33rd Fighter Wing

The 33rd Fighter Wing, sometimes written 33d Fighter Wing, (33 FW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Education and Training Command's Nineteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida where it is a tenant unit.

The 33 FW is an AETC training unit. Its main mission is to train United States Air Force and partner nation pilots and maintainers on the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. When the wing was initially assigned the F-35 training mission on 1 October 2009 it was to include USN/USMC F-35C and USMC F-35B training as well as USAF F-35A and international partner training. Navy squadron VFA-101 was assigned to the wing to conduct F-35C training and USMC squadron VMFAT-501 to conduct F-35B training. In July 2014 VMFAT-501 was detached from the 33rd Fighter Wing and reassigned to Marine Aircraft Group 31 (MAG-31) at MCAS Beaufort, SC ending the USMC presence in the wing. In December 2017 the USN reactivated VFA-125 at NAS Lemoore, CA under Strike Fighter Wing Pacific Fleet to conduct F-35C training for the USN and USMC. On 1 July 2019 VFA-101 was deactivated ending the USN presence in the 33rd Fighter Wing.

Prior to its assignment as a training wing, while still an operational fighter wing, following the 11 September 2001 attacks, the Nomads provided armed over-watch throughout North America for Operation Noble Eagle, securing two presidents of the United States, multiple Space Shuttle launches and other high-visibility events. The 33rd Fighter Wing closed its operations with the F-15 Eagle in September 2009 and became the Department of Defense's first F-35 Lightning II training wing on 1 October 2009.