Truax Field, WI, and Dannelly Field, AL, Selected

The Department of the Air Force selected Truax Field, Wisconsin, and Dannelly Field, Alabama, for the next two Air National Guard F-35A Lightning II locations. F-35As will begin to replace many of the older fourth-generation aircraft, but the Air Force will continue to fly a mix of fifth and fourth-generation fighters into the 2040s. This will allow the Air Force to maintain enough fighters to meet combatant commander requirements, provide required training, and allow a reasonable and uninterrupted deployment tempo for the force.

USS Ford Concluded Its First-Ever Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) Carrier Qualifications (CQ)

The aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) concluded its first-ever Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) carrier qualifications (CQ) for Naval aviators while underway in the Atlantic Ocean, April 4. The mission of the FRS is to train pilots, naval flight officers and maintainers on the specific front-line aircraft they have been assigned to fly. Some pilots may be training for current and upcoming deployments, where they will relieve currently-deployed pilots serving in fleet squadrons. Ford is currently the only carrier operating on the East Coast available to qualify pilots. The CQ included both day and night flight operations, and required the ship