Tyndall achieves 25,000th sortie

by Senior Airman Christopher Reel
325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

10/8/2013 - TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., -- Less than two weeks after the F-22's 10-year anniversary of arriving here, Team Tyndall achieved their 25,000th F-22 sortie during a 43rd Fighter Squadron Basic Course training mission Oct. 7.

"Flying 25,000 sorties is much more than just the number of times that the aircraft have flown here at Tyndall," said Master Sgt. Jamie Leach, 43rd Aircraft Maintenance Unit lead production superintendent.
"This number marks the accomplishment of producing many students to move on into combat coded units, which in turn provides the top cover to the men and women on the ground fighting the war."

A sortie begins when an individual aircraft takes off and ends when it lands. The 43rd FS is the only squadron in the world that trains and develops F-22 pilots. The students learn air-to-air combat techniques during their B-course training by primarily flying sorties against the T-38 Talon from the 325th Training Support Squadron and other fighters replicating adversary aircraft.

The 25,000 sortie was an Air Combat Maneuvers training mission for the F-22 B-Course, and incorporated F-22's from the 43rd FS and T-38 Talons. To enable Team Tyndall to train air dominance pilots for the nation's Air Force and to achieve 25,000 sorties, a complete team effort is required.

"The 25,000th sortie is a historic event that represents more than 10 years of producing F-22 combat ready pilots at Tyndall. We couldn't have achieved this landmark, if it wasn't for the years of hard work and the support of all the units on base," said Capt. David Delmage, 43rd FS instructor pilot and flight commander. "This sortie is a reflection of the excellence that is deeply imbedded within Team Tyndall."

The 325th Fighter Wing's mission is to train and project unrivaled combat power for F-22 pilots and maintenance personnel to support the Combat Air Forces. This mission continues during the government shutdown due to the Defense Department's need to keep the pilot training pipeline open.

"It takes a coordinated, concerted effort by the entire 325th FW family," said Mr. Robert Taylor, 325th Maintenance Operations Squadron Aircraft Maintenance Analysis chief. "Every member of the 325th FW has a role in successful execution of the wing mission, which basically is producing sorties to train F-22 student pilots to be combat ready for the Combat Air Forces."

In addition to Tyndall's flying, maintenance and support squadrons, Tyndall's flying mission will soon change with activation of a combat-coded, deployable F-22 squadron.

"We have the added excitement of bringing in a new combat-coded squadron and inheriting the accompanying operational mission," said Col. Max Marosko III, 325th Operations Group commander. "The addition of 24 F-22s will put more than 50 Raptors at Tyndall making it the largest concentration of F-22s in the world."

The new squadron and its associated maintenance and support personnel will bring nearly 1,000 additional Airmen and their families to the local area.

"The addition of a new fighter squadron will bring new people, new perspectives and a grander opportunity for innovation to achieve even more," Captain Delmage said.