Alaska Raptors Return from Guam

An expeditionary squadron of F-22s began returning to JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, last week after nearly three months of operating out of Andersen AFB, Guam, as part of a rotational theater security package in the Pacific. The F-22 deployment “was a typical movement testing the squadron’s capability to rapidly respond and deploy to any environment with minimal notice and full combat capability,” Elmendorf spokeswoman Capt. Ashley Conner told the Daily Report. While in the Pacific, the Elmendorf F-22 pilots—from the Active Duty 90th Fighter Squadron and Air Force Reserve Command’s 302nd FS—flew just shy of 500 sorties totaling some 800 flight hours, said Conner. The Elmendorf F-22s took advantage of the rotation to exercise with the USS George Washington carrier strike group during Valiant Shield, a joint air and sea exercise. More than 250 personnel and 12 jets deployed from Elmendorf in September. As these airmen and their F-22s began arriving back home, members of Elmendorf’s 525th FS left with their F-22s for weapons training at Tyndall AFB, Fla., noted Conner.