I've been away from the forum for a long time so forgive me if this has already been reported.

This past Thursday (12/15) the F/A-22 Raptor was officially certified combat ready and entered operational service with the First Fighter wing stationed in Langley, VA.

See more at http://www.f-22raptor.com/ (no affiliation).

As one who works for one of LM Aero's major subcontractors I have to say that it is a proud moment for all of us.  Congrats to all the hard working men and women who helped bring this new technology to the warfighter.

Frankly I thought the program would be canceled before the first squadron was operational.  Now I've heard rumors that due to the delay of the JSF (or so they say) they're considering ordering more F22s.  Good news for us since the F22 systems are much more expensive (I assume, never seen the selling cost) than the JSF systems.  We'll see how it all plays out in the end I guess.

It's exciting, after working on the program for eight years to see photos of planes painted in squadron liveries flying over Virginia.  Some nice shots include F15s from the same squadron, kind of a new guard/old guard sort of thing.  Who would'a thought we'd see the day when an F15 was "old guard", nearly obsolete next to the new bird.