Air Education and Training Command has established a site activation task force to oversee the establishment of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training mission at Eglin AFB, Fla., reports Lois Walsh. The Air Force announced last year that Eglin would train Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, and allied pilots and maintainers for the new F-35. Air Force Col. George Ross heads the SATAF, a 12-person joint service team, which oversees a $400 million construction effort and coordination of service-specific training needs. Already the environmental impact process for the F-35 mission and an Army move developed a wrinkle, causing a one-year delay in the BRAC 2005-directed movement of an Army element to Eglin. The SATAF also must oversee the shift of the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin from Air Combat Command and F-15s to AETC for the F-35 training role.
After a long period in which munitions were almost an afterthought and sacrificed to pay for other priorities, the Air Force needs to focus on them in order to have the right “package” of capabilities for future conflicts, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said June 7.