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  • F-35 Demo Team announces new pilot and commander

    U.S. Air Force Capt. Melanie “MACH” Kluesner, an F-35A Lightning II pilot assigned to the 421st Fighter Squadron, became the new certified pilot and commander of the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team during the Air Combat Command Heritage Flight Training Course at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,

  • AF Week in Photos

    This week's photos feature Airmen from around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

  • Red Flag 21-2 underway at Nellis

    The 57th Wing’s 414th Combat Training Squadron (CTS) conducts Red Flag exercises to provide mission commanders, maintenance personnel, ground controllers, and air, space and cyber operators the opportunity to experience realistic combat scenarios in preparation for future warfare.

  • F-35 wings test combat capability

    The active duty 388th Fighter Wing and Reserve 419th Fighter Wing participated in a rigorous training exercise this week aimed at testing their combat capability. Pilots and maintainers from the wings have been flying and generating roughly 80 sorties per day, some into the nighttime hours.

  • Commanders of ACC, AFRC visit Hill AFB to celebrate F-35 success

    Gen. Mike Holmes, commander of Air Combat Command, and Lt. Gen. Richard Scobee, Air Force Reserve Command commander and chief of the Air Force Reserve, paid a visit to the active duty 388th Fighter Wing and Reserve 419th Fighter Wing to help commemorate a key milestone in F-35A Lightning II

  • U.S. Air Force's F-35A performs first sortie during Middle East deployment

    F-35A Lightning II pilots assigned to the 4th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron flew their first combat sortie in the U.S. Air Forces Central Command area of responsibility April 26, 2019, Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates. The fleet of F-35s deployed from active duty 388th and reserve 419th

  • 388th FW, 419th FW fly 10,000th F-35A sortie

    Maj. Daniel Toftness, a reservist in the 419th Fighter Wing, departs for a sortie in an F-35A Lightning II Oct. 18, 2018, at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. The flight marked the 10,000th sortie with the aircraft at Hill since the first operational F-35s arrived in September 2015.

  • PHOTOS: 388th FW fires F-35A cannon for first time

    Pilots from the 388th Fighter Wing’s 4th Fighter Squadron were the first operational unit to fire the F-35A’s 25 mm cannon in a strafing run during training. The two-ship formation fired on two sets of ground targets on the Utah Test and Training range Aug. 13. Loading and firing the cannon was one

  • Hill F-35A maintainers passing the Pacific TSP test

    Five weeks into the first F-35A Pacific Theater Security Package deployment the 34th Aircraft Maintenance Unit team is at full stride.Maintainers in the Pacific location and in Utah, home of the 34th AMU under the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings are coming together to make the first TSP a success and

  • Hill’s F-35A and airmen mastering first Pacific deployment

    More than 300 men and women of the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings and 12 F-35As are conducting business for the next six months on the subtropical Japanese island of Okinawa during a deployment known as a Theater Security Package.Their business is to fly the F-35A, integrate with Kadena Air Base’s

  • Hill’s 4th FS/AMU receives first F-35A

    Hundreds cheered the historic arrival of the 4th Fighter Squadron’s and 4th Aircraft Maintenance Unit’s first F-35A as tail number 5133 landed on base Wednesday and taxied into Hotel Row.

  • Hill, Robins to provide F-35 software sustainment

    Hill has earned another big piece in the future of sustaining the F-35, America’s newest fighter jet. The base already provides depot level modifications and maintenance on the Air Force’s entire F-35 fleet. Now, the Ogden Air Logistics Complex’s 309th Software Maintenance Group will be part of an

  • Fighter wings successfully field test F-35A ammunition loader

    The 388th Fighter Wing, the Air Force’s first F-35 operational wing, recently received five F-35A bulk ammunition loaders for field use. Airmen extensively tested one of the loaders June 6-9 during an engineering validation and verification evaluation here. The mobile loader lets weapons experts

  • F-35As deploy to Estonia for the first time

    Two F-35A Lightning II aircraft and approximately 20 supporting Airmen arrived at Ämari Air Base, Estonia, today, from RAF Lakenheath, England. The F-35As are participating in their first-ever training deployment to Europe. The aircraft and total force Airmen and are from the 34th Fighter Squadron,

  • F-35A deployment brings advanced airpower capability to Europe

    This weekend’s deployment of an initial six F-35A Lightning II fighters and several hundred Airmen to Europe demonstrates the aircraft’s readiness to conduct operations with America’s European partners, according to Air Force leaders.The April 15 arrival at Royal Air Force Base Lakenheath, U.K.,

  • 61st FS F-35 ground emergency at Mt. Home AFB

    A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 56th Fighter Wing experienced a ground emergency at about 12:20 p.m. EDT Sept. 23 at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

  • Vicious cycle: F-35A continues 5th-gen tradition of bullying legacy aircraft

    Imagine yourself in the seat of a fighter jet, tearing through the air at the speed of sound, your own weight pressing against your chest as you fight to breathe against the increased force of gravity.Sweat beads down your forehead as you scan your sensors and outside your canopy for any threats in

  • F-35A combat readiness celebrated at Hill AFB

    Hill AFB hosted a ceremony Aug. 5 in celebration of the recent announcement that the F-35A Lightning II aircraft is ready for combat.Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the commander of Air Combat Command, declared that the fifth-generation fighter aircraft was "combat ready" Aug. 2.During the ceremony, Carlisle

  • Breaking News: Air Force declares the F-35A ‘combat ready’

    The F-35A Lightning II fifth generation fighter aircraft was declared ‘combat ready’ today by Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the commander of Air Combat Command.Carlisle lauded the aircraft’s performance, noting that the aircraft had met all key criteria for reaching initial operational capability.Airmen

  • F-35 parts store moves to new, larger location

    The Airmen of the 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron F-35 Aircraft Parts Store at Nellis AFB will be moving to a new location and assisting with Air Force’s technical training school house curriculum in order to provide the ability to accomplish their mission more efficiently.

  • F-35As visit Mountain Home to test readiness

    Six F-35As arrived at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, Feb. 8, 2016, from Edwards AFB, Calif., to begin an operational deployment test at a nearby range complex. The test will help develop the concept of operations as well as validate the aircraft's capability to deploy.In order for the U.S. Air Force to