THE STORY BEHIND THE HILL AFB COMBAT POWER DEMONSTRATION
LAYTON IN UTAH is a pretty breathtaking setting, especially on a clear winter day. It nestles at the base of the Wasatch mountains, approximately 30 miles to the north of Salt Lake City, Utah. It is also home to Hill AFB, named after Maj Ployer Peter Hill of the US Army Air Corps, who died test-flying the original prototype of the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber. The base is home to Air Combat Command’s 388th Fighter Wing (FW), Air Force Reserve Command’s 419th FW and the Ogden Air Logistics Complex, a critical component of the Air Force Sustainment Center.
In September of 2015, the base made history when the first two combat-coded F-35A Lightning IIs landed here. It was a momentous occasion for both fighter wings, which were selected to be the first units to employ the US Air Force’s newest fighter. ‘Ops One’ — as it became known at the time — was a massive, ambitious undertaking, with the goal to bed down nearly 80 of the new aircraft, spread across three active-duty squadrons and a reserve associate unit.
In December 2019, that vision became a reality, when the last of the aircraft arrived and the wing achieved full combat capability. It had take…
