I am humbled to be in the first group of F-35 pilots to achieve this milestone. I love being a member of the Air Force Reserve and to be able to call Arizona my home”

Maj. Nicholas “JAKAL” Rallo

Maj. Nicholas “JAKAL” Rallo, an instructor pilot with the 944th Fighter Wing, is the first Luke Air Force Base F-35 Lightning II pilot to attain 1,000 F-35 flying hours.

Maj. Rallo is an Active Guard Reserve member with the 944th Operations Group Detachment 2 and is integrated with the 63rd Fighter Squadron through the Total Force Enterprise that keeps Luke’s mission going. 

“I am honored to be a part of Det 2 and to work with our partners in the 63rd Fighter Squadron,” Maj. Rallo said after his Feb. 23 milestone flight. “I am lucky to have such a great team to work with, and to have been one of the first pilots at Luke to transition to the F-35.”

After 10 years as a fighter pilot flying the F-16C and a brief time flying the MC-12W, Maj. Rallo got the opportunity to transition to the F-35 in 2015.

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His milestone achievement also makes him only the second operational F-35 pilot in the Air Force Reserve and the fourth in the entire Air Force to reach 1,000 hours in the aircraft.

“I am humbled to be in the first group of F-35 pilots to achieve this milestone,” Maj. Rallo said. “I love being a member of the Air Force Reserve and to be able to call Arizona my home.”

His 16 years of active duty and Reserve experience has given him valuable knowledge that he leverages to train incoming fighter pilots.

“I love the job I do training the Air Force’s best fighter pilots,” he said. “Our Total Force Integration makes us unstoppable and I believe that achieving big goals is just a matter of time, persistence, focus and hard work.”

Editor’s note: Capt. Monique Roux is with the 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs office at Luke Air Force Base.