Page 1 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt 2-12-16

Train the world’s greatest F-35 and F-16 fighter pilots Feb. 12, 2016
Vol. 16, No. 6
INSIDE

STORIES
„ Luke 1 sends message, 3
„ Tbolt gets Army medal, 4
„ Divorce difficult chapter, 5
„ Pilot lives two dreams, 6
„ Exchange gets visit

from HQ, 7
FEATURE

Tests are conducted on the F-35 Lightning II egress trainer Jan. 15 at Luke Air Force Base. The egress trainer is designed to
simulate the mechanical layout of the ejection and emergency evacuation system of the F-35.

F-35 egress trainer arrives at Luke

Senior Airman James Hensley Story and photo by Upon completion of the build, the third When the live ejection system is acti-
Airman 1st Class of its kind in the nation, the trainer will be vated, the canopy of the aircraft’s cockpit
FAB FLIGHT RIDGE SHAN used by Detachment 12, 372nd Training will detach from the aircraft. With the pilot
Squadron instructors to train Luke’s first strapped in, the seat will then catapult
See Page 10 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs class of F-35 egress maintainers. away from the rest of the aircraft before
deploying a parachute that will bring the
INDEX Over the past two months, major compo- “The term egress denotes escape,” said pilot safely to the ground. After activation,
nents of the new F-35 Lightning II egress Staff Sgt. Edward Cunningham, 372nd the entire process is automatic.
Action line ............................. 2 trainer, an advanced replica of the F-35 TRS, Det. 12 F-16 and F-35 egress in-
Briefs..................................... 3 cockpit designed to simulate the mechani- structor. “For pilots, egress is the ability “In the old days, separating from your
Spotlight ................................ 4 cal layout of the ejection and emergency to survive when something goes wrong. aircraft involved you climbing out of the
Diversions ........................... 16 evacuation system, have arrived at Luke This is their process of separating from
Sports.................................. 19 Air Force Base. the aircraft.” See F-35, Page 4

QUOTE OF THE WEEK Selective Re-enlistment Bonus program list triples

“In our profession of arms, the key WASHINGTON — Air Force officials released details on the fis- manning levels, re-enlistment trends, career field force structure
to progressing to the higher stages cal year 2016 Selective Re-enlistment Bonus program Feb. 1. This changes, career field stress levels, and the cost levels associated
of moral development is through year’s program, consisting of 117 Air Force specialties eligible to with training new Airmen.
pride, professionalism and passion.” receive bonuses, is a substantial increase from the previous year’s
program where 40 Air Force specialty codes were eligible. “This year’s SRB list increased by nearly threefold as we focused
Senior Master Sgt. on retaining key experience while continuing our deliberate plan to
Javier Gonzalez The program’s expansion coincides with Air Force plans to grow grow our force,” Romer said. “We are increasing our accessions and
the force to meet mission demands in the face of changing geopoliti- training pipeline to support the increased growth, but these new
56th Security Forces Squadron cal situations, and to address key gaps in nuclear, maintenance, enlistees won’t be seasoned for some time. Retaining the experience
cyber, intelligence, remotely piloted aircraft and support career we have is critical to our success in reaching target end strength.”
WEATHER fields through fiscal 2017.
All AFSC bonus changes became effective Feb. 1.
Today According to Col. Robert Romer, the chief of military force policy For more information, contact the local military personnel flight
for the Air Force, the criteria used to determine career fields re-enlistment section.
66°/35° eligible for re-enlistment bonuses includes current and projected
Courtesy of af.mil
Sunny
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