Vt. Air National Guard takes final steps to prepare for F-35s

LAUREN IN JUST TWO MONTHS...THE FIRST F-35 FIGHTER JETS WILL TOUCH DOWN AT THE VERMONT AIR NATIONAL GUARD. YEARS OF TRAINING AND PREPARATION HAVE GONE INTO THE TRANSITION FROM THE F-16S. LOCAL 22'S COURTNEY KRAMER GOT AN INSIDE LOOK AT THE PROCESS AND JOINS US IN THE NEWSROOM WITH MORE... COURTNEY WELL GOOD EVENING LAUREN... FOR MONTHS...THE GUARD HAS BEEN WORKING TO REPLACE THE EQUIPMENT FOR THE F-16S WITH PARTS FOR THE F-35S. TODAY...THEY LOGGED AND TESTED THE GEAR IN PREPARATION FOR THE ARRIVAL OF THE FIRST JET IN SEPTEMBER. 3 THE GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS ARE TAKING THE FINAL STEPS TO TRANSITION FROM F-16 TO F-35S. SUPPORT EQUIPMENT FOR THE FIGHTER JETS IS NOW BEING DISTRIBUTED ACROSS THE WING. "We've already received it, but now we're opening it. We're actually opening the equipment, inspecting it" OVER THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, AIRMEN WILL UNCRATE NEARLY 900 ITEMS THAT SUPPORT THE MAINTAINENCE OF THE F-35. "Anything the maintainers will need to get the aircraft off the ground has been arriving in large crates and boxes" EXPERTS FROM MULTIPLE AGENCIES ARE WORKING CLOSELY WITH THE WING TEAM...TESTING THE EQUIPMENT AND TEACHING THE GUARD ABOUT HOW EACH PART FUNCTIONS... GUARDSMEN SAY IT'S IMPORTANT TO KEEP INVENTORY OF EVERYTHING...SO THEY'RE ORGANIZED FOR FUTURE MISSIONS. "Verifying stock numbers, serial numbers, the nomenclatures match up, parts are where they're supposed to be" IN SEPTEMBER THE VERMONT AIR NATIONAL GUARD WILL BE HOME TO ITS FIRST TWO F-35 JETS... THE BASE IS EXPECTING TO EVENTUALLY HAVE 20 OF THEM...18 ACTIVE JETS AND 2 BACKUP PLANES.. MAINTENANCE workers AND PILOTS HAVE UNDERGONE MORE THAN 3 YEARS OF TRAINING TO PREPARE FOR THE JETS. ALTOGETHER, THE GUARD SAYS 30 PILOTS WILL BE TRAINED TO FLY THEM."I'm really proud of the team frankly for all the work that s gone into it and We're here and it's happening" COLONEL SMITH SAID THE TRANSITION TO THE F-35S IS ESSENTIAL TO THE FUTURE OF THE GUARD. "Our abilitiy to defend this country and respond to a situation in the state the f-35 really secures our future and our ability to do that" 3 COURTNEY WHEN I LEFT THIS AFTERNOON...THE GUARDSMEN HAD GONE THROUGH ABOUT 200 PIECES OF EQUIPMENT...THEY'LL INSPECT ABOUT 700 MORE ITEMS BY THE END OF NEXT WEEK. LIVE IN THE NEWSROOM...COURTNEY KRAMER...LOCAL 22 NEWS. 3 LAUREN A MAN WHO'S DRIVER'S LICENSE WAS CRIMINALLY SUSPENDED FOR LIFE AFTER

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