by Staff Sgt. Rachelle Coleman
18th Wing Public Affairs
4/19/2013 - KADENA AIR BASE, Japan -- Kadena
offers everything from aircraft hangars to radios, ensuring the 94th
Expeditionary Fighter Squadron from Langley Air Force Base, Va., is
fully able to integrate its F-22 Raptor squadron into daily operations
here.
The fifth-generation aircraft's deployment to Kadena, which began
earlier this year, not only signifies a continued commitment to regional
stability and security, but also provides opportunities for both Kadena
and Langley Airmen to learn about each other's aircraft in order to
integrate operations enhancing Kadena's strategic position as the
"Keytone of the Pacific."
Being familiar with other aircraft, its needs and limitations, as well
as its capabilities is crucial to ensuring the mission is accomplished,
no matter the location.
According to Lt. Col. Jason Hinds, 94th EFS commander, having the
Raptors in the region is just one more step toward the U.S.'s strategic
shift to the Asia-Pacific theater.
"It's important for the F-22 to deploy to Kadena for a few reasons,"
Hinds said. "The first is to give the pilots, the maintainers, and our
entire team from Langley AFB the familiarity with the location and the
airspace we would be flying in any kind of future contingency
operations.
"The second part ... is our airplane is unique in the capabilities it
brings to combatant commanders. The speed, the stealth, the supercruise,
the maneuverability and the integrated avionics that the F-22s provide,
give a unique capability ... especially in a highly contested
environment," the colonel added.
"This integrated team puts air superiority on "steroids," and it's
somewhat of a Yin-Yang relationship where Eagles make Raptors invisible,
and Raptors make Eagles invincible," said Brig Gen Matt Molloy, 18th
Wing commander.
The deployment and integration into Kadena operations also provides
maintenance Airmen the opportunity to become familiar with the
fifth-generation fighter aircraft.
"We try to integrate our Airmen into their operations as much as we can
... to get them to understand what kind of challenges the F-22 brings
with it," said Maj. Chris Smith, 18th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
maintenance operations officer. "While it's cutting edge technology,
that technology also changes the way we do business."
Differences could be as simple as changing a tire or a difference in
terminology, so whether during a training day, down day or an Airman
just being curious, leadership on both sides have taken every step to
give their Airmen chances to work with the other aircraft since the 94th
EFS's arrival on-island.
Senior Airman Jeffrey Hartman, 1st Maintenance Squadron non-destructive
inspection specialist deployed to support the 94th EFS, had little
experience with the F-15s until this deployment.
"Getting to work on the F-15 (Eagle) is exciting because it's something
new, something different," said Hartman. "A lot of the inspections are
different and it helps us to challenge our minds and work on different
things.
"Most NDI people are not aircraft specific, but once you work on one
kind of airframe you typically stay with that type of aircraft -
fighters stay with fighters, heavies stay with heavies," he said.
While deployed to Kadena, NDI Airmen join their counterparts in the
Kadena NDI shop. They work together every day, every shift, to make sure
operations are as cohesive as possible.
"When we forward deploy anywhere, the likelihood today is that our F-22
guys and our F-15 guys, maintenance and operations, are going to be
operating together," said Smith. "If they don't know how to do that in
practice, then it's going to be that much more difficult when the chaos
and fog of war comes down."
Cooperation from personnel in every aspect -- mission planning, mission
execution, aircraft maintenance and daily operations, is vital to making
sure the 94th EFS is always ready to accomplish the mission.
"Without the 18th Wing, we wouldn't be able to execute our mission on a day-to-day basis," said Hinds.
Forward basing of assets gives the U.S. Pacific Command the ability to
respond rapidly to any contingency, anywhere in the theater in minimal
time, and also underscores the U.S. commitment to ensuring stability and
security in the Pacific region.
Monday, April 22, 2013
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