F-15C Eagles from Kadena AB, Japan, will kick ?off bilateral Exercise Commando Sling with the Republic of Singapore Air Force next week, Pacific Air Forces announced. A total of six F-15s from Kadena’s 44th Fighter Squadron are deploying to Paya Lebar AB, home to RSAF F-15SGs, on the eastern side of the country’s main island. The air-to-air focused exercise, which will be held Oct. 26 to Nov. 13, will center on improving US and Singaporean integration and tactics, while providing Air Force units the experience of operating from an international host base. The annual, bilateral exercise was launched in 1990. It was expanded to include the Royal Australian Air Force and held at RAAF Tindal to coincide with Exercise Pitch Black last year, but will return to a two-nation event in Singapore this year. (Read more about 2014 Exercise Pitch Black/Tri-Sling in Air Force Magazine.)
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.