The Air Force will station seven T-38 Talons at Langley AFB, Va., for use as companion trainers for the F-22s of Langley’s 1st Fighter Wing. They will give Langley’s F-22 pilots additional flight hours and serve as Raptor adversaries in flight exercises. Capt. Shannon Collins, Air Combat Command spokeswoman, told the Daily Report that the T-38s are scheduled to arrive between March and September 2011. Dual-qualified F-22/T-38 pilots as well as pilots awaiting F-22 training will fly these T-38s, she said. No additional pilots will be assigned to Langley. These Langley-bound aircraft are reported to be ex-South Korean T-38Bs and not Air Education and Training Command T-38Cs. M1 Support Services of Denton, Tex., will maintain them. News surfaced at the end of November that the Air Force intends to base a T-38 contingent at Tyndall AFB, Fla., also home to F-22s, for similar purposes.
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.