Lt. Col. Michael Ress, commander of the 309th Fighter Squadron, piloted the historic flight, closing a chapter in the squadron’s history. “The F-16 has been the backbone of the Air Force for over 50 years,” said Ress. “Fourth generation aircraft like the F-16 will continue to be the capacity, while fifth generation aircraft like the F-35 is now the capability.”
As a versatile multi-role fighter, the F-16 has served extensively in both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions. Its successor, the F-35, enhances these capabilities with advanced stealth, sensor fusion, and superior situational awareness.
“Inside the F-35 is technologies that were unimaginable when the F-16 was created,” Ress added. “The two are incomparable, and in 40 years there will be new generation aircraft that will continue to propel us forward as a warfighting force.”
Luke AFB began the transition from F-16s to F-35s in the early 2000s, with the 309th Fighter Squadron being the last of six to make the switch. “This is one of the first times the 309th FS has been the last to anything,” noted Dr. John Hale, historian for the 56th Fighter Wing. “They were the first in combat in WWII and the first to navigate across the Pacific Ocean in 1952 using aerial refuelling.”
The base’s F-16 pilot training programme started in 1983 and has graduated over 20,000 pilots in more than four decades. The final student pilot class completed training in September 2024, with the last local training sortie flown in February 2025.
Though U.S. F-16 operations at Luke have ended, the base will continue to train Republic of Singapore Air Force pilots and maintainers from the 425th Fighter Squadron until they relocate to Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Arkansas in the coming years.
Source: U.S. Air Force.
