KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Airmen from Kadena’s 44th Fighter Squadron will train with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force in Hokkaido this week, a release said.

The weeklong training is designed to improve combat flying skills between the U.S. and Japan forces.

About 70 airmenwill deploy for the training.

Airmen from JASDF’s 2nd Air Wing will participate in the training held at Hokkaido’s Chitose Air Base.

USS Hawaii to make Pearl Harbor homeHONOLULU — The Navy has officially announced it will base the USS Hawaii submarine at Pearl Harbor.

Gov. Linda Lingle and Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye have long said the submarine would be based in the islands. But the Navby didn’t make a formal announcement until Thursday.

The Hawaii is only the third Virginia-class submarine, the Navy’s most advanced underwater vessel.

It will join 15 Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered submarines at Pearl Harbor.

Change of command slated for AtsugiCapt. Eric W. Gardner will succeed Capt. Justin D. Cooper II as commanding officer of Atsugi Naval Air Facility during a ceremony at 10 a.m. Thursday in Hangar 1508, according to a release.

Cooper took command of Atsugi in 2006.

Gardner graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1985. His previous assignments include the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Allied Command Transformation’s Strategic Engagement and Vision branch, and the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies in Arlington, Va., as part of the Federal Executive Fellowship program, according to the release.