The Air Force unit responsible for testing the Predator A and Predator B UAVs has seen its mission expand since it began operation in June 2005 at Gray Buttes-El Mirage test facility, about 20 miles southeast of Edwards AFB, Calif. The 452nd Flight Test Squadron established a detachment at Gray Buttes to handle development test and evaluation as the test pace picked up for the much-sought UAV. Det. 1 comprises seven permanently assigned 452nd personnel and systems and test personnel from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center, and the 31st Test and Evaluation Squadron, a unit of Eglin AFB, Fla., and the contractor General Atomics.
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.