One of the two Afghan airmen who went missing from Moody AFB, Ga., last month has been located in Virginia and is seeking political asylum, reported WSB-TV 2. The station did not say which airman was located. When reached by Air Force Magazine, Department of Homeland Security spokesman Bryan Cox said he could not confirm nor deny media reports that one of the airmen was located “due to the existence of an ongoing investigation.” Mirwais Kohistani and Shirzad Rohullah were a part of the first class of Afghan service members at Moody who were training on the A-29 Super Tucano. DHS did not consider the airmen a threat while they were missing. The class graduated on Dec. 18.
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.