U.S. Air Force (USAF) Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley said Jan. 4 that the new F-22 "Raptor" air-dominance fighter will soon be ready for foreign deployment — possibly to South Korea. Unlike in Europe — where militaries are getting smaller — and the Middle East — where conventional warfare has given way to counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations — the United States still faces a significant conventional threat in the Pacific Basin. The mention of South Korea as a possible first foreign deployment for the world's most advanced combat aircraft, therefore, underscores the importance the U.S. military places on maintaining its substantial qualitative advantage in the region The F-22 has been officially part of the USAF's combat inventory since its oldest fighter unit, the 27th Fighter Squadron (FS), reached initial operational capability on the aircraft after trading in its F-15s in December 2005.