After 42 years, the 56th Fighter Wing completed its final U.S. local training sortie with the F-16 and will now focus only on F-35 training.
The U.S. Air Force’s 56th Fighter Wing has completed its final local training sortie with the U.S. F-16 Fighting Falcon at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, on Feb. 26, 2025. The last mission was flown by Lt. Col. Michael Ress, commander of the 309th Fighter Squadron “Wild Ducks,” the last U.S. F-16 unit at Luke.
The 309th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, which was in charge of the maintenance of the aircraft assigned to the 309th FS, is scheduled to conclude the divestment of the remaining F-16 aircraft next month, said the press release by the 56th FW. The squadron is planned to become the seventh F-35A Lightning II squadron at Luke AFB.
“The F-16’s final flight at Luke signifies a transition, not an end,” said Brig. Gen. David Berkland, 56th FW commander. “It’s a tribute to the aircraft’s legacy and the Airmen who mastered it, building a foundation of lethality that directly supported the Combat Air Force. Now, we focus on Luke’s future as the premier F-35 training wing, ensuring continued air dominance and unmatched combat capability.”
Luke AFB and the F-16
The 56th FW has been the cornerstone of F-16 training, producing combat-ready pilots for both the U.S. and partner nations. The F-16 arrived at Luke AFB in December 1982 and pilot training began shortly thereafter in February 1983.
In the jet’s 42 years of service with the 56th FW, more than 20 thousand F-16 pilots graduated from the B-Course training program, said the unit, with the final class of F-16 student pilots graduated from the 309th FS in September 2024. It is important to highlight that the Feb. 26 flight was the last U.S. flight, and not the last F-16 flight ever, as Luke AFB will still continue to host F-16s assigned to the 425th FS, which trains Republic of Singapore Air Force fighter pilots and maintainers.
The 61st FS “Top Dogs,” 62nd FS “Spikes,” 63rd FS “Panthers,” 308th FS “Emerald Knights,” 310th FS “Top Hats” and 312th FS “Scorpions,” also based at Luke AFB, all previously flew the F-16, as did the now relocated 311th FS “Sidewinders” and the deactivated 72nd FS. The U.S. Air Force F-16 training mission now continues at Holloman AFB, New Mexico, where the 54th Fighter Group has been reactivated in 2014 to gradually take over the F-16 training as the F-35 arrived at Luke AFB.
F-16 training
Holloman AFB is now the main training base for F-16 pilots in the USA as the Formal Training Units were moved there to make space for the F-35 training at Luke AFB. Holloman AFB trains an average of 180 students per year, averaging more than 10,800 sorties and 14,600 hours per fiscal year with the 311th Fighter Squadron, 314th Fighter Squadron and 8th Fighter Squadron.
Usually, the F-16 Basic Course takes about nine months to graduate pilots that will then go on to operational units for their combat readiness training. According to the US Air Force, during the 37-week long B-Course, students log on average 70 hours of flying time over 59 sorties in addition to roughly 245-hours of academic training and 69-hours of flight simulator training.
Pilots that attend the B-Course usually come straight from Undergraduate Pilot Training and Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals, which provide a strong foundation to start building the new capabilities with the F-16. Sometimes, pilots might be transferring from another aircraft and the training duration might be shorter because they already have operational experience and only need to “translate” that experience on the new aircraft.
The B-Course begins with four weeks of academics to teach pilots about the F-16’s systems and emergency procedures, followed by training events on the flight simulator and egress simulator that prepare the student for the first flight. With the F-16 being a single seat aircraft, students are quickly put through their paces and, after four flights on the twin seat F-16D, they fly their first solo mission on the F-16C.
The student continues building its proficiency and prepares for the check ride which provides the qualification to fly the Viper in all weather conditions, while also continuing academics and simulator sessions throughout the course. The new F-16 pilots then continue with the air-to-air phase of the course, with Basic Fighter Maneuvers, Advanced Fighter Maneuvers and Tactical Intercepts, while also integrating air-to-air refueling and night flying.
Once this phase is completed, students move to the air-to-ground phase, beginning with low altitude flight, Basic Surface Attack mission profiles with unguided weapons and then moving to guided weapons employment. Towards the end of the course, students are put to the test with more complex Offensive Counter Air, Close Air Support and COMposite Air Operation.
Pilots who successfully complete the B-Course are wingmen able to proficiently operate either as a single-ship or in a two- or four-ship formation, employing the 20 mm cannon, AIM-9 and AIM-120 air-to-air missiles, Paveway Laser-Guided Bombs, JDAM Inertially-Aided Munitions with the help of the JHMCS Helmet-Mounted Display, Night Vision Googles and targeting pod.
Training is not over yet, as to become fully fledged Viper pilots, graduates continue to train in their new units to achieve the combat readiness, expanding their mission sets (such as the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses), introducing new weapons (such as the AGM-65 Maverick, GBU-39 SDB or the AGM-158 JASSM), new qualifications (such as the flight lead).
