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Night flying to increase at Tyndall

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Christopher Reel
  • 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  With the 95th Fighter Squadron now at its operational capability and an increase in F-22 Raptor student pilots at the 43rd Fighter Squadron, night flying will become more frequent around Tyndall.

Expect to see aircraft flying later than normal next week in an effort to expand student training.

"Tyndall has always performed night flying," said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Ward, 325th Operations Support Squadron director of operations. "Now with two squadrons, night flying will increase. Usually, night sorties are completed before 10 p.m.; however, you may expect that pilots will fly later during the summer months, because it doesn't get dark until much later."

Flying at night is a core competency for an F-22 pilot.

"It's important we perform night training missions," said Ward. "Most wars are conducted at night. The darkness allows us to hide from the unaided eye, which gives us a distinct advantage. It's important that we train in the dark. The U.S. Air Force has lead air dominance both day and night; and we plan to keep it that way."

Night flying is a critical component at the 95th FS as it continues to employ its operational combat readiness, and it is just as important for the students at the 43rd FS.

The 43rd FS is the only facility organization in the world that trains F-22 pilots.

"Night flying and night air-to-air refueling is a requirement in the F-22 syllabus," said Lt. Col. Glen Richards, 43rd FS director of operations. "It is taught to every F-22 pilot."

The current class at the 43rd FS is one of the largest classes to go through the school house. This means more pilots to be expected in Bay County's skies, especially with 95th FS pilots also flying their training missions.

"In the past three years, the 43rd FS was the only squadron here that would fly at night," said Richards. "That's not the case with the standup of the 95th FS. The squadrons will try and sync up schedules to fly at night during the same times throughout the year. This won't be possible all the time. There will probably be four times a year where we will plan on flying night sorties for a couple weeks."

These sorties are important for the pilots and for the combat mission.

"As Col. Ward said, the U.S. Air Force owns the night," said Richards. "No other country has the ability to employ combat power at night like the U.S. Air Force. It is a unique skill that takes great training to do effectively and safely."