PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force, Office of Public Affairs
Release No. 030806
August 10,2006
33rd Fighter Wing slated for F-35 training mission
EGLIN AFB, Fla. -- Air Force officials announced plans to assign the
mission of training new Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and allied F-35
Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter pilots and maintainers to the 33rd
Fighter Wing here. Final planning for the move is dependent on the
results of the ongoing environmental impact analysis process that is
required by the National Environmental Policy Act and designed to
identify and assess potential environmental impacts of the proposed
action.
The first of the F-35s, a family of next-generation, stealthy,
multi-role fighter aircraft, should begin arriving by 2010. The wing
will include Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and allied military personnel and
all three versions of the new fighter -- conventional take off and
landing, short take off and vertical landing, and carrier variants. The
Lightning II's advanced airframe, avionics, propulsion systems, stealth,
and firepower will make it an affordable, lethal, supportable, and
survivable aircraft for warfighters around the globe.
The 33rd Fighter Wing's F-15 Eagles will be redistributed throughout the
Air Force to active duty and Air National Guard units, replacing older
F-15s in the inventory. The final F-15 is slated for reassignment in the
summer of FY10. The wing also will transfer from Air Combat Command to
Air Education and Training Command when it assumes the F-35 training
mission.
In the next few years, AETC will stand up a new wing structure for the
F-35 training mission with approximately 2200 people. It is unknown at
this time how many people will transfer from one mission to another.
The 33rd Fighter Wing, whose mission is to "maintain the world's best
rapidly deployable air control and air superiority forces for theater
combatant commanders", is a combat-flying unit assigned under ACC's 9th
Air Force and is a major tenant unit here. The wing operates two flying
squadrons, the 58th and 60th, along with the 33rd Operations Support
Squadron, the 33rd Maintenance Operations Squadron, the 33rd Aircraft
Maintenance Squadron, the 33rd Maintenance Squadron, and the 728th Air
Control Squadron.
Release No. 030806
August 10,2006
33rd Fighter Wing slated for F-35 training mission
EGLIN AFB, Fla. -- Air Force officials announced plans to assign the
mission of training new Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and allied F-35
Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter pilots and maintainers to the 33rd
Fighter Wing here. Final planning for the move is dependent on the
results of the ongoing environmental impact analysis process that is
required by the National Environmental Policy Act and designed to
identify and assess potential environmental impacts of the proposed
action.
The first of the F-35s, a family of next-generation, stealthy,
multi-role fighter aircraft, should begin arriving by 2010. The wing
will include Sailors, Marines, Airmen, and allied military personnel and
all three versions of the new fighter -- conventional take off and
landing, short take off and vertical landing, and carrier variants. The
Lightning II's advanced airframe, avionics, propulsion systems, stealth,
and firepower will make it an affordable, lethal, supportable, and
survivable aircraft for warfighters around the globe.
The 33rd Fighter Wing's F-15 Eagles will be redistributed throughout the
Air Force to active duty and Air National Guard units, replacing older
F-15s in the inventory. The final F-15 is slated for reassignment in the
summer of FY10. The wing also will transfer from Air Combat Command to
Air Education and Training Command when it assumes the F-35 training
mission.
In the next few years, AETC will stand up a new wing structure for the
F-35 training mission with approximately 2200 people. It is unknown at
this time how many people will transfer from one mission to another.
The 33rd Fighter Wing, whose mission is to "maintain the world's best
rapidly deployable air control and air superiority forces for theater
combatant commanders", is a combat-flying unit assigned under ACC's 9th
Air Force and is a major tenant unit here. The wing operates two flying
squadrons, the 58th and 60th, along with the 33rd Operations Support
Squadron, the 33rd Maintenance Operations Squadron, the 33rd Aircraft
Maintenance Squadron, the 33rd Maintenance Squadron, and the 728th Air
Control Squadron.