The Beagles are Back

The renowned World War II American Beagle Squadron recently was reactivated during a ceremony at Tyndall AFB, Fla. During the Aug. 22 ceremony, the 325th Operations Group Adversary Air program became the 2nd Fighter Training Squadron. “The second was chosen because it has historical ties to Tyndall,” said Lt. Col. Derek Wyler, 2nd FTS commander, in a base release. “I am honored and excited to take command of a squadron with such a long, rich history … ” The squadron flies T-38 Talons against the base’s F-22 Raptor in flight training, which takes some of the pressure off of the aging F-22 fleet and helps cut costs—thousands of dollars for each hour flown, according to the release. “The Air Force is not getting any more F-22s,” said Wyler. “Every hour we fly on that airplane is an hour that we never get back. If we can save all those hours for mission training, it preserves the lifespan of those airplanes.”