FReeper Canteen ~ Road Trip: Luke Air Force Base, Arizona ~ 27 March 2018

laurenmarlowe and the Canteen Crew

[Kathy in Alaska]

 

 

~The FReeper Canteen Presents~

Road Trip: Luke Air Force Base, Arizona

Luke Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located seven miles west of the central business district of Glendale, in Maricopa County, Arizona. It is also about 15 miles west of Phoenix, Arizona. Luke AFB is a major training base of the Air Education and Training Command, training pilots in the F-16 Fighting Falcon.

The 56th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Luke. It is part of Air Education and Training Command. The wing is composed of four groups of 27 squadrons, including eight fighter squadrons. There are several tenant units on base, including the 944th Fighter Wing, assigned to 10th Air Force and the Air Force Reserve.

The base population includes about 7,500 military members and 15,000 family members. With about 80,000 retired military members living in greater Phoenix, the base services a total population of more than 100,000.

The mission at Luke Air Force Base is to train the world's greatest F-16 fighter pilots and maintainers, while deploying mission ready warfighters. The 56th Fighter Wing, one of the most highly decorated aviation units in history, traced its history to the 56th Pursuit Group which first activated Jan. 15, 1941, at Savannah Air Base, Georgia.

Today, the 56th Fighter Wing, a unit which historically has proven to have fighter pilots second to none, continues a mission that has been identified with Luke AFB since 1941: "Training Fighter Pilots Second to None."

The F-16 is the world's premier multi-role fighter; the product of high-end technology and inputs from fighter pilots the world over. It emphasizes flight performance--range, speed, payload, endurance and maneuverability--in the heart of the flight envelope where air combat occurs.

The F-16 introduced many very successful technologies, such as fly-by-wire and relaxed static stability, which gives it a quantum leap in capability over other fighters and still makes it a fierce competitor today.

It has the range, payload, agility, and systems required to reach, locate, and destroy its targets as well as the survivability and sortie rates to return to the fight again and again. 

But the heart of the aircraft lies not in the cold hard metal frame or superior technology--it can be found in the everyday men and women that fly this outstanding machine every day. The students who are training to fly one of the world's most advanced and capable aircraft receive some of the most realistic training available at Luke Air Force Base. They go through a structured syllabus totaling over 265 hours of classroom training, 55 hours of simulator and 80 hours of flight time.

Luke Air Force Base trains more than 470 F-16 pilots per year, and takes pride in each one of them. It is a process which develops well trained pilots that will go on to their first operational assignment ready for the fight.

Learn More About Luke Air Force Base Here!

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God Bless You All ~ Today, Tomorrow and Always

 

 

[Kathy in Alaska]

Please note: The author of tonight’s Road Trip is laurenmarlowe.
She is on vacation.

~ Road Trip: Luke Air Force Base, Arizona ~

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[radu]

Howdy, PRO.

How are things out your way these days? Still enjoying decent weather or has it gone downhill?

[PROCON]

Hey radu!

Our weather is lovely, clouds this morning and then sun. I shopped early at 2 stores and then been hanging out for the rest of the day.

I may mow tomorrow.

Wuz new your way?

[radu]

Howdy, LUV.

No rain here today but it was cloudy, cool, and your wind has moved up here. LOL

Y’all were barely missed by rain this afternoon when I checked the radar. Darn stuff was just south of your area, durn it. :-(

[radu]

So you’re still hoggin’ all the nice weather, are ya? LOL
Sure would be nice if you’d share the wealth a little with the rest of us. It’s getting tiresome to wake up to cloudy, cool weather every day.

A pretty quiet day here. Nowhere I need to be so I just puttered around the house. Tomorrow will be grocery day since Wed. looks to be a really wet day.

[deener]

Luke is now a training base for the F-35 fighter.

[left that other site]

Wish it were that easy, FRiend.

[MoochPooch]

Evening, Kathy! Great pics, as usual!

Gotta get to my Passover cleaning — if it ever gets done.

[Kathy in Alaska]

In first....Pro grabs the gold!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

And in second....The Mayor snags the silver!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

And rounding out the top three....mountainlion bags the bronze!!

[Kathy in Alaska]

Good evening, radu....a really weird day, but my stuff went smoothly. Timeclock issues mean time will be brought into the system in the morning instead of 4p today.

Hope you had a nicer weather day.

Roads were mostly dry this morning, but they are saying possibility of snow the next couple days. And I’m catching a cold...sneezing all day. I’m headed home.

[The Mayor]

Yea, doin what I can to annoy them too.

[luvie]

Sorry about sending the wind your way, but really glad for a calm day here. It stayed south of us all day. And north! Right now there’s rain all around and we are the hole in the donut.

Again!

[radu]

Oh boy. Isn’t the time that shows up at 4:00 what you take home to work on? That’ll set you back on the morning. :-(

Oh well, with that cold coming on this will give you a chance to go to bed early and get some rest.

Wouldn’t you know it? Y’all finally get the streets almost cleared and more snow. Hmph!!!

No rain today but it still wasn’t a pretty day. Cloudy, cool, and windy and no sunshine for the next few days. Rain’s in store though. We need to dry out so farmers can get fields ready for planting. Waaaaay too muddy right now.

[radu]

We know all too well about being in the donut hole where rain’s concerned. Happens here too often. I wish that hole would close for y’all!

[luvie]

Well, there does seem to be more on the move this way. Sure hope there’s no hail. My hubby just paid for his 2nd back window in his car this year. LOL!

Is it warming up for you soon? I know you’re very tired of chilly, wet weather.

[DennisR]

Just returned from AZ. Love hearing the sound of freedom!!

[DennisR]

There are F-22s there also.

[radu]

There’s stuff SW of you but we have to figure out how to make it GET to you and not fall apart beforehand! LOL
But NO HAIL!! It would be totally rotten of your hubby’s car got messed up again.

Tomorrow is supposed to be around 70 degrees - and cloudy - but with 20 to 30 mph winds it won’t feel that warm. The rest of the week will be low to mid 60s with a lot of rain Wed. and Thurs. With luck, we’ll have a little sunshine Saturday.

I’m praying for a break in the rain Thurs. afternoon. The local DAR have planned a reception to honor all Vietnam veterans, and are inviting the public, and at one point everyone will walk to City Hall where the mayor will read a proclamation honoring the veterans. From the email I received about it ...

“A Vietnam Commemorative flag will be raised by the color guard and fly over City Hall for three days. The flag reads, “A Grateful Nation Thanks and Honors You.”
The objectives of the commemoration are to thank and honor Vietnam Veterans and their families; to highlight the service of the Armed Forces during the Vietnam War; and to pay tribute to the contributions made on the home front by the people of the United States.”

I think it’s very nice they’re doing this. We have a lot of Vietnam vets in the area.
Mother Nature needs to be nice and let us do this little something for them.