Reservist Hits Fighter Pilot Jackpot: Air Force Reserve Command has selected the first pilot from its ranks to train to fly the F-22A Raptor, the Air Force’s new stealth fighter. Maj. Randall Cason, an F-16 pilot, serving with 10th Air Force at NAS JRB Fort Worth, Tex., now will complete three months of ground- and air-based training before moving into the F-22. By the end of August, he should go to the 43rd Fighter Training Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Cason spent 11 years on active duty, including two deployments patrolling no-fly zones over Iraq and a stint at Nellis AFB, Nev., as an “aggressor” pilot, during which he flew the F-16 against developmental F-22s. Cason says, “Fighting an F-22 is like being blindfolded and trying to hit a pin.”
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.