It is too soon to tell if the city of Valparaiso’s attempts to halt F-35 basing at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida will affect training plans for the Joint Strike Fighter, Gen. Stephen Lorenz said Feb. 27. Under BRAC 2005, Eglin would host a joint and international F-35 training center. But noise concerns meant plans to deploy 113 training aircraft to Eglin were scaled back to just 59 initially until the Air Force could complete a satisfactory supplemental environmental assessment. However, last week the Valparaiso city council voted to sue the Air Force to halt the initial deployment. Lorenz, head of Air Education and Training Command, said in an interview that this is a “very fluid and dynamic situation,” with so many variables that it would be foolish to speculate on how it might affect AETC’s training plans.
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.
