LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Arizona. -- Gen. CQ Brown Jr., commander of Pacific Air Forces, visited Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, Sept. 20, 2018, to meet with U.S. and Indo-Pacific Airmen about the capabilities and interoperability of the F-35 Lightning II.

Brown toured various base facilities and partner country units, which train and conduct flight operations here, to learn how the F-35 program contributes to the 56th Fighter Wing’s mission to train the world’s greatest fighter pilots and combat ready Airmen.

“Part of our mission [at PACAF] is to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific, and one way we do that is in our training and partnership with nations,” said Brown. “It’s how we are able to work together and ensure the different nations have the same security interest and the same values.”

Brown visited key facilities including the F-35 Academic Training Center, the 61st Fighter Squadron, 944th Fighter Wing and discussed with various leaders how the F-35 program relates to our partners and foreign military sales.

“There’s a number of partners in the Pacific region that are getting the F-35; Australia, Japan, and the Republic of Korea,” said Brown. “I’ve had a chance to visit all three of those countries, and we all talked about the F-35 program. Visiting Luke is an opportunity to learn about how we’re doing training and to talk to some of the leadership from the different nations.”

Brown believes that training and partnerships, such as those found at Luke, in the F-35 program will be the key to upholding the U.S. Air Force’s tactical and strategic superiority while ensuring PACAF’s mission to a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

“The opportunity to come here and talk to our partners and understand how they’re doing with the F-35 training helps me walk away just a little bit smarter than I was before I got here,” said Brown. “It helps us understand how we need to work together within the Indo-Pacific, not only with the F-35 program, but as well as other capabilities we have, not only for the Air Force, but for our other services and how they work with our partners in the Pacific region.”