FORT WORTH, TEXAS — Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron (VMFAT) 502, the “Flying Nightmares,” is training new and transitioning pilots on the F-35B Lightning II on a two-week detachment training at Naval Air Station (NAS) Joint Reserve Base (JRB) Fort Worth through March 13, focusing on air-to-air and air-to-surface skills.
The “Flying Nightmares,” a Fleet Replacement Squadron, target two groups here: Category 1 pilots, fresh from undergraduate flight training, and Category 2 pilots, shifting from older aircraft to the F-35B. “The focus is air-to-air execution and air-to-surface skills,” said Lt. Col John Koepke, VMFAT-502 instructor pilot. NAS JRB Fort Worth’s diverse airspace and facilities amplify this two-week push.
For Category 1 and 2 pilots, training spans a year, progressing from basic flights—point-to-point navigation, landings, and approaches—to complex multi-ship strike missions, including nighttime bomb drops over vast distances. Students arrive an hour before takeoff, reviewing weather, prepping gear, and conducting risk analysis, followed by an hourlong brief covering every step from startup to shut down. “Standardized procedures streamline this,” Koepke said. Pilots then suit up, donning custom-molded helmets, 30 minutes before flying an hour-long sortie, tackling dogfights and tactical maneuvers…