EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Florida — Members of the 33rd Fighter Wing are at a two-week-long training session at Volk Field, Wisconsin. They departed Eglin Aug. 19.
Exercise Northern Lightning is a total force exercise where Air National Guard, Air Force and Navy aircraft simulate deployment and mission execution in a contested environment.
Instructor pilots, student pilots and professional maintainers from the 33rd FW will take part in the large force exercise to develop and demonstrate the ability to deploy and sustain an F-35A squadron in its intended threat environment alongside legacy aircraft.
“The lessons learned from this exercise, as from previous exercises, will be developed into the future real-world deployment of F-35A squadrons,” said Col. Lance Pilch, 33rd FW commander. “This wing has been and will continue to be integral in building battle-ready F-35 pilots and maintainers capable of employing this weapons system against elevated threats.”
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Eglin's 33rd Fighter Wing attends training exercise