The 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Arizona, officially began training new F-35 pilots on 19 March 2015 when the first student, US Air Force Brig. Gen. Scott Pleus, the 56th Fighter Wing commander, flew the wing's first training sortie. The first official class of student pilots is scheduled to begin at the Academic Training Center, a 145,000-square-foot two story state-of-the-art training center on 4 May. Pleus will complete his training and join the cadre of instructor pilots training that first class of students. The 61st Fighter Squadron is the first 56th FW squadron scheduled to train future F-35 instructor, operational, and test pilots. The 61st FS will eventually train partner nation pilots.
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