2012-09-09 In a wide-ranging discussion with Lt. Col. Thomas “Ryder” Mitalski, Commanding Officer of VMM-263, we discussed the impact of the Osprey on the reshaping of USN-USMC operations. And we discussed as well the challenges of such change in con-ops upon the fleet and operational approaches. Lt. Col. Mitalski is an…
2012-09-08 By Robbin Laird Major Bachmann flew the 200th sortie of the F-35 at Eglin on August 24, 2012. I had the unique opportunity to inform him of that fact after he got out of his cockpit and then afterwards had a chance to sit down and discuss progress on the…
2012-09-07 By Robbin Laird When Ed Timperlake and I were commenting on the CNO’s recent piece in the USN Institute Proceedings on platforms and payloads, we underscored how some of the new assets fit into the CNO’s approach. The CNO's approach is reinforced by the kinds of platforms starting to come…
2012-09-05 [caption id="attachment_44879" align="alignnone" width="300"] Edwards Det | BF-02 Flt 213 | Dan Canin piloting BF-02 performing airstarts over Edwards AFB. Credit: PAO, Edwards AFB[/caption] (Excerpt) Edwards AFB Release The short take-off and vertical landing variant of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter successfully completed a major prerequisite test…
2012-09-06 In a wide-ranging discussion with Air Vice-Marshal (Ret.) John Blackburn, now the Chairman of the influential Australian think tank, the Kokoda Foundation, the key challenges and contributions, which Australia can bring to an evolving Pacific challenge, were highlighted. John Blackburn Biography A key opportunity for getting it right is…
By Robbin Laird During my visit to the 33rd Fighter Wing, I had a chance to talk with a couple of the folks involved in shaping the evolution of the life support system. Sargent Baskin and Sargent Velasquez discussed with me the challenge of evolving from the legacy to the…
by USAF Maj. Karen Roganov, Team Eglin Public Affairs U.S. Marine Corps Major Tye Bachmann, VMFAT-501 at the 33rd Fighter Wing's Integrated Training Center completed the 100th sortie of the Marine's F-35B variant of the Lightning II here, Friday, Aug. 31. [caption id="attachment_44843" align="alignnone" width="300"] 100th F-35B sortie at Eglin…
2012-09-06 By Robbin Laird Major Mike “Gravy” Roundtree, flew the 199th sortie of the F-35 on August 24, 2012. Just after his flight, I had a chance to talk with him about that flight and his assessment of the F-35 and its role for the USMC. Question: You are a…
