Photo Taken by Neal Bansal

An F-35C of the VMFA-314 "Black Knights" (Tail No. 301) on approach for landing at Moffett Field after the second sortie of the day. This specific jet scored 4 JSOW glide bomb hits during it's 5 month deployment aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) late last year. In early November of 2024, VMFA-314 conducted multiple strikes on Houthi rebel facilities in Yemen. These strikes, utilizing the 1000 pound AGM-154 "JSOW" bomb, mark the first ever use of the F-35C in combat operations. The aircraft was one of four jets from VMFA-314 to visit Moffett Field for routine training, with each pilot having just recently been awarded the Air Medal for their service during the prior deployment.

Photo taken by Ty Cady 

The Slovakian Air Force recently brought an F-16V Block 70 based in Tucson, Arizona, 1st Tactical Squadron, to the Fort Wayne Airshow in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, in July 2025, this marked the first American Airshow appearance of the new F-16 Block 70 Fighting Falcon, pictured here is F-16V 1006 departing KFWA the following Monday after the airshow, marking a new high in the partnership between the Indiana Air National Guard and the Slovakian Air Force. The 122nd Fighter Wing out of Fort Wayne International Airport assisted the Slovakian Air Force with delivering their first two Block 70s to Slovakia in July 2024, to this day the Slovakians and the Indiana Air National Guard have close ties with each other and continue to work together in many different ways. 

Photo taken by Matthew Dawson

This photo was taken during after the ending of the VMFA-232 Centennial ceremony which was a blast to go to. I remember talking with the intelligence officer very nicely asking if I could take some pictures of the transient birds before going to the Officer Club party. The story behind this picture transcends beyond thought.  I had no clue there was an ATARS bird here on the flightline. It was until I looked up and actually saw the modification. I thought it was just a normal F/A-18D with no markings. This bird was next to a former NASA F/A-18B, VMFA-112 (Now MALLS-11), F/A-18C+, and F/A-18C from VMFA(AW)-224.

Photo taken by Emmett Lopez

NAS Lemoore's own 2024 West Coast Rhino Demo Team banks over the crowd at the California Capital Airshow. The demo team consists of  aviators and personnel from the VFA-122 Flying Eagles, the west coast F/A-18 fleet replacement squadron (or FRS). As an FRS, their job is to train new naval aviators on everything there is to know about flying the Super Hornet in order to prepare them for active service. The United States Navy currently has two F/A-18 Fleet Replacement Squadrons, with the VFA-106 Gladiators being the east coast equivalent to the Flying Eagles.