Lockheed Martin dedicated an F-35 hangar at its aircraft assembly plant in Fort Worth, Tex., to the men and women who built, flew, and maintained the F-35’s namesake, the P-38 Lightning. The Oct. 4 ceremony featured veterans from World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam War, reported the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. At the event, Lockheed Martin officials displayed the rendering of a mural that will be displayed on the hangar’s exterior. The mural includes the words “P-38 Lightning Hangar: The Legacy Continues.” Company spokesman Joe LeMarca told the Daily Report: “The P-38 Lightning was just as revolutionary to air dominance in its day as its namesake, the F-35 Lightning II, is now. It is out of this spirit of innovation that we named F-35 after the P-38. Like the original Lightning, the F-35 Lightning II provides a revolutionary capability in a time of great uncertainty.”
Promotions to the Space Force’s second highest enlisted grade, senior master sergeant, have surged to the highest level in the young service’s history, bolstering the senior NCO corps as officials plan to aggressively expand the force and especially the enlisted corps.