The 43rd Fighter Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Florida, marked 25,000 sorties with the F-22 Raptor during a basic course pilot training mission on 7 October 2013. Known as the American Hornets, the 43rd FS is the F-22 pilot training squadron. Students learn air-to-air combat techniques during basic course training by primarily flying sorties against T-38 Talons flown by the 325th Training Support Squadron and other fighters replicating adversary aircraft. The milestone sortie came on an adversary mission. The 25,000 flight mark came two weeks short of ten years since the first F-22 was delivered to the base near Panama City in the Florida Panhandle.
