The Air Force has announced the other initial beddown locations for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter—it named Eglin AFB, Fla., in August as the site for primary maintenance and flight training. A news release lists the new operational locations—all to be a mix of active and reserve forces—as Hill AFB, Utah, Kadena AB, Japan, and Shaw AFB/McEntire ANGB, S.C. Test locations are Edwards AFB, Calif., and Nellis AFB, Nev. USAF now begins the environmental assessments for each locations, a process that could take up to two years. The service expects to begin receiving F-35s in 2009.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.