The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.
Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, where the wing is based, is now the 12th location to host the F-35A across the Air Force.
The first aircraft didn’t have to go very far—the base shares a runway with the F-35 maker Lockheed Martin, and aviation photographers even snapped pictures of the jet with the “TX” tail code flying in October. A wing spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine the fighter was undergoing checkout flights and had not been formally delivered at that point.
It’s also not the first F-35 to be flown by the 301st—back in August, the wing borrowed two new F-35s that are assigned to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to allow their pilots and crews to start training on the aircraft. That number eventually increased to five.
One of those jets was used in a Nov. 2 ceremony to celebrate the first aircraft arrival, as the Reserve unit was still waiting for its own assigned F-35 to complete the acceptance process.
Col. Benjamin R. Harrison, commander of the wing, said at the ceremony that his team is “ready to embrace this new era, and the F-35 is our vehicle to achieving sustainable air superiority.”
Three days later, Harrison was on hand to welcome the first aircraft in person.
A wing spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the 301st expects to receive its full complement of 26 F-35s over the next 12-15 months.
Lockheed has been scrambling to up its rate of F-35 deliveries to units after having to store newly built jets for nearly a year due to incomplete software testing. Deliveries resumed in July, and the long hold disrupted absorption and equipage plans among users, who could not efficiently train new pilots and maintainers of the fighter.
The 301st Fighter Wing is the first standalone Reserve unit to get the F-35—the Reserve’s 419th Fighter Wing at Hill uses the Active-Duty 388th Fighter Wing’s jets.
No other Reserve units have been selected to receive the F-35 yet, but three Guard units are slated to get new fighters in 2025.
F-35 Locations
| Base | State | Component | First Aircraft Arrival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Edwards Air Force Base | California | Active | 2011 |
| Eglin Air Force Base | Florida | Active | 2011 |
| Nellis Air Force Base | Nevada | Active | 2013 |
| Luke Air Force Base | Arizona | Active | 2014 |
| Hill Air Force Base | Utah | Active | 2015 |
| Burlington Air National Guard Base | Vermont | Guard | 2019 |
| Eielson Air Force Base | Alaska | Active | 2020 |
| Royal Air Force Lakenheath | UK | Active | 2021 |
| Truax Field Air National Guard Base | Wisconsin | Guard | 2023 |
| Dannelly Field | Alabama | Guard | 2023 |
| Tyndall Air Force Base | Florida | Active | 2023 |
| NAS-JRB Fort Worth | Texas | Reserve | 2024 |
| Jacksonville Air National Guard Base | Florida | Guard | 2025 |
| Barnes Air National Guard Base | Massachusetts | Guard | 2025 |
| Kingsley Field | Oregon | Guard | 2026 |
| Moody Air Force Base | Georgia | Active | 2029 |
| Misawa Air Base | Japan | Active | TBA |