It looks like some of the Massachusetts and Louisiana ANG F-15Cs, as well as those based actively at Kadena AFB on the Island of Okinawa, are being sent to join the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing somewhere in the Middle East. Usually such a deployment would be part of a large dissimilar air combat training (DACT) exercise, such as UAE’s IRON FALCON exercise, although it is not clear if this is the case. The F-15C, a jet that is totally focused on air supremacy, being deployed to the Gulf via multiple squadrons does raise some eyebrows. Is there another reason for these jet being deployed than just a puzzling show of force and multi-national training? We may just find out on the front page of the newspaper, although hopefully that will not be the case…
http://www.kadena.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123292624
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/westfields_104th_fighter_wing.html
