Pacific Air Forces has just accepted the first of 36 F-22A Raptors slated to form PACAF’s first Raptor unit, the one to be created at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Service and Lockheed Martin representatives gathered at Lockheed’s Marietta, Ga., production facility Tuesday for the rollout ceremony, at which Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) recalled that airpower great Billy Mitchell once said, “Alaska is the most strategic place in the world … whoever holds Alaska will hold the world.” PACAF also plans to create a Raptor unit at Hickam AFB, Hawaii.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.