Special for The Republic | azcentral.com

A third squadron of F-35s, which will train American and Turkish pilots, was activated at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale.

American instructors will train the pilots in American and Turkish F-35s, beginning in March 2017.

“This partnership for Turkey and the United States to train together exists because we fight together,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Vedder, who will lead the squadron. “This cooperation improves both of our capabilities and allows us to produce a stronger joint multinational coalition force whenever and wherever called upon.”

Vedder was named commander of the newest squadron, the 63rd Fighting Squadron, on Aug. 1.

Vedder is an F-35 and A-10 fighter pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours, including in Afghanistan and Iraq.

“Lt. Col. Vedder is a combat-proven warrior and is one of the best fighter pilots and instructors in the world,” said Col. Benjamin Bishop, 56th Operations Group commander.

The 62nd and 61st fighter squadrons, already at Luke, also train an international group of F-35 pilots from partner nations such as Norway, Italy and Australia.

Three more squadrons are slated to join the fighter wing by 2022 as Luke’s F-35 fleet expands towards its goal of 144 jets.