Air Force announces return of many airmen and missions to Tyndall -- but questions remain on (F22s)

[nitpicker]

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2018/11/02/airmen-and-missions-returning-to-tyndall-but-questions-remain-on-fate-of-f-22s/

Air Force announces return of many airmen and missions to Tyndall — but questions remain on fate of F-22s

By: Stephen Losey    1 day ago

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson said that all but about 500 evacuated airmen will return to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida or the surrounding area in the next few months as the base continues recovering from Hurricane Michael. But the airmen and F-22s from the 95th Fighter Squadron will not be among them, at least for now, and it’s uncertain when — or if — they’ll return. And it will take several years before Tyndall is fully recovered from the devastating storm that forced 11,000 airmen and their families to evacuate.

In a teleconference with reporters, Wilson said Tyndall doesn’t have the infrastructure needed for the 95th to resume operations there, and its personnel and aircraft will be moved — at least temporarily — to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. The 95th has 21 F-22s and 36 active-duty airmen, the Air Force said, and its associated maintenance units have about 500 personnel.

Wilson said the F-22s that had to be left behind and were damaged in the storm will fly again. Most of the 17 damaged F-22s have already left Tyndall, and the final few fighters will fly out by Nov. 6. She said it has not yet been decided whether the F-22s will be able to return to Tyndall. But for now, at least, the Air Force is not breaking up the 95th, even though it is divided between three locations.
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