Page 21 - Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Enters the Combat Fleet

The Renorming of Airpower: The F-35 Arrives into the Combat Force

(Visits to Pax River, January and February 2016).

LT. COL. RAJA CHARI TALKS ABOUT THE WAY AHEAD WITH THE F-35: THE
RENORMING OF AIRPOWER SEEN FROM EDWARDS

An organization is known by the individuals that make it successful, and there is no more demanding
organization than a Combat Fighter Squadron. To become a successful fighter pilot it all begins with their first
tour Squadron experience in beginning their personal journey to make a difference for those yet to come. The
legacy of an organization and a base can also provide insights since it may be a cliché but the past is
prologue.

We were fortunate to interview one such Fighter Pilot. Lt Col Raja Chari, Director of the F-35 Integrated Test
Force and Commander of the 461st Flight Test Squadron (FTS), Edwards Air Force Base, California. He is a
senior pilot with combat experience and more than 2,000 flying hours in the F-35A/B/C, F-15C/D/E, F-18, F-
16, T-38A/C, T-37, and T-6.

Following undergraduate pilot training at Vance AFB, OK and F-15E training at Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, Lt
Col Chari served as an F-15E Evaluator Pilot and Chief of Standardization and Evaluation at Elmendorf AFB,
AK and RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, where he gained operational experience in the Pacific and flew
combat missions in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.

Lt Col Chari served at Eglin AFB executing flight test on F-15 aircraft to include the introduction of the first
Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the F-15E. He is also a graduate of the U.S. Army
Command and General Staff College. Lt. Col Chari’s full bio is at end of the article)

His command has a storied combat history (taken from wiki) :

The 461 FTS squadron performs flight testing on the F-35 Lightning II.

In the early days of WW II, the 461st Squadron was deployed to England aboard the RMS Queen Elizabeth and
served in combat as a part of the VIII Fighter Command from October 1943 to May 1945. The 461st ran
operations in preparation for the invasion of the European continent; they supported the landings
in Normandy and the Allied drive across France and Germany. The squadron flew P-47 Thunderbolts until
replaced by P-51 Mustangs in November 1944. Aircraft of the 461st were identified by a magenta/blue
diamond pattern around their cowling, carrying fuselage code "QI".

From October 1943 until January 1944, the squadron operated as escort for B-17 Flying Fortress/B-24
Liberator bombers that attacked industrial areas, missile sites, airfields and communications.

Fighters from the 461st engaged primarily in bombing and strafing missions after 3 January 1944. Its targets
included U-boat installations, barges, shipyards, aerodromes, hangars, marshaling yards, locomotives, trucks, oil
facilities, flak towers and radar stations.

The 461st bombed and strafed the Arnhem, Netherlands area on 17, 18 and 23 September 1944, in order to
neutralize enemy gun emplacements that were providing support to Allied ground forces during Operation
Market-Garden. In early 1945, the squadron's P-51 Mustangs clashed with German Me 262 jet aircraft. The
squadron flew its last combat mission, escorting B-17's dropping propaganda leaflets, on 7 May 1945.

As for the legacy of a military base, driving on Yaeger Blvd, Edwards AFB to interview Lt Col Chari says all
one needs to know about the storied history of USAF high performance testing of the future aircraft that will
continue to dominate combat aviation in the 21st Century

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