Langley Says Goodbye to Final F-15s

The last two operational F-15s assigned to the 71st Fighter Squadron at Langley AFB, Va., departed the base for good this past week, ending decades of F-15 operations there. Langley shed the 20 F-15s of the 71st FS under the broader Air Force drawdown of 250 fighters in this fiscal year. The first F-15s departed Langley in June. With all of them now gone, plans are to inactivate the 71st FS on Sept. 30. “With the departure of the F-15s, the air superiority torch will be passed to the next generation of Air Force aircraft—the mighty F-22,” said Col. Matthew Molloy, commander of the 1st Fighter Wing, parent unit of the 71st FS. The wing already has two combat-ready F-22 squadrons and is receiving six additional F-22s as part of USAF’s F-22 basing realignment. (Langley report by SrA. Jarrod R. Chavana)