The first eight of twelve Vermont F-35 deployment aircraft landed at RAF Lakenheath, England, on September 4, 2026, the opening leg of a flight home to Burlington Air National Guard Base after nearly nine months away. The F-35As belong to the Vermont Air National Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing, known as the Green Mountain Boys, whose 134th Fighter Squadron deployed under a Pentagon mobilization order announced December 12, 2025.
Counted to September 4, that deployment ran 266 days — roughly three months longer than the six-month rotation a National Guard flying unit typically expects. The remaining four Vermont jets were expected to make the same Lakenheath stop the following weekend.
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First Jets Reach England on the Way Home
Split into two flights, eight F-35As of the 134th Fighter Squadron arrived at RAF Lakenheath, Suffolk, on September 4, flying as TABOR 81-84 and TABOR 91-94. The eight aircraft — airframes 17-5280, 18-5336, 18-5360, 18-5340, 18-5338, 18-5339, 18-5341 and 18-5343 — were supported by four KC-135 tankers, callsigns CLEAN 35-36 and 45-46, launched from Romania. Aviation photographers tracking the flights at the base perimeter identified the jets before the Vermont Air National Guard made any public announcement.
The wing had told local reporters in January that it would not release information about the deployment until a mission was complete and all personnel were back on base, leaving flight-tracking data and spotter photos as the primary public source for the aircraft’s movements.
A Deployment Unlike Any Before It
The Vermont F-35s left Burlington in December under Operation Southern Spear, publicly described at the time as a counternarcotics mission in the Caribbean. According to reporting on the deployment, the mission continued into Operation Absolute Resolve — the operation that concluded with the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro — before the unit was redirected to the Middle East for Operations Spartan Shield and Epic Fury following the outbreak of the U.S. air war against Iran.
A National Guard flying unit typically deploys for about six months, once every three years. Vermont’s airmen were roughly three months past that mark by the time the first jets reached England, and members reportedly left Vermont without a known return date — unusual for a Guard mobilization, where personnel normally know when they are scheduled to come home.
How many Vermont Guard members remained deployed was not precisely confirmed in public statements. A Vermont Guard spokesman put the figure at roughly 200 in an August report, while earlier statements in March had placed it in the hundreds without a specific count.
Who Is Taking Their Place
The Vermont squadron is being relieved rather than recalled early. The Air Force is rotating fresh fighter units into the CENTCOM area of responsibility to free up squadrons that have been deployed well past a normal tour, with F-16s from the Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing among the units heading in as replacements. U.S. Central Command did not respond to a request for comment on the rotation when it was reported.
The Title 10 Question Back Home
The 158th Fighter Wing remains federalized under Title 10, the section of federal law placing a state’s National Guard under presidential rather than gubernatorial command. A mobilization of this kind can legally run up to two years, and nothing in the public record indicates the order has been lifted.
“This is a federal issue. They don’t talk with us much about what they’re doing and what they’re not doing,” Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said at a press conference, adding that his administration continues to push for the unit’s return.
Vermont’s congressional delegation has also raised separate concerns about how the unit’s shifting duty status across four named operations affected pay, tax treatment and benefit records for deployed airmen — an issue reported in detail by Vermont outlets tracking the deployment.
FAQ: Vermont F-35 Deployment
Why did the deployment run longer than normal?
The unit’s orders rolled from one named operation into another — Southern Spear, Absolute Resolve, Spartan Shield and Epic Fury — without a break in duty status, keeping the Green Mountain Boys deployed roughly three months beyond the typical six-month Guard rotation.
What aircraft and units are replacing the Vermont F-35s?
F-16s from the Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing are among the units rotating into the CENTCOM region to relieve units, including Vermont’s, that have been deployed past a standard tour.
Does coming home end the mobilization?
Not necessarily. The 158th remains federalized under Title 10, and a mobilization of this type can legally continue for up to two years. No public record confirms the order has been lifted.
Looking Ahead
The remaining four Vermont F-35s were expected to reach RAF Lakenheath in the days following the first flight, ahead of the full squadron’s return to Burlington Air National Guard Base. Neither the Vermont Air National Guard nor U.S. Central Command has released a public statement confirming the deployment’s end or addressing whether the underlying Title 10 mobilization order remains in effect. The Aviation Diary will follow the squadron’s return and any further details released about the deployment.
Sources
- The Aviationist — Eight VT ANG F-35A Jets Arrive at RAF Lakenheath on Their Way Back from Middle East Deployment
- Air & Space Forces Magazine — Fresh US Fighter Jets Rotate into Middle East as Trump Tries to Up Pressure on Iran
- Compass Vermont — Vermont’s F-35s Are Flying Home After 266 Days and Four Operations
- WCAX — Vermont’s Green Mountain Boys Returning Home After Back-to-Back Deployments
- Vermont Public — Vermont Air National Guard Deployment Stretches to 8 Months With No Return in Sight
