By JIM THOMPSON | Northwest Florida Daily News | Published: April 8, 2021 EGLIN AFB, Fla. (Tribune News Service) — The F-35 Joint Program Office, a combined group of civilian and Air Force and Navy uniformed personnel overseeing the ongoing development of the F-35 stealth fighter jet, has come under criticism from the Department of Defense for apparent deficiencies at an F-35 software laboratory at Eglin Air Force Base. In a January report, the DOD's office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation, which oversees major defense acquisition programs, indicated that the F-35 Lightning II United States Reprogramming Laboratory is falling short in its mission of testing and improving software essential for the fifth-generation stealth fighter jet.