http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #365 AUGUST 2018 // 49
uke Air Force Base has been the
F-16 fighter training ‘mecca’ for
decades and previously hosted
F-15 training. Today, frontline F-35A units
are being established around the globe, and
Luke AFB tenants include a trio of US Air
Force training squadrons flying the jet that
airmen have begun to nickname ‘Panther’.
Embedded within these squadrons are some
of the original Lightning II partner nations,
coupled with the 944th Operations Group
(OG) Det 2 ‘Ninjas’, which trains F-35 pilots
from countries that procured the F-35 via
Foreign Military Sales (FMS). Currently Luke,
which sits in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert, is
home to an approximate 50:50 mix of ‘Vipers’
and Lightning IIs, but as time marches on,
the Lightning II inventory will dominate.Luke’s lair
Luke AFB includes four F-16C/D training
squadrons: the 21st Fighter Squadron (FS)
‘Gamblers’, the 309th FS ‘Wild Ducks’, the310th FS
‘Top Hats’
and the 425th
FS ‘Black Widows.’
Another important F-16
squadron is Air Force Reserve Command’s
(AFRC’s) 69th FS ‘Werewolves’, a tenant
unit of the 944th Fighter Wing (FW).
Essentially, the 69th is an associate F-16
unit and the squadron personnel work
with all of the other resident ‘Viper’ units,
supplying pilots and maintainers.
The USAF F-35A squadrons at Luke are
the 61st FS ‘Top Dogs’, 62nd FS ‘Spikes’
the 63rd FS ‘Panthers’ and the AFRC’s
944th OG Det 2 ‘Ninjas’. The ‘Ninjas’ are
responsible for F-35A FMS training and their
instructors and students fly the FMS aircraft.
In addition to the FMS portion, the
‘Ninjas’ also supply pilots and personnel
as an associate unit to the active-
duty USAF F-35A squadrons.“We consider ourselves the best in the business at the
fi ghter training mission and have been doing this for
decades with the F-16. Much of our F-35 training has
been modelled off of what we have learned from the
F-16.” Lt Col Eric ‘Bodhi’ PuelsL