HAMPTON, Va. — Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Virginia) visited with local service members this week. He got an update on the F22 Raptor Formal Training Unit at Langley Air Force Base.
The unit moved to Langley last year after Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida was devastated by Hurricane Michael.
"To move an F22 training mission from one base to another 12-hundred miles away without losing the training capacity, without having a gap - extremely difficult," said Kaine on Thursday.
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Behind-the-scenes look at Naval Station Norfolk's Regional Operations Center
The F22 is known for being undetectable and the Air Men and Women train on how to operate it.
"It carries a lot of lethality, but it is extremely undetectable and that's why the F22 is such a powerful platform," said Kaine.
Kaine is hearing about priorities as he gets ready for the next defense spending bill.
He says there is some work needed to address housing with about 500 more people now on base.
Watch related story: Behind-the-scenes look at the Regional Operations Center at Naval Station Norfolk
He says a new dorm could help.
"The base was already short of housing for new Air Men and Women, so we're trying to go to bat for this dorm that would cut into that deficit," he said.
He says he's hearing from service members about the ongoing conflicts worldwide.
"They're very focused on the war in Ukraine, tensions in the Middle East," he said. "They're wondering how much more they will escalate."
Kaine's visit also included stops at Little Creek and Wallops Island.
