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http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #359 FEBRUARY 2018 // 15

RCAF Air Task Force departs Europe

THE CANADIAN Air Task

Force (ATF) in Romania has

completed its contribution

to NATO’s Enhanced Air

Policing (eAP) mission.

The four-month mission

in support of Operation

Reassurance came to an

end on December 31. It

involved 135 Canadian

Armed Forces (CAF)

personnel – mainly from

2 Air Expeditionary Wing,

Bagotville, and 4 Wing,

Cold Lake – and four

Royal Canadian Air Force

(RCAF) CF-188 fighters.

In addition to the eAP

mission, the CF-188s

conducted regular training

with their Romanian hosts.

RCAF Hornet crews worked

alongside Romanian Air

Force MiG-21s, F-16s and

Puma helicopters, as well as

Portuguese F-16s, US Army

Black Hawk helicopters and

NATO E-3 AWACS. The

CF-188 crews also trained

with French and Romanian

vessels in the Black Sea

and visited Slovenia.

USAF selects

next two Air

National Guard

F-35 bases

THE US Air Force has

named Truax Field,

Wisconsin and Dannelly

Field, Alabama, as the next

two preferred locations

to receive Air National

Guard (ANG) F-35As.

“Selecting Truax Field

and Dannelly Field will

increase Air National

Guard F-35A units

providing fifth-generation

air power around the

world,” said Secretary

of the Air Force Heather

Wilson. “As F-35As arrive

at these locations, we will

use the existing aircraft at

these fields to replace the

ageing F-16s at other Air

National Guard units.”

The USAF expects

F-35As to begin arriving

at Truax Field in early

2023 and at Dannelly

Field later that year.

The USAF also evaluated

Gowen Field Air National

Guard Base (ANGB),

Idaho; Selfridge ANGB,

Michigan; and Jacksonville

Air Guard Station, Florida

in this round of decisions.

Previously, the secretary of

the air force selected three

active-duty operational

locations and one ANG

location to receive F-35As:

Hill Air Force Base,

Utah; RAF Lakenheath,

England; Eielson AFB,

Alaska; and Burlington Air

Guard Station, Vermont.

Stinger mission

marks at Mildenhall

A RARE visitor to RAF

Mildenhall, AC-130W

Stinger II 88-1305 of the

16th Special Operations

Squadron, part of the 27th

Special Operations Wing

at Cannon Air Force Base,

New Mexico, departed the

Suffolk base on December

7, as ‘RCH1040’. The

gunship was part of a

flight of two together

with 88-1301 ‘RCH1042’.

Serial 88-1305 displayed

ten mission markings in

the form of stick men.

The pair arrived

from Sigonella, Sicily

on December 6 and

departed to Keflavík,

Iceland. Chris Lofting

KC-46 tanker

receives FAA

certifi cation

THE US Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA) has

granted an Amended

Type Certificate (ATC)

for its 767-2C aircraft

configuration, Boeing

announced on December

21. The ATC applies to
    the core 767-2C aircraft
    configuration and verifies
    that the basic design
    of the KC-46 tanker
    is safe and reliable.
    The ATC is one of
    two FAA airworthiness
    certifications required for
    the KC-46 programme.
    A combined Boeing/
    USAF team has also been
    working on completing
    Supplemental Type
    Certificate (STC) work,
    which encompasses
    the military systems
    installed on the 767-2C.

Nimitz Carrier Strike Group returns

WARSHIPS ASSIGNED to

the Nimitz Carrier Strike

Group (CSG) 11 came

back to Washington on

December 10 after a six-

month deployment to the

Indo-Asia-Pacific region

and the Persian Gulf. The

aircraft carrier USS Nimitz

(CVN 68) returned home

to Naval Base Kitsap.

The strike group included

Carrier Air Wing (CVW)

11, which disembarked in

San Diego on December

5. While deployed, CVW-
   consisted of Strike Fighter
   Squadron (VFA) 147, VFA-
   154 and VFA-146 based at
   Naval Air Station Lemoore,
   California; Electronic Attack
   Squadron (VAQ) 142 based
   at NAS Whidbey Island,
   Washington; Airborne Early
   Warning Squadron (VAW)
   121 from Naval Station
   Norfolk, Virginia; Marine
   Fighter Attack Squadron

(VMFA) 323 based at

NAS Miramar, California

and Helicopter Sea

Combat Squadron (HSC)

8, Helicopter Maritime

Strike Squadron (HSM)

75 and Fleet Logistics

Support Squadron (VRC)

30 from NAS North

Island, California.

During its deployment

CVW-11 flew over 1,

combat sorties in Iraq and

Syria, and dropped over

900 pieces of ordnance.

Above: An F/A-18C from Marine Strike Fighter Squadron (VMFA) 323 ‘Death Rattlers’ prepares

to take off from USS ‘Nimitz’ in the Persian Gulf in August 2017 for an Operation Inherent

Resolve mission. US Navy/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Elesia K Patten

On January 3, the four ATF-Romania CF-188s passed through Lajes on their return to Canada. They had departed Mihail

Kogălniceanu air base for Sigonella, Sicily, before arriving in the Azores. The Hornets comprised 188770 (callsign ‘CFC0851’),

188750 (‘CFC0852’), 188749 (‘CFC0853’) and 188790 ‘CFC0854’), supported by CC-150 Polaris 15005 (‘CFC3378’). André Inácio