Fifth Generation Load Competition

Photo by Edward Cannon

Weapons load crews at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California, held a Weapons Load Crew of the Quarter competition on 4 October 2010 to prove which crew was the best on base. The event was the first loading competition at Edwards in more than a year and marked the first competition in which the load crews for the F-35 Lightning II and the F-22 Raptor competed head-to-head. The competition included a dress and appearance inspection, a written exam, and loading two CATM-120 captive carry air-to-air missiles in the respective aircraft weapons bays while evaluators scrutinized the loading for safety and performance discrepancies. The F-22 load crew from the 411th Aircraft Maintenance Unit won the event.