A Marine Corps F-35B lifted off for the first time from the joint F-35 schoolhouse at Eglin AFB, Fla. “Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 has had an exciting year with the arrival of our first three aircraft in January . . . and now generating sorties,” said Marine Lt. Col. David Berke, the unit’s commander, when discussing the historic May 22 flight, which came some two months after Air Force F-35As began flying from the schoolhouse. Marine Maj. Joseph Bachmann took off and landed conventionally with the F-35B on the May 22 sortie. The Marines said they plan to slowly work up to short-takeoff and vertical-landing flights at Eglin. The base now hosts a total of 12 F-35s, both A and B models, with the May 15 arrival of another F-35B. (Eglin report by Chrissy Cuttita)
After years of describing to lawmakers and Pentagon leaders the nature of that threat and the key role spacepower plays in deterring conflict in the domain and enabling the rest of the joint force, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman told reporters during AFA’s Warfare Symposium here that the message appears to…