Yuma — On Thursday, March 9, 2023, more than 200 students from around Yuma County watched a special presentation of the U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team in the Kofa High School auditorium.
Eight members of the F-35A team (maintenance technicians, crew chiefs, etc.) shared job details with students, presented videos of the F-35A in action, showed slides and answered questions . -Long presentations.
“The F-35 is the next generation,” said KHS senior James Kleinwachter. “So I’m excited to learn about them and what they can do.”
Kleinwachter was one of over 50 Kofa Marine Corps Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (MCJROTC) cadets in attendance. In addition, about 150 of his eighth graders from Crane Middle School, Centennial Middle School, Gowan School, Gila Vista Middle School, Castledome Middle School and Fourth Avenue Middle School attended the presentation on Thursday afternoon.
“Our main goal is to recruit, retain and inspire,” said Weapon Road Crew Chief Joshua Peterson. “So this is a great opportunity to inspire kids and show them what they can do as a demo team and what the Air Force can offer.”
The Air Force has a bright future ahead for Senior Airman and Cibola High School graduate Frankl Zaragoza (class of 2018). The former state champion wrestler was a member of the demo team and received enthusiastic applause from the eighth graders when he was introduced as a native of the Yuma area.
Zaragoza said, “At that age, I feel like I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to talk to people who were in the Air Force.”
“A lot of former alumni who came from wrestling went into the military and said it was very similar to wrestling. No. The transition wasn’t that hard, a lot of the same things, but different learning curves.”
The F-35A is one of many aircraft to fly at this weekend’s Yuma Air Show, hosted by Marine Corps Air Station. Tickets and information can be found at: https://www.yumaairshow.com/
Over the years, several Air Force demonstration teams, including the A-10C, F-22 Raptor, and F-35A, have presented to Kofa MCJROTC cadets the week before the annual air show. However, it is the first time the Air Force has announced it since 2019.
