By Stephen Losey, Air Force Times
A squadron of F-35 fighters from the 388th and 419th fighter wings at Hill Air Force Base in Utah deployed to Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates on May 20, the 388th said in a release Monday.
The deployment of pilots from the 421st Fighter Squadron, as well as maintainers from the 421st Aircraft Maintenance Unit, marks the third time in about 12 months that F-35s from Hill’s 388th and 419th have deployed for combat in the Middle East, the 388th said. There are 78 F-35s stationed at Hill.
The fighters’ early-morning departure May 20 was noticed by several in the area around Hill, and the 388th acknowledged in a tweet it was their fighters, though the wing did not say at the time where they were headed. “We can say that we won’t be taking off that early again anytime soon,” the 388th said.
Lots of questions about aircraft taking off from @HAFB this morning. That was us. We’ll share more info as soon as we can. We can say that we won’t be taking off that early again anytime soon. Thank you for your support. 🇺🇸⚡👊🏼👊🏽👊🏿 pic.twitter.com/46YzhKnuh6
— 388th Fighter Wing (@388fw) May 20, 2020
The 421st received its first F-35 in December 2018, and finished being stood up a year later.
Sending the 421st on its first deployment after its stand-up “demonstrates the readiness of our airmen, our weapons system, and the importance of both to the Air Force and our national defense mission,” 388th commander Col. Steven Behmer said in the release. “On top of that, add in prepping and training in this challenging coronavirus environment. As leaders, we couldn’t be more proud of our airmen.”
