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A Great Avalon Airshow Last week I wrote extensively about the Australian F-35As’ appearance at the Avalon Airshow and I wanted to close the loop on it. The jets are in the process of heading back to Luke AFB where they’ll get back to training pilots. It was amazing to see the excitement surrounding the F-35A and the surprise announcement by the Royal Australian Air Force that one of the jets would perform a fantastic flying demonstration. See the F-35A in action as it wowed the crowd, and listen to Prime Minister Turnbull speak about this momentous milestone for Australia, in this video. Mike Hedum, who leads the Lockheed Martin F-35 deployment team based out of Luke AFB, commended his team’s support of the show. “I’m very proud of the work the team performed in Australia and back home to make sure the F-35s were prepared for anything that came their way. Their hard work, and the hard work of everyone around the enterprise, paid off,” Mike said. The jets performed remarkably well, landing code one everywhere they went. The F-35 is truly taking the world by storm and Avalon was just the latest chapter.

Unleashing Our Potential After 37 years with Lockheed Martin, Tim McCracken knows a few things about assembling aircraft. In 1970, Tim started his career working on the F-111, then F-16, and now the F-35. He works on the forward fuselage team and noticed an integrated core processor (ICP) hose carrying coolant was rather difficult to install. “In order to install this hose you had to be very delicate with it and because of the install angles it was very easy to kink the hose,” Tim said. “If you kink the hose, you have to throw it away, resulting in a work stoppage.” Tim did the right thing and let his leadership know about this common problem and suggested a fix easy to implement. The solution the team identified was a hose that worked perfectly already being installed in a different part of the aircraft. “It makes everything run smoother and keeps the line moving efficiently. We want to ensure we are ready to ramp up production and provide the very best product for the warfighter who will strap into this forward fuselage in the years to come,” Tim said. Thanks, Tim, for speaking up and finding an easy fix that saved seven scrap, rework and repair hours per aircraft. I encourage all of us to make sure we are using the best tools and products for our jobs and to innovate ways of working in any way we can.

EOTS and DAS Team Visit I recently had the opportunity to visit with members of the F-35 Electro-Optical Targeting System (EOTS) and Distributed Aperture System (DAS) windows teams at the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control (MFC) facility in Orlando, Florida. During my time there, I addressed more than 150 MFC employees who support the F-35 program. As we prepare to grow the fleet to more than 500 aircraft, I emphasized our three main focus areas for this year: affordability, reliability and sustainability. Reinforcing an All In approach across the enterprise, we must all find ways to increase efficiency and innovation to support the 2017 F-35 commitments. Please take the time to watch the video about them as they are the driving factor in everything we do. I also toured the Fire Control Factory where the F-35 EOTS and DAS windows are manufactured along with the Optical Component Center where the EOTS optical lenses and sapphire window panels are manufactured, polished and coded. There is great work being done by the MFC team to deliver products making the F-35 a superior aircraft. A special thank you to Paul Lemmo, vice president of Fire Control/SOF CLSS, and Jerry Arlow, director F-35 EOTS, and the entire team for taking time out of your day and I look forward to my next visit.

New Green Knights CO Finally this week, I want to say congratulations to Lt. Col. Richard “BC” Rusnok on assuming his position as commanding officer of VMFA-121, the Green Knights. BC, seen here on the left of this photo, has been with the F-35 program since becoming the 21st pilot to fly the F-35, July 7, 2011. BC was also the second pilot to ever land an F-35B at sea. He has been a vital piece of the F-35 program over the past six years, including leading the Marine contingent to the U.K. last summer for the RIAT and Farnborough Air Shows. I can’t wait to see what he does as the new Commanding Officer of the Green Knights. The squadron made history Jan. 18, when they flew 10 jets from their home base at MCAS Yuma, Arizona to MCAS Iwakuni, Japan, where they are now permanently forward deployed. “I am excited for us to continue the tradition of innovation and excellence as the world's only forward-deployed 5th Generation fighter squadron,” Rusnok said at his change of command ceremony. Thanks to BC for his work on the F-35 program and I look forward to hearing about the many successes they have under his leadership. To learn more about the F-35, visit the internal F-35 Central, on insideLM, or visit F35.com.