First combat strike by a U.S. F-35, in Afghanistan

F-35Bs of squadron VMFA-211, embarked in USS Essex with the 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, launched from the Arabian Sea and struck a fixed Taliban target in Afghanistan in support of a ground operation, under Operation Freedom's Sentinel. It was the Lightning II's combat debut in American hands, four months after Israel revealed its own use of the fighter. Colonel Chandler Nelms, the expeditionary unit's commander, confirmed the milestone.