A decision to eject from a failing F-35B fighter and the betrayal in its wake

By Tony Bartelme [email protected] 1. DECISION A dark mass of clouds hung low over North Charleston as Marine Col. Charles "Tre" Del Pizzo began his descent. It was a Sunday afternoon, late September 2023. Del Pizzo's hands were on the control stick and throttle of an F-35B Lightning II, the U.S. military’s most advanced stealth fighter, a $136 million supercomputer with wings. The F-35B can hover like a helicopter, and Del Pizzo planned to use that technology to land. Del Pizzo had just finished a training sortie over the Atlantic with a second F-35B pilot, practicing tactics at upwards of 500 mph at seven times the force of gravity. He needed to experience this jet’s strengths and weaknesses. At 48, he was a full bird colonel getting ready to command a squadron in Yuma, Ariz., a high-visibility assignment to fine-tune the Marines’ aviation strategies and procedures, including those for the F-35B. As he closed in on Charleston Air Force Base, he knew he’d hit some bump ... Read full article.