Rising in Phoenix

The RAAF has been standing up its initial cadre of F-35 pilots and sustainment personnel at Luke AFB, just outside of Phoenix, Arizona

The Arizona desert is usually dry, but on this July day storm clouds sat on the surrounding mountains and I was gasping for breath as the humidity of the two month-long “monsoon” took hold of the day and squeezed the oxygen out of it. This when my rental car’s temp gauge was already reading 118 degrees, or 48C.

“Who the hell would want to build an air force base – let alone America’s fifth largest city – in such an inhospitable and debilitating environment?” I wondered as I drove from the airport along the elevated freeway above the treeless concrete jungle to my hotel.

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