The F-35A Lightning II has revolutionized the Air Force’s strategy for readiness and combat operations. At Hill Air Force Base, the 388th and 419th Fighter Wings are at the forefront, shattering the pattern of rotations as routine to one of versatility, flexibility, and confidence.
One of the biggest shifts is Agile Combat Employment, or ACE. Those months-long deployments with great big support groups and supply chains running around the clock are a thing of the past. Now it’s about mobility and simplification. Imagine small, flexible teams loading essential gear onto a C-17, landing at a forward or remote field, and taking off with fuel, ammunition, and maintenance just to keep the jets flying.
Lt. Col. Aaron Cavazos of the 34th Fighter Squadron said it right: months of waiting are finally over. Training exercises at Mountain Home Air Force Base proved that with cross-trained airmen, fewer aircraft can produce the same amount of sorties without requiring an excess of specialists. Master Sgt. Jonathan Whelan described the “Core 54” strategy—by which weapons techs, avionics specialists, and crew chiefs cross-train and occupy multiple slots. The result is fewer but a more efficient operation.
It’s not the aircraft or the tactics themselves that are creating the difference—it’s the individuals who operate them. Active Duty and Reserve troop blending has perfected the Total Force philosophy at Hill. Between the 388th and 419th Wings, 78 F-35As are flown and cared for by a combination of full-time and part-time Airmen.
As 419th Wing Capt. Matt Fritz so aptly put it, stand-by crews and reserve pilots are on stand-by at all times, ready for that day the nation needs them. Every flight is a school day, and when these wings deploy—to the Pacific, Europe, or the Middle East—they deploy forward vision, attitude, stability, and professionalism.
In fact, the F-35A represents more than United States airpower. For instance, when these planes left the ramp at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany, they were securing NATO’s defense posture. These missions are more about coordination and interoperability, and demonstrating the type of cooperation with allies that can’t readily be duplicated.
Home station training has also become more intense and sophisticated. Exercises such as Sentry Savannah and Bamboo Eagle challenge Airmen to perform at their best in extreme conditions, from bad weather to model near-peer adversary encounters. The Multi-Capable Airmen program fuels this transformation, making airmen multi-capable specialists.
Today’s airmen are no longer specialists but refuelers, ammunition loaders, and support maintenance, but with a wider mission awareness. Senior Master Sgt. Jake Lewis noted that cross-training enables them to be confident and enables small units to remain productive in resource-scarce, forward-deployed environments.
The reach of the F-35A is felt well outside of the Air Force. Fort Smith, Arkansas, is a better city for economically and culturally accepting foreign partner training exercises. Aside from dollars and jobs, these exercises forge bonds and appreciation that endure far longer than the exercises themselves.
Ultimately, the F-35A is not just an aircraft. It’s revolutionizing the way the Air Force deploys, fights, and trains. Agile Combat Employment, Total Force, multinational deployability, and cross-trained Airmen are leading us to a new place where speed, agility, and teamwork are just as crucial as firepower.
These 388th and 419th Fighter Wings are this new paradigm: adaptive, innovative, and prepared to face whatever the future holds. This is the new air warfare in action—efficient, streamlined, and at the forefront.