The Air Force has selected Maj. Josh Wood, currently serving as the weapons chief for the 56th Operations Support Squadron at Luke AFB, Ariz., for its fledgling F-35 strike fighter force. He will join the F-35 team at Eglin AFB, Fla., after a one-year short tour in South Korea, set to begin in about a month. The service last year announced selection of two other Luke veterans—Lt. Col. Stephen Pieper and Maj. Chad Lewis— for the F-35 program. And, as we reported last fall, various news reports have identified other pilots tapped for the initial F-35 instructor cadre. (Includes 56th Fighter Wing report by Justin Oakes)
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…