The delays the Pentagon now has put into play for the early production of the F-35 strike fighter variants will not slow the standup of the joint schoolhouse at Eglin AFB, Fla., according to testimony by Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, at last week’s House Appropriations panel hearing on USAF’s 2011 military construction budget request. Schwartz told lawmakers, “We are synchronized properly for the early delivery of training aircraft.” He explained that each service would supply a portion of the Eglin-based training fleet—which “includes a 24-aircraft Air Force unit, a 15-aircraft Navy unit, and a 20-aircraft Marine Corps unit.”
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
