Continuity: Reserve pilots provide a stabilizing force for F-35 training program at Eglin

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Chance Babin
  • Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
Citizen Airman/Aug. 2014 --  As the Air Force, Navy and Marines continue to put the F-35 Lightening II through system design and development testing, while working toward initial operational capability, or IOC, pilots at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, are training pilots and maintainers in preparation for that day.

For the active-duty Air Force's 33rd Fighter Wing and 58th Fighter Squadron, four pilots from the reserve components -- two each from the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard -- are in it for the long run, providing long-lasting continuity for the program.

"The experience level that Guard and Reserve members bring to initial standup of the F-35 is a huge factor in its success," said Lt. Col. Brett Robison, pilot training lead at the academic training center, Eglin AFB, and one of the Reserve pilots. "And now, over the long run, we will offer the continuity to continue developing and not having to revisit things that we did several years ago, and we can keep the program moving forward."

Currently at Eglin, the Air Force is training with the Netherlands, and the Marines are training with the United Kingdom. The Navy is training there, too.

"We're now training a mix of pilots," Robison said. "Initially, most pilots we trained stayed here and went straight to being instructors. As part of the Air Force's initial cadre, our task was to train the pilots who were going to be trainers. Over the last year, manning at the 58th Fighter Squadron has reached the desired level, and now the training is focused on developmental test pilots, operational test pilots and instructor pilots who will stand up Luke Air Force Base, Arizona."

Luke received its first F-35 in March. Eventually, the base is scheduled to receive 144 F-35s in six squadrons, all part of the active-duty 56th Fighter Wing. The base will serve as the F-35 pilot training center for seven partner nations, making it the world's largest fighter pilot training facility.

For the two Reserve pilots, their vast experience flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon gives them versatility to help serve alongside their active-duty counterparts.

"The big thing we bring is continuity. We also bring credibility," said Lt. Col Andy Faulkner, F-35 instructor pilot and deputy operations group commander.

All four people occupying the reserve component positions were board selected, and every one of them is a weapons officer with 2,000 to 2,500 fighter flying hours, Faulkner said.

"So, for the most part, we are going to be the most experienced fighter pilots/weapons officers here to begin with, and we are going to be here long term for continuity," he said. "So that's the biggest thing."

For the Air Force Reserve, having pilots on the ground floor working with the newest fifth-generation fighter jet is significant.

"I think it's key for our Guard and Reserve that we are (involved) early, get that background, too, and have a good pool of Reservists and Guards-men in the program for different leadership positions later," Faulkner said.

The pilots are administratively attached to the Reserve unit at Luke AFB: the 944th FW. The 944th is just now getting cranked up for its first Reserve F-35 pilot and will have a full squadron of pilots and maintainers in the near future. The unit at Eglin is two years into the F-35 program. And while the Reserve pilots at Eglin do not have to attend every one of the 944th's unit training assemblies, they do stay in regular contact to share their wisdom and knowledge.

"From a Reserve perspective, we don't do much with them, but from an F-35 perspective, I talk to guys out there on a weekly basis as they are building their academic training center," Robison said. "They are asking questions about how they should stand up their academic training center, what issues we have with the contract and what they need to start preparing for, so F-35-wise we talk to them quite a bit."

Robison said there are several different pieces to the pilot training program, including the syllabus, which is developed at Eglin, with the help of the Airmen who left there to go to Luke to stand up the 61st Fighter Squadron.

"I went to their last UTA and basically gave them a briefing on how the airplane is
actually flying, not just (what it says) in the glossy brochure the contractor has, but the, 'Here's what it's really doing, here's what you can do with it,'" Faulkner said. "I can foresee a couple of Reservists will be available to go there and to Hill AFB (in Utah) once they stand up, to fly with those guys and help get them started if they need the additional instructor help or just to pass on those lessons learned over the last couple of years."

The last two years at Eglin have been fast-paced as the unit has grown from minimum manning and F-16 proficiency flying to a full-fledged F-35 training squadron.

"It is an unbelievable difference from two years ago until now." said Robison, who arrived at the unit when it got its first aircraft. "In two years, we've gone from zero jets here at Eglin to 26 now, 28 if you count the Netherlands' two jets. So we effectively went from no airplanes to two years later having a full squadron, full of jets with full manning."

Both Robison and Faulkner believe that with the fast pace of the unit, their continuity skills will be required sooner rather than later, as active-duty people start to move on to other assignments.

"Those guys leaving, maybe they come back, maybe they don't," Robison said. "As Reservists, we've seen the progression, and we just keep it moving forward. When you are talking about a large operation like Luke, I believe continuity is important. But it's even more important when you are standing up an organization from beginning to end. From the first flight to IOC, things change so fast, and if you don't have that continuity, then you're going to go back and revisit lessons that you should not have to revisit."

In addition to being the knowledge bank for lessons learned, the Reserve and Guard pilots also have the experience to fill in many different roles within the organization.

"In the early stages of the program, there's lots of change happening fast -- going from one software block to another and basically picking up on lessons learned as we go," Faulkner said. "Reservists are providing continuity and are able to move where the active-duty Air Force needs us. If one guy leaves a key position and they need us to fill in for a few months until his replacement arrives, we have that breadth of understanding of what's going on with the entire program that we can fill in wherever we are needed."

Faulkner said he believes it's wise for the four Reserve component pilots to be dispersed throughout the unit. He is currently in the deputy ops group commander slot, while Robison is in the training center. One Guard pilot is in the weapons shop, and the other serves as assistant director of operations.

"Right now, between the two Guardsmen and two Reservists who are here, we're strategically located in four key areas for continuity," Faulkner said "The active duty has done a good job integrating us where we'll provide the most bang for the buck."

The flexibility of the Reservists is on display. Robison is holding a position until an active-duty person arrives. He said that when the active duty has a manning shortfall in an organization, one of the Reservists or Guardsmen can quickly and easily be plugged in to that job and be effective immediately as opposed to bringing in a younger, inexperienced person who needs to learn the job.

"The perfect example is right now we don't have the deputy director of the academic training center," Robison said. "The Marine director just left, and the deputy moved up to the director job. So now I'm filling in for the next couple of months as the deputy director until a Navy guy shows up."

One of the advantages the Airmen at Eglin have is the opportunity to work alongside their Navy and Marine brethren as well as people from partner nations. Plus they have the opportunity to do simulator training and other work group activities at the aircraft manufacturer's facilities in Fort Worth, Texas. They use the lessons learned from these events to help write tactics for training.

As an example, pilots from Eglin recently participated in a joint cockpit working group in Fort Worth. During the working group, representatives from the Air Force, Marines and Navy, along with people from partner nations, gave their inputs to the future aircraft capabilities and enhancements.

"We are unique here at Eglin because we have the opportunity to do that cross-talk with the Marines and Navy, so we have that opportunity to go talk tactics and build our situational awareness between the services," Robison said. "We all speak fighter pilot, so it's pretty seamless. At times, there are competing interests, but it's nothing that can't be overcome."

While the F-35 has the A, B and C models, with each one featuring different capabilities, there is just one F-35 training system that is shared between the three services and partner nations.

"When we go to combat, between the Air Force, Navy, and Marines, we're all going to be able to talk to one another via datalink," Faulkner said. "We are all going to speak the same language on the radios. We're basically going to be able to execute the same tactics for the most part.

"And right now the tactics manual is a joint Navy, Air Force, and Marine document. So if all three services have to pick up and go to war and we don't meet until we are in the air, we will be able to execute together, and our jets will be able to talk to one another, which hasn't always been the case in the past."

While the F-35 still has some operating restrictions at Eglin, both Reserve pilots agree that the plane flies great, with very easy take offs, landings and air refuelings. In addition, they see vast improvements in software as the program progresses, allowing for exponential jumps in operations and tactics. And future software updates will add even more capabilities that are key to the F-35's core missions.

For Faulkner, getting the opportunity to fly the F-35 at Eglin is everything he could ask for. He and his wife are both natives of nearby Pensacola, so the opportunity to be so close to home is perfect.

"This was my dream job," he said. "I actually applied for the F-35 program on active duty. That was probably the one thing that would have kept me in -- making that initial cadre board. But I was an alternate, so I didn't quite make it."

Not to be deterred, he found an air reserve technician job flying F-16s at Eglin and eventually landed his current job flying the F-35 in August 2013.

"Being a fighter pilot on the beach, there's no better job," he said. "I'll stay here forever if they let me."