The F-22s at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., and JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, are flying again, officials at both locations told the Daily Report Wednesday. Both bases temporarily grounded their Raptor fleets last week after two pilots at Langley-Eustis experienced hypoxia-like symptoms during a training sortie on Oct. 20. Alaska’s Raptor’s were up and flying again Monday, after officials temporarily paused operations over the weekend as a precaution following the incident in Virginia, said an Elmendorf-Richardson spokesman. Langley-Eustis’ aircraft were back in the air by 8:00 a.m. US East Coast time on Tuesday and continue to fly the “same number of sorties as before the brief pause,” said Monica Miller Rodgers, a spokeswoman for the 633rd Air Base Wing there. However, “the commander continues to closely monitor operations,” she said.
The defense intelligence community has tried three times in the past decade to build a “common intelligence picture”—a single data stream providing the information that commanders need to make decisions about the battlefield. The first two attempts failed. But officials say things are different today.