F-22 Deployments in the Pacific

[GZR_Sactargets]

From AF Daily Report 19 Dec 08

Raptors Double Up in Pacific: The Air Force plans in January 2009 to deploy 24 F-22 Raptors to locations in the Pacific region. Air Combat Command will dispatch 12 F-22s and some 500 airmen from Langley AFB, Va., to Kadena AB, Japan, on the island of Okinawa, and Pacific Air Forces will send another 12 Raptors from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, to Andersen AFB, Guam. The F-22 packages are expected to remain in the Pacific for three months. The newly formed F-22 force at Elmendorf first deployed to Andersen in summer 2008. A contingent of F-22s from Langley deployed to Okinawa in early 2007. (Langley report; PACAF report)

[GZR_Sactargets]

From AF Daily Report 21 Jan 09

Raptors Back on Guam: The new F-22 Raptor force at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, has sent 12 fighters and some 270 airmen to Andersen AFB, Guam, for a three-month deployment as a Pacific Region theater security package. The 12 Raptors arrived Jan. 18. Elmendorf sent a Raptor cadre to Guam last summer for a three-week training excursion. This latest Guam deployment is one of two F-22 TSPs currently in the Pacific; the other deployed from Langley AFB, Va., to Kadena AB, Japan. The Elmendorf Raptor element, operating on Guam as the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, will train alongside other US aircraft, including B-52H bombers deployed from Barksdale AFB, La., and Minot AFB, N.D., which also send aircraft on a rotational basis to beef up Pacific forces. In addition to getting joint training experience, Lt. Col. Orlando Sanchez, 90th EFS commander, commended the new training environment, saying, "Many of our younger pilots don't get the opportunity to drop many live weapons during training in Alaska, and with the ranges and opportunities they have here at Andersen, many of them will get the valuable experience required to truly be air dominant." Sanchez also noted that the Alaskan aircraft "are still young, and it will be interesting to see how they react to the dramatic climate differences between Alaska and Guam." (Includes Andersen report by SrA. Ryan Whitney)

[GZR_Sactargets]

From AF Daily Report 21 Jan 09

Raptors Back on Guam: The new F-22 Raptor force at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, has sent 12 fighters and some 270 airmen to Andersen AFB, Guam, for a three-month deployment as a Pacific Region theater security package. The 12 Raptors arrived Jan. 18. Elmendorf sent a Raptor cadre to Guam last summer for a three-week training excursion. This latest Guam deployment is one of two F-22 TSPs currently in the Pacific; the other deployed from Langley AFB, Va., to Kadena AB, Japan. The Elmendorf Raptor element, operating on Guam as the 90th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, will train alongside other US aircraft, including B-52H bombers deployed from Barksdale AFB, La., and Minot AFB, N.D., which also send aircraft on a rotational basis to beef up Pacific forces. In addition to getting joint training experience, Lt. Col. Orlando Sanchez, 90th EFS commander, commended the new training environment, saying, "Many of our younger pilots don't get the opportunity to drop many live weapons during training in Alaska, and with the ranges and opportunities they have here at Andersen, many of them will get the valuable experience required to truly be air dominant." Sanchez also noted that the Alaskan aircraft "are still young, and it will be interesting to see how they react to the dramatic climate differences between Alaska and Guam." (Includes Andersen report by SrA. Ryan Whitney)