<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Maj. Gen. Steven Cray said he got the call from the Pentagon around 10 a.m. Tuesday announcing his air guard base would receive 18 F-35s in 2020.\u201CI am ecstatic that the Vermont Air National Guard has been chosen as the first Air National Guard base to base the F-35,\u201D Cray said.On the WPTZ App? Click here to see the video.The general sat down exclusively with WPTZ NewsChannel 5 following Tuesday afternoon\u2019s announcement.Cray said he did not think the basing decision was ever a sure thing before getting word from the Pentagon\u201CI don't think it was a done deal,\u201D the general said.The decision comes after a 4-year scoping process out of Washington.\u201CI believe that it was the right decision before they started it and I certainly believe it was the right decision now,\u201D Cray said.With a renewed mission comes job security for guard families, including Cray\u2019s son -- a maintenance worker.\u201CA 30 or 40-year mission comes with this airplane -- that's a lot,\u201D Cray said. \u201CThat's well beyond me -- but that's a mission and a future for him.\u201DBut it\u2019s a future with unanswered questions. An F-35 has never flown in Vermont, but the general is confident the plane will get better with time.\u201CI have no concerns at all over the safety record of the F-35,\u201D he said.Cray said he did not know if an F-35 could come for a test run in Vermont before the plane\u2019s expected arrival in 2020."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.mynbc5.com/article/f-35-wasn-t-a-done-deal-until-tuesday-general-says/3313161>