Page 55 - Maritime Services and the Kill Web

The Maritime Services, the Allies and Shaping the Kill Web

Over the course of the 10-hour mission, the F-35Bs, B-1B bombers and Koku Jieitai fighters flew together over
waters near Kyushu, Japan.

The U.S. and ROKAF aircraft then flew across the Korean Peninsula and practiced attack capabilities by releasing
live weapons at the Pilsung Range training area before returning to their respective home stations.

“The F-35 embodies our commitment to our allies and contributes to the overall security and stability of the Indo-
Asia Pacific region,” said Lt. Gen. David H. Berger, commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Pacific.
U.S. Pacific Command maintains strategic bomber and fighter capabilities in the Indo-Asia-Pacific theater,
retaining the ability to respond to any regional threat at a moment’s notice.

http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/1295820/us-fifth-generation-fighters-
strategic-bombers-conduct-show-of-force-with-allie/

It is hard to show up in a crisis if you are not there.
And the Marines are clearly there with their F-35Bs.

The Marines were first to Red Flag with their F-35s and this engagement has been important in shaping a real
world deployment.

It is also important to note all the cross learning going on among the US service F-35 communities and with he
allies in shaping an F-35 global enterprise.
This deployment is a force insertion which will lead to enhanced distributed knowledge to the F-35 global
enterprise and to the US and allied combat fleets.

Late last year, we went to Yuma to say goodbye to the Green Knights as they were preparing to deploy to
Japan.

2017-01-02 By Ed Timperlake and Robbin Laird
We last visited VMF-121 prior it being declared IOC with the F-35B.

That visit was in the Summer of 2014 and we spent time the then XO of the Squadron, Major Summa, now Lt.
Col. Summa and the CO of the Beaufort Squadron of F-35s, namely the Warlords of Marine Fighter Attack
Training Squadron 501, which we have also visited.

During our most recent visit to MCAS Yuma we had a chance to visit both of the IOC F-35B squadrons
in Marine Aircraft Group-13.

We also visited with MAWTS-1 and VMX-1, who have just returned from DT-III testing onboard the USS
America.

The first F-35B IOC squadron in the world, VMF-121, the Green Knights, are in the processing of transitioning
to their deployment in Japan.

Equipment and personnel are already on the way to Japan and the squadron will fly out this winter across the
Northern Pacific to operate from Japan.

The deployment comes at a crucial time, given ongoing developments in the Pacific, and the opportunity to be
combat operational with F-22s in Pacific Defense.

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