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The first operational F/A-22 was delivered to the 43rd Fighter Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Florida, on 26 September. The unit, which will train all future Raptor pilots, held a formal delivery ceremony before a crowd of approximately 400 dignitaries and Air Force officials on 10 October. Tyndall is expected to receive fifty Raptors with one arriving approximately every six weeks over the next two years. Base officials said training would begin when Tyndall has five F/A-22s, most likely in early 2004. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Harrigian, commander of the 43rd FS, piloted Raptor 18 from the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company assembly plant in Marietta, Georgia, to the base on the Florida panhandle.
Photo By Tsgt. Michael Ammons
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