Royal Netherlands
Air Force F-16 pilots
train in the heat of
Arizona – thousands
of miles from their
European bases.
Dr Kevin Wright
spoke to Lt Col Joost
‘Niki’ Luysterburg,
commanding offi cer
of the 148th Fighter
Squadron, about the
demanding nine-
month syllabus
among its range
of courses.
A
rizona’s mountainous and largely
desert geography could not be
more different from the low-lying,
coastal and green landscape of
the Netherlands. Yet, it is above the austere
terrain of the southwestern US that the
Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke
Luchtmacht/KLu trains its F-16 Fighting
Falcon (‘Viper’) pilots.
On October 1, 1989, the 148th Tactical
Fighter Training Squadron, part of the 162nd
Tactical Fighter Group, began training KLu
pilots to y the F-16 from the Arizona Air
National Guard (ANG) base alongside Tucson
International Airport (IAP). Re-designated
the 148th Fighter Squadron (FS) on May 15,
1992, training continued until (in a cost-
saving move) the Dutch F-16s returned to the
Netherlands in May 1995 to become part of
306 Squadron at Volkel Air Base.
In 2007, F-16 training moved back to
the US as it offers better weather for ying,
which shortens pilot training and eased
air traffic around Volkel. It was initially
conducted at Spring eld ANG Base, with 14
aircraft assigned to the Ohio ANG’s 178th
Fighter Wing (FW).
Lt Col Joost ‘Niki’ Luysterburg, the
commanding officer of the squadron andthe KLu’s most experienced F-16 pilot –
he has own more than 4,000 hours on
the ghter (493 of which were on combat
operations) – stated: “The better weather
here means we can progress through the
course much more quickly and students
get to develop their skills, improve and
consolidate them more rapidly.” In early
2011 the KLu ‘Vipers’ returned to Tucson
because the 178th FW transitioned from
an F-16 wing to the MQ-1B Predator (later
MQ-9 Reaper). The Dutch personnel
and aircraft rejoined the 162nd Wing (re-
designated from group status in October
1995) and the 148th FS was re-formed.
In addition to those from the
Netherlands, the wing has trained pilots
from the US and many international partner
nations including Belgium, Denmark,
Greece, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Morocco,
Norway, Poland, Singapore and United
Arab Emirateshttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 67
Above: A celebratory hose down to mark Lt
Col Joost ‘Niki’ Luysterburg reaching 4,000
ying hours on the F-16 in April. 148th FS
Below: The Southwestern United States
provides greater training opportunities than
the Netherlands with fewer ying days lost
because of poor weather.