The 34th Fighter Squadron—known as the Rude Rams—was reactivated at Hill AFB, Utah, on 17 July 2015, marking the beginning of the F-35's combat era for both the active duty 388th and Air Force Reserve Command 419th Fighter Wings. The squadron, which dates back to World War II, was inactivated as an F-16 unit in 2010 as part of an Air Force restructuring plan, but returns to become the first operational Air Force unit to fly combat-coded F-35s. The squadron’s first F-35A is scheduled to arrive at the base near Salt Lake City in September 2015. By 2019, seventy-two F-35s will be assigned to Hill, with approximately thirty-five to forty pilots in each of the three fighter squadrons.
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