Active Again: The 525th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, is on its first deployment since reactivation last fall as one of two F-22 Raptors units at the Alaska base. The squadron sent 12 Raptors to Andersen AFB, Guam, last week to form part of the latest Pacific region theater security package rotation of fighters and bombers. The 525th FS became operationally capable on May 1. “The Five-Two-Five was closed down after Desert Storm after the large drawdown that we had, and it was reopened 15 years later,” said Lt. Col. Charles Corcoran, 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander, and added, “This is basically our graduation exercise.” Corcoran, a former F-15 pilot, said of the F-22, which he has flown since 2002, that it is “a game changer.” He called the F-15 a “great airplane,” but he said, “It can’t hold a candle to the F-22.” (Andersen report by SSgt. Jennifer Redente)
In a show force over the Pacific, the U.S. conducted separate bilateral exercises with South Korea and Japan in response to North Korea’s May 24 ballistic missile test. The North’s test reportedly included an intercontinental ballistic missile, launched while President Joe Biden flew home from the region. Also on May…