The mission of training new Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter pilots and maintainers is moving to the 33rd Fighter Wing, Air Force officials announced.

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 members and all three versions of the new fighter: conventional takeoff 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 FW's F-15 Eagles will be redistributed 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 fiscal 2010. 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 2,200 people. It is unknown at this time how many people will transfer from one mission to another.

The 33rd FW is a combat-flying unit assigned under ACC's 9th Air Force and a major tenant unit here.

FMI: www.af.mil