Lt. Gen. Burton Field, 5th Air Force commander, has certified a team from the 14th Fighter Squadron at Misawa AB, Japan, to be the Pacific Air Forces F-16 Demonstration Team. “PACAF’s F-16 Demonstration Team provides an example of what the United States Air Force brings to the table,” said Field. “We get a chance to showcase our Air Force capabilities and display our professionalism, our core values, and our ability to get the job done.” The crew includes one pilot, two narrators, and a maintenance team with four crew chiefs and five specialists responsible for the aircraft’s avionics systems and engines. “We have a great team,” said Capt. Chris Nations, the team’s pilot. (Misawa report by AB James B. Bauer)
While U.S. defense officials have spent much of the past decade warning that China is the nation’s pacing threat and its People’s Liberation Army represents an urgent threat in the Indo-Pacific, several defense researchers are skeptical that the PLA has the human capital, the structural ability, or the political appetite…