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[Air Force Times, Oct. 31, 2005]
By Laura M. Colarusso
Air Force Times staff writer
HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah — Nestled in the foothills of the Wasatch Mountains were six F/A-22 Raptors.
The gray skins of the Air Force’s newest fighter jets glinted in the sun. Maintainers preparing for the first mission of the day bustled underneath the wings of the planes, which were parked in a neat row on the flight line here with their canopies open for the pilots who would arrive shortly.
The pilots and maintainers of the 27th Fighter Squadron came here from their home at Langley Air Force Base, Va., to Utah to test their deployment skills.
As the Raptor nears the December 2005 target date for the Air Force to determine whether the new fighter is ready to go to war, the two-week test at Hill was an important one. Langley officials say the deployment isn’t a requirement for the Air Force to declare the plane operationally capable, but it will allow them to see where the new Raptor force needs to improve.
Lt. Col. James Hecker, commander of the 27th Fighter Squadron, the first unit to get the Raptor, called the deployment a big step toward understanding “what do we need more of and what do we need less of” in terms of spare parts and equipment when the squadron deploys.
“This is a huge learning deployment for us,” Hecker said. “We’ll take the lessons learned and apply them so we’re better next time.”
The deployment got off to a shaky start Oct. 15 when one of the Raptors had to turn around 200 miles into the flight because of a problem with its cooling systems. Because the aircraft travel in pairs, a second F/A-22 returned to Langley with it.
Of the six Raptors that made it to Hill on time, one had an issue with its cooling systems before the first flight of the deployment Oct. 17. Squadron officials described the problem as minor and said it was fixed by restarting the aircraft.
Prying eyes
The debate surrounding the need for the F/A-22 was on the minds of several people here, from the enlisted troops maintaining the jet to the pilots flying the sorties, some of whom were dropping ordnance from the Raptor for the first time.
And so is the scrutiny that comes along with flying the most expensive, advanced fighter jet in the world.
“I wasn’t used to the media spotlight,” said Capt. John Echols, who has been flying the Raptor for about six months. “It seems like half the time you walk out to the aircraft, there’s a camera crew.”
The attention, in part, results from the difficult development the $72 billion program has undergone. The Raptor has endured years of schedule slips and hundreds of millions of dollars of cost overruns. The Air Force, which has essentially been waiting for the Raptor for two decades, has defended the program fiercely, by touting its advanced software and engine technologies.
Questions about whether the Air Force can afford the F/A-22 continue. Defense officials cut the program last year by $10 billion in the face of budget pressures, and Pentagon officials say the service will likely have to stomach more cuts to its premier program.
“We’re very aware of the political decision being made,” Echols said.
Hecker, another former F-15C pilot, made similar comments.
“Of course there is a little pressure,” he said. “It’s probably more self-induced than anything else. … Now, am I going to be perspiring a little bit the first time I drop [a bomb]? I’d be lying to you if I told you I wasn’t.”
Air to ground
For the last couple of months, the pilots have concentrated on the air-to-ground mission.
For Lt. Col. Wade Tolliver, director of operations for the 27th and a former F-16 pilot, dropping bombs is nothing new. But the majority of F/A-22 pilots come from the F-15C community and are learning to drop bombs for the first time even as they train to fly a new aircraft.
Capt. Bill Creeden, an F/A-22 pilot, is one of the fliers scheduled to drop his first bombs this deployment. Creeden said he went through rigorous training — from academics to simulator rides to practicing bombing runs without actual bombs — before he came to Hill.
“Dropping a bomb from an F/A-22 for the first time is a pressure in itself,” said Creeden. “You don’t want to have a bad day and do something that’s not quite right.”
Langley officials are enthusiastic so far about the results of the deployment.
As of Oct. 20, the pilots had dropped 22 of the 24 bombs they planned to drop, said squadron spokeswoman 1st Lt. Elizabeth Kreft. The bombs — 1,000 pound Joint Direct Attack Munitions — that were released hit their targets, she said.
Of the two bombs that weren’t released, one had a problem with its internal computer. The second wasn’t dropped because of an in-flight emergency that caused the pilot to turn around before he could reach the range. Details of what happened weren’t immediately available.
It ain't the heat it's the humility.
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