An Alabama Air National Guard unit has received three F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, becoming the third ANG unit to transition to the aircraft.
The 187th Fighter Wing, based at Dannelly Field, Alabama, is to receive a total of 20 F-35s within the next five years, replacing the F-16 Viper that was divested at the wing last year.
The Air Force announced in 2020 that the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing and the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing would also be transitioning to the F-35, along with an Air Force Reserve unit located at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas.
“The F-35 changes the role that the 187th serves in the United States’ application of air power,” said Major Bart Smith, a 187th Fighter Wing weapons instructor. “I’ve had the opportunity to experience the awesome capabilities that the F-35A brings to the joint fight. What truly separates the 187th apart will never be the aircraft, but the airmen that equip, maintain, and fly it.”
The unit’s 33 core aircraft maintainers have spent years training for the aircraft’s arrival, according to its leadership.
“They are highly skilled, highly trained maintainers that dedicated years of their lives and moved from Alabama to embed with F-35 Guard or active-duty units to learn best practices,” said Captain Bryon Townsend, 187th Fighter Maintenance Group’s director of operations.
