Published On: 02.19.24 | 

By: Michael Tomberlin

Alabama Air National Guard F-35 Lightning Red Tails take flight

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Two 187th Fighter Wing, F-35 Lightning IIs conduct a heritage flight with an F-16 Fighting Falcon and a P-51 Mustang celebrating the past and future of the Red Tails Legacy at an F-35 unveiling ceremony at Dannelly Field in Montgomery on Feb. 9. (Sgt. First Class William Frye / Alabama National Guard)

It’s been more than six years since Alabama announced its Air National Guard was selected to be part of the new F-35A fighter jet program and join the U.S. Air Force in fielding the most advanced combat aircraft.

“Well, y’all, the wait is over,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said at a ceremony at Montgomery’s Dannelly Field on Feb. 9.

The ceremony marked the Alabama Air National Guard’s 187th Fighter Wing unveiling of its F-35 Lightning II Red Tail jets that form the 100th Fighter Squadron. The new jets are painted with red tails, a nod to the historic Black Tuskegee Airmen fighter pilots known as the Red Tails who trained in Tuskegee and earned legendary status in World War II.

“These F-35s represent more than just advanced military hardware,” Ivey said. “In Alabama, the presence of these remarkable machines serves as a constant reminder of our state’s integral role in defending our nation.”

The 187th took delivery of its first F-35s in December and Brig. Gen. David Pritchett, the new adjutant general of the Alabama National Guard, said it will reach full readiness with the aircraft by February 2026 if not before.

Just like the famed history of the Red Tails, Pritchett said the 187th has its own proud legacy.

“The Wing carries a sterling name … it has built up over the decades – decades of integrity, of service and excellence in all they do,” he said.

As a salute to that history, the ceremony included a legacy flight flyover that featured the F-35 along with the F-16 Falcon that the 187th Fighter Wing is upgrading from, and a P-51 Mustang like the Tuskegee Airmen flew in World War II.

Pritchett pledged the Alabama National Guard will help it build on that legacy with an even greater future with the F-35s.

“We are committed to delivering greatness at home and across the globe,” he said. “We are committed to accelerating change to agile combat employment, large scale combat operations and to winning every conflict in which we find ourselves. We are committed to maintaining our unmatched professional excellence and leading the way in joint operations. And we are committed to meeting our pacing and acute threats alike with the best-equipped, superbly piloted, finely maintained, fifth-generation warfighters that they can’t hope to match.”