Lieutenant Colonel Joseph “Ty” Bachmann, Commanding Officer of VMFAT-501 which is located at MCAS Beaufort and assigned the mission of conducting training in the F-35B, will be the guest speaker at the Tuesday, March 10 meeting of the Lady’s Island Business and Professional Association.

The meeting will be held at 8 AM in the Beaufort Realtor’s Association Headquarters located in the Palmetto Business Park on Lady’s Island Drive (behind BB&amp;T Bank). The meeting is open to the public.

Lt. Colonel Bachmann is a graduate of United States Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY where he was an academic All-American and football Team Captain while earning a degree in Systems Engineering.

Following his being commissioned as a Marine Corps Second Lieutenant in June of 1996, he began flight training and upon receiving his Naval Aviator Wings began training in the AV-8B Harrier at Cherry Point North Carolina. His career has included participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom, serving as a Forward Air Controller with an infantry battalion, service with a Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force to Joint Task Force Haiti and deployment with VMA-542 to Al Asad, Iraq. He is a graduate of the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course (WTI) and US Naval Test Pilot School.

Following graduation from Test Pilot School he was assigned to the fixed-wing experimental test squadron, VX-23. There he conducted flight tests in all models of the F/A-18. As a member of the Joint Strike Fighter Development he was the first Marine to fly the F-35. In 2010 he was assigned to the 33d Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB and tasked with accepting and delivering the F-35A/F-35B aircraft for the USAF/USMC. He was then assigned as the Maintenance Officer at VMFAT-501 while instructing in the F-35B. In July 2012 he was selected for Command of VMFAT-501.

Lt. Colonel Bachmann has been requested to include in his discussion with LIBPA members the following topics: Which present Marine Corps aircraft will the F-35B eventually replace? When is the F-35B training program anticipated to be capable of operating at full capacity? What is the difference in the perceived sound of the F-18 and the F-35B? What steps can this community  take to ensure F-35B students and their families are supported and made to feel welcome? What training programs will be used for the F-35B pilots at MCAS Beaufort?