Kadena Air Base, Japan / IPUG 75% Complete

A couple weeks after Lana and I returned from the Philippines, I went TDY to Kadena Air Base, Japan for a week of flying. Kadena is located on the island of Okinawa about 400 miles southwest of the mainland. We arrived on a Friday afternoon and had the weekend to relax and study a bit in preparation for the week ahead. Kadena has 2 squadrons of F-15Cs and there were also F-22s in town...some of us flew with them throughout the week as well. I had mentioned in an earlier post I was hoping to get a chance at shooting an AIM-120 air-to-air missile, but it didn't work out in my favor this time around. We had 3 missiles to split between 8 pilots. I did get to fly as a wingman with one of the jets shooting...the next best thing to seeing one fly off my jet.

I flew 4 times during the week, with the last scheduled as a 1v1 against an F-22. Naturally I was excited at the chance to fly against the USA's newest fighter jet and see how I could do in my F-16. The F-16 is a good BFM machine, but is not as capable at the F-22. The morning of the flight, we briefed, threw on our flight gear and were ready to head out the the jets when the F-22 cancelled!! The F-22s were having problems with their oxygen system and we're capped to 25,000'...with the potential for some bad weather enroute to the airspace with cloud tops above 25k, they didn't want to risk it. So, my F-22 experience turned into another BFM flight against another F-16.

When not flying we were at the beach, snorkeling, eating sushi or Japanese steak. The change in food choice was nice and we all appreciated something besides Korean food. Some of the pilots at the base feel Kadena is a "hardship" tour, but compared to Kunsan it is a step up...I could handle a few years on Okinawa. My cousin is stationed there flying the KC-135, but while on a trip to Guam his jet broke and we were not able to meet up. Hopefully sometime over the next 7-8 months we'll meet up before I'm on to my next assignment. On Friday afternoon I flew back to Kunsan in the backseat of an F-16D landing just in time to attend our squadron change of command ceremony.

Currently I'm 75% of the way done with the IPUG and hope to still finish by the end of the month. The process has been going pretty well, but I continue to realize how much I still have to learn. Lana will be back in a couple of days, so I hope to finish while she's around and celebrate the accomplishment with some time in Seoul together! We continue to be thankful for the job God has given her and the ease with which she can travel, but look forward to the time when we're back together for good! Until the next time...

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Kadena AB, Japan