22s and disperse that squadron's aircraft to other F-22 units. Relocate the remaining squadron to Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

• Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska - receive six additional aircraft
• Langley Air Force Base, Va. - receive six additional aircraft
• Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. - receive two additional aircraft
• Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. - receive one additional squadron

"This plan maximizes combat aircraft and squadrons available for contingencies," said Kathleen Ferguson, deputy assistant secretary for installations. "By consolidating aircraft at existing bases, F-22 operational flexibility is enhanced."

Teams surveyed four F-22 bases, evaluating them for feasibility, timing, cost, and planning purposes to accept additional F-22 aircraft. The secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff of the Air Force carefully considered the site survey results and military judgement factors in making these basing determinations. These actions will be finalized subject to completion of appropriate environmental analysis.

The F-22 Raptor combines stealth, super-cruise, manoeuvrability, and integrated avionics, coupled with improved supportability, and represents an exponential leap in war-fighting capabilities.

July 14, 2010 (by SSgt. Mike Meares) - Total force integration set the stage for the Hawaii National Guard, alongside Airmen from the Pacific Air Forces, as they marked the arrival of the first pair of F-22 Raptors during a ceremony on July 9.
The Raptors' arrival to the 199th Fighter Squadron and the 15th Wing marks the first Air National Guard lead F-22 association in the nation. This partnership is a "reverse association," where the active-duty counterpart will soon re-activate the 19th Fighter Squadron.

"This construct marks an important partnership between the National Guard and the active-duty forces," said Gen. Craig R. McKinley, the National Guard Bureau chief. "I couldn't be more proud ... about taking pride in total force integration. I think it's a crown jewel, in all of our services, to have this type of team spirit here in evidence today."

The ceremony marked the beginning of the newest partnership between the Hawaii Air National Guard and the active-duty Air Force flying the "fifth generation" fighter at Hickam Air Force Base. The F-22s will be flown by pilots from the 199th Fighter Squadron, 154th Wing, Hawaii Air National Guard, and active-duty pilots from the 19th Fighter Squadron. The aircraft will also be maintained by a combination of Hawaii Air National Guardsmen and active-duty Airmen.

"Total force integration is a force multiplier," said Lt. Col. Harvey Newton, the 15th Operations Group and incoming 19th Fighter Squadron commander. "We bring the best of both together and capitalize on each other's strengths. The Air National Guard has highly experienced pilots, operations personnel and maintenance professionals who are the best at what they do."

From experiences in the field and at home, Colonel Newton said he believes each group is great at what they do because they have spent years honing their trades to become the best. The active component brings a breadth of experience from around the combat air forces and a full-time work force that can be tasked at anytime.

"We have recognized the synergy that is gained from (total force integration), and it has become the Combat Air Forces model," Colonel Newton said. "The HIANG (Hawaii Air National Guard) is a highly respected ... unit and their merits stand on their own. (Total force integration) will only help the HIANG and 15th wing to reach new heights."

Those new heights will come in the way of increased operations tempo as the Hawaii F-22 squadron is only one of seven operational squadrons, Colonel Newton said.

Until now, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, has been the exclusive home to the F-22 in the Pacific Air Forces area of operations. The introduction of the most advanced fighter jet in the world further strengthens the Pacific.

"We owe it to our nation, and her protected citizens, to equip our Airmen, our nation's sons and daughters, with the very best that we can," said Gen. Gary L. North, the Pacific Air Forces commander. "The F-22's advanced technologies are an exponential leap in warfighting capabilities for the U.S. forces. Alongside our superb Airmen who operate, maintain, support this aircraft, it represents an overmatching capability to any known or projected adversary fighter aircraft."

The arrival of the F-22 reverse association at Hickam AFB is not a new concept for these Airmen working side-by-side. The active-duty and guard members already share the C-17 Globemaster III in a traditional association where the active-duty Airmen take the lead.

"Our Airmen in uniform, alongside their civilian counterparts, form the total force integration of active association initiatives where the Hawaii Air National Guard has the lead and our active-duty Airmen will operate alongside," General North said. "This partnership ... forms the bond in testament of our total force and it is the envy of the world."

The F-22s will replace the F-15 Eagles that the 199th Fighter Squadron has flown since 1987. The F-22 is designed to counter lethal threats posed by advanced surface-to-air missile systems and next-generation fighters equipped with a launch-and-leave missile capability.

For Colonel Newton, an F-22 pilot, there isn't an amusement park or thrill ride on the face of the planet that measures up to flying the most advanced fighter jet known to man.

"Imagine the best amusement park and the best ride and then quadruple the experience -- and that is what it feels like to fly the F-22," he said. "It is awesome."