Air Force officials last week unveiled a RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft at Andersen AFB, Guam. The aircraft displayed is one of the three that are slated to call the Pacific base a permanent home starting next summer, Guam’s KUAM TV news network reported Aug,. 7. “By operating out of Guam, we have a strategic advantage in being able to get to an area of concern very rapidly and then staying over that area for a good amount of time to prosecute our mission,” said Lt. Col. Brandon Baker, who will command the Global Hawks, at the ceremony. In June, Andersen officials opened the new, massive hangar that will house the base’s Global Hawks. (For more, read Guam’s Pacific Daily News report from Aug. 8.)
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.