Pacific Air Power:Interior Alaska Selected for F-35 Squadrons

Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James has signed a Record of Decision indicating that the US Air Force has selected Eielson Air Force Base in Interior Alaska to be the home of two Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter squadrons.Eielson is located near Fairbanks,Alaska.*
Alaska combines a strategically important location with a world class training environment,Ms.James said.Basing F-35s at Eielson AFB will allow the Air Force the capability of using the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex (JPARC) for large force exercises using a multitude of ranges and manoeuvre areas in Alaska.This combined with the largest airspace in the Air Force,ensures realistic combat training for the Defense Department.*
Three years of study produced an Environmetal Impact Statement on the project which considered impacts such as air quality,noise,land use and socioeconomics.The JPARC where the squadrons will train has 65,000 square miles of available airspace.*
The decision to base two F-35 squadrons at Eielson AFB,Alaska will double our fifth generation fighter aircraft presence in the Pacific Theatre,said General Mark A. Welsh III,Chief of Staff Air Force.Integrating that fifth generation force with Navy,Marine and allied F-35 forces will provide joint and coalition warfighters unprecedented survivability,lethality and battlespace awareness in contested environments.It's an exciting time for Pacific Air Power.*
The two F-35 squadrons,totaling 54 aircraft,will join Eielson's F-16 Fighting Falcon aggressor squadron.Construction for the project is expected to start in fiscal year 2017,or as soon as July,in order to be ready to receive the F-35s starting in 2020.Between now and 2020,the Air Force will be increasing the number of active duty maintainers to accommodate the F-35s.The F-35 is to be the Air Force's premier strike aircraft for the first half of the 21st century and will eventually replace the legacy air to ground fighter fleets,the Air Force said.*
We want to ensure,from a security perspective,that we've got all our bases covered-and that's what we're going to be able to do because we've positioned two squadrons of F-35s here at Eielson,said Senator Lisa Murkowski,R-Alaska,at an Eielson AFB celebration to mark the basing decision.*
This decision solidifies that this state has become one of the most critical hubs of air combat power in the US military,added her US Senate colleague Senator Dan Sullivan,R-Alaska.Think about it.That's likely going to mean more missions for all of you,which I know you like,Senator Sullivan told the Airmen.*
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