Last week the Department of the Air Force announced that Truax Field in Wisconsin and Dannelly Field in Alabama were selected to be the next two Air National Guard F-35A Lighting II locations. The United States Air Force's F-35A is a fifth-generation aircraft built by Lockheed Martin, and this is the conventional take-off and landing variant. It was designed to provide advanced stealth capabilities and increased lethality.

The Joint Strike Force aircraft will replace many of the older fourth-generation aircraft, but the Air Force will continue to fly a mix of fourth-generation and fifth-generation fighters into the 2040s. That would allow the Air Force to maintain enough fighter aircraft to meet combatant commander requirements while also providing required training. It will also mean an uninterrupted deployment tempo for the Air Force. 

"The Department of the Air Force selected the 115th Fighter Wing and the 187th Fighter Wing as the next Air National Guard locations to receive the F-35A," said Secretary of the Air Force Barbara M. Barrett. "Putting F-35s at these two bases continues our transition into the next generation of air superiority."

The Air Force's basing criteria included mission requirements such as weather, airspace and training range availability, capacity requirements that focus on facility considerations, environmental requirements and cost factors.

The F-35A fighters won't be landing at those respective fields anytime soon, however. While the Air Force has completed the required environmental analysis, which began in early 2018, the aircraft are scheduled for deployment to the bases in 2023.

Truax Field Air National Guard Base, which is located outside of Madison, was named in honor of Wisconsin native Lt. Thomas L. Truax, who was killed in a P-40 training accident just before the United States entered the Second World War. It is home of the 115th Fighter Wing.

"This is a great time for the 115th Fighter Wing and the entire Wisconsin National Guard," said Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, Wisconsin's adjutant general. "The decision represents the hard work and professionalism of the citizen Airmen who have proven time and time again that we stand ready to answer the call both as the Air Force’s combat reserve and as the state’s first military responder during emergencies."

Dannelly Field, which operates as part of the Montgomery Regional Airport, is home to the Alabama Air National Guard's 187th Fighter Wing.

"We are thrilled that the waiting is over and we have received the final word that we will be the home of the F-35. This decision continues the tradition of the Red Tails and Tuskegee Airman," said Maj. Gen. Sheryl Gordon, Alabama adjutant general. "It is a great honor to be selected as the home of the most technologically advanced fighter in the Air Force inventory. We look forward to working with the Montgomery Airport Authority, the city of Montgomery and our State officials as we move ahead to prepare our facilities to accommodate the F35."

There are currently three active-duty operational locations for the Air Force's F-35A, including Hill Air Force Base, Utah; RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom; and Eielson AFB, Alaska, one other Air National Guard location, Burlington Air Guard Station, Vermont. In addition, USAF's Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Texas, is also expected to house the aircraft pending an environmental study that has been already conducted.

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

Image: Flickr.