Luke Air Force Base Graduates its 1,500th F-35 Pilot: Royal Netherlands Air Force Maj. Rolandus Scherders, RNLAF 312th Squadron director of operations, recently completed a five-month training course as part of lukeafb’s international F-35 Lightning II pilot development program. The Netherlands is one of several partner nations with pilots embedded at Luke AFB, underscoring the integrated nature of training on the fifth-generation fighter. “When they told me I was the 1,500th, the first thing that came to mind was that time flies,” Scherders said. “The program has been going for a few years, and hitting this milestone really shows how much has been accomplished in such a short time.” Scherders previously served as an exchange pilot with the U.S. Air Force for the F-16 Fighting Falcon and now received the opportunity to return to a joint training environment with the F-35. With 15 years of flying experience, Scherders brought a seasoned perspective to his transition from the F-16 to ...