By Richard Smith
By Richard Smith
Independent Newsmedia
Luke Air Force Base is the largest F-35 training ground in the world.
And it is going to get bigger.
Less than half the F-35 program has been implemented at Luke.
Lt. Col. Matt Vedder, 63rd Fighter Squadron commander, lands the 63rd Fighter Squadron’s first F-35 Lightning II aircraft March, 20 at Luke Air Force Base. The new jet makes the 51st F-35 Lightning II aircraft assigned to Luke.
Brigadier General Brook Leonard, commander of the 56th Fighter Wing at the base, said two F-35 squadrons are complete and the base received the first F-35 for the third squadron on March 20.
A total of 50 F-35 fighters are on base, with 144 planned at full deployment. Luke will eventually have six F-35 squadrons, he said at a March 21 Surprise City Council work session.
Additionally, the base is breaking ground on Auxiliary Field 4 and will break ground on Auxiliary Field 5 next year.
Brig. Gen. Leonard said older fighters are not being phased out — about 300 Luke airmen are currently deployed, mostly involved in the war on terror.
He said the Air Force has ramped up production of F-16 more than 20 percent.
All this could not be possible without the positive relationships with the surrounding West Valley communities, he said.
Brig. Gen. Leonard took the post in July. He plans to make several presentations in cities across the West Valley.
State law and the relationship West Valley cities have built to make sure those laws are followed have allowed Luke Air Force Base to have the largest concentration of F-35 training in the world.
“I can tell you, with a lot of data, that this is the best relationship with a community. What makes it so powerful is the state law that basically allows us to do compatible growth and protects our ingress and egress corridors,” Brig. Gen. Leonard said. “The story of Eglin (Air Force Base in the Florida panhandle) if you don’t know it, that was our initial training site for the F-35. We built a lot of infrastructure and poured billions of dollars into it. It has the capacity for four F-35 squadrons. To date there is only one and that’s because of their relationship in their community.”
The commander said the relationship and support from the West Valley allows Luke Air Force Base to produce 66 percent of the world’s F-35 pilots.
Pilots from Israel, Japan, Italy, Australia and Norway train at the base. Brig. Gen. Leonard said Turkey and Denmark will send pilots soon.
The base also trains 97 percent of the Air Force’s F-16 pilots and all of its F-15 pilots.
“Everyone in the Air Force will come through our education and training command,” Brig. Gen. Leonard said.
Most train on a 100-mile stretch of the Barry M. Goldwater Range, which he said is an ideal spot because very little commercial air traffic passes through that area of southwest Arizona.
The relationship between Surprise and Luke provides another training advantage — an extra buffer provided by the city allows the Air Force to fly the F-35s at the Auxiliary Field 1 in Wittmann, just west of Surprise.
“It’s an even bigger thank you to the city of Surprise because of the protections around Auxiliary 1. Everyone that comes to Luke Air Force Base will do a certain kind of ride, an instrument proficiency ride. We do that primarily at Auxiliary 1. Without that field, we would not be able to handle the student load we do every day,” Brig. Gen. Leonard said.
These conditions allow large numbers of military, contracted and civilian personnel to come to the base, which translates to a nearly $2 billion yearly estimated economic impact for Arizona.
Surprise Mayor Sharon Wolcott said the city greatly appreciates the partnership they have with the base.
“We will continue to work together to make great things happen for the West Valley, the Air Force and the surrounding community,” she said after the presentation.
