F-35A Maintenance Sparks Red Flag 17-1

The debut of the F-35A Lightning II at Red Flag 17-1, an advanced aerial combat training exercise, has afforded the aircraft’s pilots and maintainers a chance to be a part of the Air Force’s premier air-toair 1combat training exercise. For Airmen involved with the F-35A, Red Flag provides a unique type of training which prepares them to be fully mission ready.

“It’s been great coming here and doing something that some of us haven’t necessarily done before,” said Senior Airman John Girtman, an F-35A avionics systems specialist assigned to the 388th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. “It gives us the ability to exercise our strength. Being able to work in an environment like Red Flag and seeing all of our training and hard work from back home come to fruition is extremely beneficial.”

A major part of the success to date of the F-35A aircrew is due to the planning and training which went into getting prepared for Red Flag 17-1. “Before we came out to the exercise we sat down and came up with a game plan as to what we may encounter or any issues we might face and how we can overcome those challenges,” said Staff Sgt. Brandon Bailey, a 388th AMXS crew chief.

“Now that we are here, the challenges we face during Red Flag helps us see what kind of challenges we might be faced with in a deployed environment and how we can overcome those,” Bailey said. “The things we learn during this exercise will allow us to progress and get better.” Red Flag exercises are fast-paced and provide aircrews the experience of multiple, intensive air combat sorties in the safety of a training environment.

“Here at Red Flag there is a great sense of urgency,” said Airman 1st Class Anhre Bourgeois, a 388th AMXS F-35A weapons troop. “We are always on the go. If it ever came to a real world contingency I think it will be the same thing. Just constantly on the go to get the job done and the jets up in the air. Red Flag really prepares me for that.”

The F-35A’s combined lethality and survivability make it the platform of choice for operations in a highly-contested threat environment. The F-35A will be the backbone of future joint and combined air operations, enabling critical interoperability.

“It’s an eye opening experience to be out here,” Bourgeois said. “It’s not every day that you get to work on an aircraft as smart as the F-35A. It’s definitely taught me a lot and I’m very humbled to be working on an aircraft like this.” This is the first deployment to Red Flag for the F-35A and the first large movement since the Air Force declared the jet combat ready in August 2016.

Lt. Col. George Watkins, the 34th Fighter Squadron commander, said, “It is exciting to integrate the newest operational fighter squadron and the newly initial operational capability F-35A with all the other experienced Warfighter including two of our partner nations. The professional aggressors are giving us great training, but enemy is no match for our integrated fourth- and fifth-generation Air Force.”

About Red Flag:

Red Flag was established in 1975 as one of the initiatives directed by General Robert J. Dixon, then commander of Tactical Air Command, to better prepare our forces for combat. Tasked to plan and control this training, the 414th Combat Training Squadron’s mission is to maximize the combat readiness, capability, and survivability of participating units by providing realistic training in a combined air, ground, space, and electronic threat environment while providing for a free exchange of ideas between forces.

All four U.S. military services, their Guard/Reserve components, and the Air Forces of other countries participate in each Red Flag exercise. Since 1975, 28 countries have joined the U.S. in these exercises. Several other countries have participated as observers. Red Flag has
provided training for more than 440,000 military personnel, including more than 145,000 aircrew members flying more than 385,000 sorties and logging more than 660,000 hours of flying time.

This mock battle in the skies over the Nevada Test and Training Range has yielded results that will increase the combat capability of our armed forces for any future combat situation.