Page 1 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt, June 2021

“We train the world’s greatest fighter pilots and combat ready Airmen”
INSIDE
StorIES
 Committed to family, country, 2
 Luke Airman saves 28 lives, 3
 Luke AFB improves launch,
recovery, 3
 Chaplain’s thoughts, 4
 Updated Air Force fitness test, 4 a training flight over Luke Air
 Asian American, Pacific Islander
Heritage Month, 5
 Bringing home silver medal, 6
 Joining Forces for Arizona, 7
 Police Week, 8/9
 From the outside in, 12
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Frequent Updates – Breaking News – Local • Regional • National
June 2021
Vol. 20, No. 6
Denmark F-35A in training soars over Luke
Story and photos by A Royal Danish air
Airman 1st Class force F-35A Lightning
DominiC TYLeR II fighter jet assigned
56th Fighter Squadron to the 308th Fighter
Squadron at Luke
The Royal Danish air force Air Force Base soars
achieved a milestone in the over Bagdad, Arizona,
F-35 training program by us- May 5. RDAF recently
ing a Denmark-owned F-35A received two of seven
Lightning II for the first time in
F-35s that will support
Force Base, May 5. Danish pilot training at
During the flight, a Danish Luke.
pilot flew alongside U.S. Air
Force and Royal Netherlands air A U.S. Air Force, a Royal Danish
air force and a Royal Netherlands
force F-35s. Lt. Col. Matt “HAIL”
Cisar, 308th Fighter Squadron air force F-35A Lightning II fighter
commander, said this mission jet assigned to the 308th Fighter
underscores the cooperation be- Squadron, Luke Air Force Base fly
tween the allied countries. in formation May 5 over Bagdad,
“Today is yet another mile- Arizona. The flight marked the first
stone in the progression of train- training sortie featuring a Danish
ing for all our F-35 partners,” pilot flying a Denmark-owned F-35.
said Cisar. “Now that we have Denmark is one of many countries
the Danish flying their own participating in Luke AFB’s F-35
jets, we will continue receiving training program, which is de-
signed to integrate pilots, foreign
more of their aircraft to instruct and domestic, into a common set
the next generation of pilots in of tactics and advanced technolo-
Denmark.” gies and enables them to execute
Two Danish officers, enrolled the mission as one unit.
in the F-35 program since No- to have seven RDAF F-35s for
vember 2020, have been train- Denmark pilot training by 2023.
Luke is currently training
ing in U.S. and RNLAF aircraft. fighter pilots from other coun-
The first two RDAF jets arrived
at Luke AFB for pilot training tries such as Italy, Norway and
April 13. Singapore.
RDAF pilot “MON,” 308th FS “It’s truly remarkable to come
F-35 test pilot, shared his experi- into a fighter squadron in which
ence flying the first RDAF F-35. a U.S. pilot might fly a Danish
“I’m truly humbled to be cho-
sen as the first Danish pilot,” said jet alongside a Dutch pilot flying
a U.S. jet,” said Cisar. “It shows
MON. “This is the beginning of a all the work that’s gone into the
F-35 program, the partnerships
new era for the Danish air force
and our partnership with the and how much we rely on each
United States. Since I arrived other to get the mission done.”
at Luke, I have received truly The F-35 training program
amazing support from the 308th is designed to integrate pilots,
and everyone here on base.” foreign and domestic, into a com-
According to Cisar, two ad- mon set of tactics and advanced
pilot “MON,” 308th Fighter Squadron F-35 test pilot, after his ditional Danish F-35s were ex- technologies enabling them to
first flight in a Danish F-35, May 5 at Luke Air Force Base. pected in May. Luke is projected execute the mission as one unit.
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