WEBVTT 00:04.130 --> 00:06.820 All right , perfect . Um , so just to 00:06.829 --> 00:09.107 start , can I get you to state your uh , 00:09.107 --> 00:10.890 rank name and title ? Yes , I'm 00:10.939 --> 00:13.439 Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Gray call 00:13.449 --> 00:15.671 sign light and I'm the current squadron 00:15.671 --> 00:17.838 commander of the 71st fighter squad in 00:17.838 --> 00:17.750 the Iron Man . 00:23.250 --> 00:25.989 Today . You see behind me , T 29 this 00:26.000 --> 00:28.280 is the new flagship of the 71st fighter 00:28.290 --> 00:30.234 squadron . We're in the process of 00:30.234 --> 00:32.909 bringing 30 F-22s that used to be in 00:32.919 --> 00:34.975 the training mission down in Florida 00:34.975 --> 00:37.086 and we're moving that mission up here 00:37.086 --> 00:39.308 to Langley Air Force Base . So , so far 00:39.308 --> 00:41.197 we've brought up a total of seven 00:41.197 --> 00:41.009 airplanes including the two we brought 00:41.020 --> 00:43.630 in today , which is T 28 then T 29 00:43.639 --> 00:45.250 which will be our flagship , 00:45.250 --> 00:47.417 representing the 71st fighter squadron 00:47.417 --> 00:49.583 and 71st fighter generation squadron . 00:49.583 --> 00:51.639 I'm sorry , I , I don't wanna talk , 00:51.639 --> 00:53.861 you kind of um , you can talk about the 00:53.861 --> 00:55.917 Jess , let's just not talk about the 00:55.917 --> 00:58.669 exact number . Ok . So don't say the 00:58.680 --> 01:00.847 total numbers of airplanes coming up . 01:00.847 --> 01:03.939 Do you want the tell numbers or no ? Ok , 01:04.300 --> 01:05.744 sounds good . Thank you . 01:10.529 --> 01:12.362 Yeah , great . You see behind us 01:12.362 --> 01:14.585 actually , this is the flagship for the 01:14.585 --> 01:16.807 71st fighter squadron and also the 71st 01:16.807 --> 01:18.973 fighter generation squadron . We're in 01:18.973 --> 01:21.140 the process of moving the F-22 fighter 01:21.140 --> 01:23.307 training mission from the Panhandle of 01:23.307 --> 01:25.362 Florida up here to Langley Air Force 01:25.362 --> 01:24.680 Base here in Virginia . 01:29.209 --> 01:31.320 The mission the fighter training unit 01:31.320 --> 01:34.800 designation is we train all pilots that 01:34.809 --> 01:36.920 come from pilot training and we teach 01:36.920 --> 01:40.199 them how to employ the F-22 in a combat 01:40.209 --> 01:42.320 role . So we first start out teaching 01:42.320 --> 01:44.431 them how to take off and land and fly 01:44.431 --> 01:46.598 instrument approaches and procedures . 01:46.598 --> 01:46.279 And that's really about their first 01:46.290 --> 01:48.401 five or six flights in the airplane . 01:48.401 --> 01:50.512 After that , we teach them how to dog 01:50.512 --> 01:52.734 fight in one V one scenarios . And then 01:52.734 --> 01:54.901 we move it up from there to two V 12 V 01:54.901 --> 01:57.068 two , two V many and then up into four 01:57.068 --> 01:59.234 ship four verse many scenarios . After 01:59.234 --> 02:01.457 we're done training these pilots , they 02:01.457 --> 02:03.512 become F-22 rapper drivers . We send 02:03.512 --> 02:05.512 them on out to the combat air force 02:05.512 --> 02:05.389 units that are stationed around the 02:05.400 --> 02:06.844 United States Air Force . 02:12.669 --> 02:14.725 So bringing the F-22 mission up from 02:14.725 --> 02:16.970 Florida here to Langley , it actually 02:16.979 --> 02:19.146 helps the community because we already 02:19.146 --> 02:21.312 had two combat squadrons here . And so 02:21.312 --> 02:23.535 now we're bringing a third F-22 mission 02:23.535 --> 02:25.312 here to this base and we get to 02:25.312 --> 02:27.423 maximize the efficiency of having our 02:27.423 --> 02:29.479 maintenance operations spread across 02:29.479 --> 02:29.419 three different squadrons that includes 02:29.429 --> 02:31.596 all of our little observable work that 02:31.596 --> 02:33.818 needs to be done on this platform being 02:33.818 --> 02:36.040 1/5 generation stealth fighter . And it 02:36.040 --> 02:37.985 also maximizes on utilization of a 02:37.985 --> 02:40.207 supply chain in one location instead of 02:40.207 --> 02:42.318 leaving one of these squadrons on its 02:42.318 --> 02:45.410 own down in Florida . And um so what 02:45.419 --> 02:48.160 led up to where we are today ? So 02:48.169 --> 02:50.509 really the movement of bringing this 02:50.520 --> 02:52.742 mission up here all really goes back to 02:52.960 --> 02:54.793 hurricane Michael which ended up 02:54.793 --> 02:56.849 devastating the Panhandle of Florida 02:56.849 --> 02:59.449 back in 2018 . And at that time , we 02:59.460 --> 03:01.293 had a combat squadron , the 95th 03:01.293 --> 03:03.516 fighter squadron which has since closed 03:03.516 --> 03:05.682 its doors and it will reopen itself as 03:05.682 --> 03:07.738 an F-35 unit here in the near term . 03:07.738 --> 03:09.860 But that base basically had a major 03:09.869 --> 03:12.514 catastrophe . And so we distributed the 03:12.524 --> 03:14.580 airplanes that were at that facility 03:14.580 --> 03:16.746 and we put them around the air force . 03:16.746 --> 03:18.691 And now this is the culmination of 03:18.691 --> 03:20.580 bringing the F-22 mission up here 03:20.580 --> 03:22.580 that's been in waiting for multiple 03:22.580 --> 03:24.802 years as we've been prepping all of the 03:24.802 --> 03:26.913 military construction needs that have 03:26.913 --> 03:28.802 been on order and also moving the 03:28.802 --> 03:30.746 personnel and the hardware and the 03:30.746 --> 03:33.279 airplanes up here . That's what ? 03:35.679 --> 03:39.570 Ok . Yeah . Move it wherever you 03:39.580 --> 03:42.759 need to . Yeah , 03:44.899 --> 03:45.820 look like one . 03:58.500 --> 04:02.169 Bye . Is it good 04:13.460 --> 04:14.460 work ? 04:23.769 --> 04:24.769 Oh , 05:02.320 --> 05:05.730 what's that ? Yeah , there is one 05:05.739 --> 05:07.572 that's landing as well right now 05:07.820 --> 05:09.880 there's , there's another jet short 05:09.890 --> 05:10.480 final . 05:23.420 --> 05:25.420 Do you want to try another question 05:25.420 --> 05:27.531 before the next one gets in ? Right . 05:29.010 --> 05:31.288 How does that sound ? Sergeant Tinsley ? 05:31.500 --> 05:34.160 Is it good ? Ok . I can talk louder if 05:34.170 --> 05:35.920 you need me to . Ok . 05:38.299 --> 05:39.890 How those pistachios . 05:42.769 --> 05:44.825 All right . You ready to go ? Cool . 05:48.660 --> 05:51.040 Yeah . So today's kind of , I wouldn't 05:51.049 --> 05:53.160 say it's the culmination but it's the 05:53.160 --> 05:54.993 beginning and the continuance of 05:54.993 --> 05:57.216 bringing all of the maintainers and the 05:57.216 --> 05:59.049 jets up for the fighter training 05:59.049 --> 06:01.049 mission for the F-22 from Florida . 06:01.049 --> 06:03.327 This really spawned a couple years ago . 06:03.327 --> 06:05.216 The decision was made right after 06:05.216 --> 06:07.327 hurricane Michael devastated the Gulf 06:07.327 --> 06:09.382 coast of Florida and primarily Tinel 06:09.382 --> 06:09.380 Air Force Base . The decision was made 06:09.390 --> 06:11.501 to move the fighting fighter training 06:11.501 --> 06:14.279 mission for the F-22 up to Langley and 06:14.290 --> 06:16.068 we've been working on this with 06:16.068 --> 06:18.179 military construction , jet transfers 06:18.179 --> 06:20.510 and personnel moves as well . So today 06:20.519 --> 06:22.741 we brought the flagship up here for the 06:22.741 --> 06:24.852 71st fighter squadron and the fighter 06:24.852 --> 06:27.019 generation squadron and we'll continue 06:27.019 --> 06:29.186 to bring the rest of the fleet and the 06:29.186 --> 06:28.290 maintenance personnel up here over the 06:28.299 --> 06:32.290 next coming months . The next 06:32.299 --> 06:34.410 step is actually next Monday we start 06:34.410 --> 06:36.660 flying the next iteration of the basic 06:36.670 --> 06:38.781 course . So that is the students that 06:38.781 --> 06:40.726 finished pilot training and became 06:40.726 --> 06:42.114 pilots got their wings . 06:44.959 --> 06:47.070 Ok . Perfect . No , we can start that 06:47.070 --> 06:50.779 over . The next step is as 06:50.790 --> 06:52.790 we are approaching what we call our 06:52.790 --> 06:54.957 initial operational capability . We're 06:54.957 --> 06:57.012 going to start the next coming weeks 06:57.012 --> 06:59.068 flying the first of our basic course 06:59.068 --> 07:01.123 students . So the ones that just got 07:01.123 --> 07:01.040 their wings from pilot training and 07:01.049 --> 07:03.105 we're going to teach them how to fly 07:03.105 --> 07:05.327 here . And that is like I said , in the 07:05.327 --> 07:07.216 next coming weeks we have already 07:07.216 --> 07:09.105 started training a few transition 07:09.105 --> 07:11.049 pilots . So pilots that have flown 07:11.049 --> 07:10.739 other fighters and we're now just 07:10.750 --> 07:13.083 training them to be F-22 fighter pilots . 07:13.083 --> 07:15.139 We've done a few of those here . But 07:15.139 --> 07:17.220 the basic course is really the 07:17.600 --> 07:19.711 foundation of what we do as a mission 07:19.711 --> 07:21.878 here . And our next class is coming up 07:21.878 --> 07:24.739 really soon . Is there anything else 07:24.750 --> 07:26.694 that you'd like to add or anything 07:26.694 --> 07:28.139 you'd like to highlight ? 07:31.739 --> 07:33.906 I don't know , I think , I don't think 07:33.906 --> 07:35.906 it's everything you came home . The 07:35.906 --> 07:38.519 overall rapper that . Ok . Now that we , 07:41.040 --> 07:43.096 that's great . Ok . The only thing I 07:43.096 --> 07:45.829 would add is as we are closing the 43rd 07:45.839 --> 07:48.006 fighter squadron down in Florida , the 07:48.006 --> 07:50.228 mission down there at the F-22 starting 07:50.228 --> 07:52.760 the 71st here . It will actually help 07:52.769 --> 07:54.991 the readiness for our entire fleet here 07:54.991 --> 07:57.158 at Langley because we're bringing more 07:57.158 --> 07:59.380 manpower , more airplanes while that is 07:59.380 --> 08:01.658 more of a potential burden on the base , 08:01.658 --> 08:03.436 it actually helps us to be more 08:03.436 --> 08:05.658 efficient across the F-22 community and 08:05.658 --> 08:07.880 our maintenance , our logistics and our 08:07.880 --> 08:10.102 readiness training pilots , both in the 08:10.102 --> 08:12.158 combat squadrons and in the training 08:12.158 --> 08:14.213 squadron are able to be optimized by 08:14.213 --> 08:18.140 this move . Alright . Anything else ? 08:18.600 --> 08:22.299 Cool . Here you go . So thank you so 08:22.309 --> 08:24.720 much . Ok .