HAMPTON, Va. — U.S. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is making several stops in the region this week to discuss military readiness.
On Thursday, Kaine visited Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) in Hampton and Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Virginia Beach.
At JBLE, Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, met with servicemembers from the F-22 Raptor Formal Training Unit (FTU). The FTU is now stationed at JBLE after relocating from its temporary home at Eglin Air Force Base.
“Fought hard for that,” said Kaine. “I was very excited when the announcement was made it would happen.”
The FTU was originally assigned to Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida before the base sustained damage from Hurricane Michael in 2018. Following its relocation To Eglin, Kaine worked to bring the unit to JBLE.
In 2019, Kaine, and a bipartisan group of congressional peers, sent a letter to U.S. Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, urging her to relocate the unit to Langley.
In June 2021, the U.S. Air Force signed a Record of Decision approving JBLE as the future home of the FTU.
It’s a major move for the Air Force; the fighter jet command brings 31 F-22s and more than 700 military members and civilians to the region.
“To move an F-22 training mission from one base to another 1,200 miles away without losing the training capacity is extremely difficult,” said Kaine. “The F-22 is such a unique platform that is so valuable, and the fact that it is now part of this great set of missions at Langley, it was exciting to come see it.”
The training command joins two F-22 squadrons already stationed at the Hampton base.
On Friday, Kaine toured NASA Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island to discuss research and work on hypersonic rockets.