The U.S. Air Force became the first government customer to fly the F-35. On January 30, 2008, Lt. Col. Jim Kromberg flew the A variant of the fifth-generation fighter jet into history for the U.S. military.  

The next feature in the F-35 Joint Program Office’s Blast From the Past series revisits that flight with Kromberg. He speaks about his experience and why it was an important F-35 development milestone when the contractor delivers the fighter jet to the government for flights. 

Read more: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/437439/us-air-force-soars-f-35-talk-with-lt-col-jim-kromberg