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Introduction of JSF Inter-Service Training at Eglin AFB
Overview
The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process chose Eglin AFB as the site of the new Joint Strike Fighter Inter-Service Training School, expected to train nearly 200 pilots annually in three variants of the F-35 aircraft. Eglin AFB is the Air Force's premier weapons development and testing site, and other major nearby operations include Air Force Special Operations Command units at Hurlburt and Duke Fields, and the 325th Fighter Training Wing at Tyndall AFB. Additionally, BRAC relocated the Army's 7th Special Forces Group (SFG) to the Eglin AFB cantonment area. Increasing civilian air traffic at the joint-use Eglin AFB/Okaloosa Regional Airport and at the Destin/Ft Walton Beach and new Bay County airports was also a concern for impacts on military traffic flow.
Solution
NASMOD was used to study the capacity of the Eglin ranges and all of the gulf region warning areas to accommodate the new training as well as the increases expected from the 7th SFG, the 325th FW, and Navy units in the region, as well as increases in regional civil traffic. Large training airspaces required by the F-35 and F-22 necessitated a redesign of the warning area airspace and NASMOD was used to test the viability of alternatives. Airfield throughput and capacity at Eglin, Duke, and Choctaw Fields were studied as well as numerous infrastructure changes at Eglin AFB including refueling pits, new taxiways, V/STOL pads and arming areas. Interaction between Eglin AFB traffic and civil aviation traffic in the region was also examined for excessive delays or incompatible interactions. NASMOD simulation output data was used as input to noise analysis required by Environmental Impact Statements.
Primary training ranges for JSF IST
Client: 46th Test Wing, U.S. Air Force; Joint Strike Fighter Program Office
Prime Contractor: SAIC
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