There are 36 F-22s at Langley AFB, Va., already, with two more joining the 1st Fighter Wing every month. The wing will be fully equipped in 2007, after which Elmendorf AFB, Alaska will start getting its own Raptors. Lt. Col. Dirk Smith, commander of the 94th Fighter Squadron, confirmed that Elmendorf-bound Raptors, their pilots, and maintainers are starting out at Langley, where, over a few months, they learn how to run an operational F-22 unit, then will move on to Alaska. Smith said that he expects to see the same process repeated for Holloman AFB, N.M. and Hickam AFB, Hawaii, which are the next two bases to receive F-22s.
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…