A pair of F-22 Raptors from the 95th Fighter Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Fla., and a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall, UK, touched down at Amari AB, Estonia, on Sept. 5, marking another leg of the fighter’s first forward deployment to the European theater, US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa announced. The Raptors, along with 20 support airmen, will train alongside their Estonian counterparts for “a brief period of time” before returning to Spangdahlem AB, Germany, states the release. F-22s already have visited Lask AB, Poland, for training with both Polish and USAF F-16s. The forward deployment and training activities are funded by the European Reassurance Initiative, which is supporting expanded training and exercising activities with NATO allies and European partners in the wake of the 2014 Crimea crisis. The arrival of the F-22s follows the recent deployment of A-10s from the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…