United States Air Force Fighters

[Warph]

F-35 Lightning II coming to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona

~56th Operations Group – F-16 Fighting Falcons~

Overview Of Luke Air Force Base:

It is an active-duty F-16 Fighting Falcon training base with 170 F-16s assigned. The host command at Luke is the 56th Fighter Wing (56 FW), under Air Education and Training Command's 19th Air Force.

The 56th FW is composed of four groups, 27 squadrons, including six training squadrons. There are several tenant units on base, including the 944th Fighter Wing, assigned to 10th Air Force and the Air Force Reserve. The 56th Fighter Wing also trains more than 700 maintenance technicians each year.

The base population includes about 7,500 military members and 15,000 family members. With about 80,000 retired military members living in greater Phoenix, the base services a total population of more than 100,000 people.

An integral part of Luke's F-16 fighter pilot training mission is the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range. The range consists of 1,900,000 acres (7,700 km2) of relatively undisturbed Sonoran Desert southwest of Luke Air Force Base between Yuma and Tucson south of Interstate 8. Overhead are 57,000 cubic miles (240,000 km3) of airspace where pilots practice air-to-air maneuvers and engage simulated battlefield targets on the ground. Roughly the size of Connecticut, the immense size of the complex allows for simultaneous training activities on nine air-to-ground and two air-to-air ranges. The Luke Air Force Base Range Management Office manages the eastern range activities and Marine Corps Air Station Yuma oversees operations on the western portion.

In addition to flying and maintaining the F-16, Luke Airmen also deploy to support on-going operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and to combatant commanders in other locations around the world. In 2004, more than 900 Luke Airmen deployed, with most supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The host unit, the 56th Fighter Wing, is tasked to train F-16 fighter pilots and maintainers, while deploying mission ready warfighters. The wing graduates more than 400 F-16 pilots and 470 crew chiefs annually.

Luke Air Force Base was named after Second Lieutenant Frank Luke (1897–1918). Lt Luke is a posthumous Medal of Honor recipient and the number two United States ace in World War I.

Born in Phoenix in 1897, the "Arizona Balloon Buster" scored 18 aerial victories during World War I (14 of these German observation balloons) in the skies over France . Lieutenant Luke was shot down near Petain, France, on 29 Sep 1918, after he had destroyed three enemy balloons. Surviving the crash of his Spad, Lieutenant Luke drew two pistols and fired on German soldiers, killing several of them before he was killed.

Luke Field, Oahu, Hawaii Territory (now the Naval Air Station Ford Island) was previously named in his honor.

[Warph]

The World's Only INVISIBLE FIGHTER JET

Its beautiful. its awesome.  And it has an RCS about the size and shape of a spider.

[Warph]

"U.S. Air Force"

The most effective, capable, and rational branch of the military; most effective force via General Patton, USA,"You don't win wars by dying for your country. You win wars by making the other poor bastard die for his country!"

This definition must have been written by someone in the Air Force, It's all spelled correctly!