Turning in the Old in Iowa: The Iowa Air National Guard’s 185th Air Refueling Wing at Sioux City will be turning in some old iron over the next two years, according to the Sioux City Journal. The wing gets to trade its old E model KC-135 tankers for newer, re-engined KC-135R models. This will be an easy transition, notes the Journal, unlike in 2003 when the wing converted from F-16 fighters to KC-135 tankers.
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.