Marine squadron stands up at Eglin

  • Published
  • By Samuel King Jr.
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) --  The first-ever Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II joint strike fighter training squadron, the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, stood up April 2 here.

The significance of the occasion was not just for the new F-35 unit, but also it marked the first time a Marine Corps squadron was embedded in an Air Force wing.

"And they couldn't have picked a better place to start," said Lt. Col. James Wellon, the VMFAT-501 commander, referring to the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin Air Force Base.

The squadron was redesignated from the VMFAT-451, a 13-year retired squadron that was reactivated April 1 for the ceremony.

"This is truly a historic event," said Maj. Gen. James F. Flock, the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing commander. "It has taken a lot of hard work to move toward joint-basing. It's been a genuine grassroots effort here at Eglin (AFB) to make joint-basing a possibility."

This is the next chapter in the future of Marine aviation toward the "direction of an all-short take off and vertical landing force," the general said.

The ceremony took place with the three current Marine aircraft, the AV-8B Harrier, F/A-18 Hornet and the EA-6B Prowler in the distance.

The Marine F-35 variant will be equipped with the STOVL ability. Just two weeks prior to the stand up, the first vertical landing of the F-35B STOVL took place March 18.

The joint strike fighter mission rested on the shoulders of the 37 "hard-charging" Marines currently assigned to the unit who are tasked with training the future pilots and maintainers, the general said.

According to Marine officials, the VMFAT-501 is scheduled to receive its first F-35B in the winter of 2010. Training of instructor pilots will follow. The Marines hope to have eight initial cadre and two operational test pilots trained within a year.