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Air Force releases finalists to host F-35A squadrons
Stars and Stripes
December 8, 2016
Senior Airman Saovada Pum, 33rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, ensures the area is clear before taxiing an F-35A Lightning II at Alliance Airport in Fort Worth, Texas, Oct. 17, 2016. The Air Force has named five installations as finalists to house the next two Air National Guard F-35A fighter squadrons. (Peter Thompson/U.S. Air Force)
The Air Force has named five installations as finalists to house the next two Air National Guard F-35A Lightning II fighter squadrons.
Selection is expected next spring, with jets arriving at their chosen bases “in the early to mid-2020s,” an Air Force statement said.
Candidates include Dannelly Field in Montgomery, Ala.; Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho; Jacksonville AGS in Florida; Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Detroit; and Truax Field in Madison, Wis.
“The Air Force is committed to a deliberate and open process to address F-35 basing,” Jennifer Miller, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for Installations, said in the statement. “As we progress through the basing process, we will share information so interested communities are aware of what to expect.”
The next step is site surveys, where teams will “assess each location against operational requirements, potential impacts to existing missions, infrastructure and manpower, and then develop cost estimates to bed down the F-35A,” the statement said.