Two years after the first F-35A weapons load crews were certified, Air Education and Training Command dropped the first two live bombs from the fifth generation aircraft over the range at Eglin AFB, Fla. The 33rd Fighter Wing loaded the GBU-12s aboard six F-35s, dropping two over the Eglin range, states the release. “This further proves our airmen and sailors are the lethality behind this weapons systems,” said Col. Lance Pilch, the 33rd FW commander, in a Jan. 21 release.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
