Commander of Air Combat Command, Gen. Herbert J. Carlisle, told reporters in Washington that he is ready to send the F-35A into combat this year once the jet achieved Initial Operating Capability.
![160315-F-YA302-001[1]](http://alert5.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/160315-F-YA302-0011.jpg)
Photo: U.S. Air Force
“The minute I declare initial operational capability, if the combatant commander calls me up and says they needed F-35s, I would send them.”
Carlisle added that he will send the stealth jets on no-notice deployments to Europe and the Pacific in the next 12 months.