Eglin group qualifies carrier sailors

Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.’s 33rd Maintenance Squadron (MXS) provided training and support to F-35C Joint Strike Fighters operations from Aug. 30 to Sept. 7 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Two AF technicians and two sailors from the aerospace ground equipment flight and wheel and tire shop at Eglin qualified shipboard sailors to operate F-35C support equipment bringing the Navy one step closer to initial operations capability. Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 101 from Eglin AFB, and VFA-125 of NAS Lemoore, Calif., flew six aircraft aboard the carrier to execute initial carrier qualification for 13 pilots, training that can’t be completely replicated on-shore. This qualification requires pilots to take-off and land the jets during day and night operations. With the ground equipment flight and wheel and tire shop training, Lincoln's aviation structural mechanics are now qualified to tear down, inspect, clean, rebuild and service wheel assemblies and to operate support systems of F-35C aircraft while its engines are off. The 33rd MXS group oversees all aircraft maintenance, sortie generation, weapons loading operations and logistics integration for the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin. (Source: 33rd Fighter Wing 09/18/17)