Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing

by Tom Clancy

  THE GUNFIGHTERS GET READY: THE ROAD TO GREEN FLAG

  How does a commander like Brigadier General Dave McCloud get his wing ready to go to war? You don’t just slap together a bunch of people and aircraft, hand them a mission, and then expect them to do it without any training or experience. The USAF, insufficiently trained and lacking the experience that a previous war might have given, learned that lesson in the skies over North Vietnam. Never again would American pilots go into battle, only to have their ghosts taunt the survivors with the chant “You did not train me well enough.”

  When General McCloud took over the wing from General Hinton, he initiated an almost continuous, year-long schedule of training exercises, designed to prove the composite wing concept and to sharpen the skills of the personnel who had to make it work. Some difficulties had to be overcome to conduct effective training for the wing. These included:• The limited range facilities at Mountain Home AFB for large composite-force training.

  • Defining the 366th Wing’s structure, particularly in the bomber, Eagle, and Strike Eagle squadrons.

  • Reducing the wing’s requirements for strategic airlift to deploy to a crisis area.

  • The loss of the wing’s standoff (AGM-142 Have Nap) and maritime (AGM-84 Harpoon and mining) capabilities when the B-52Gs of the 34th BS were retired in November 1993.

  • Handling the transition of the F-16 squadron to the new Block 52 model Falcons, with the ASQ-213 HTS pods and AGM-88 HARM missiles for the SEAD (Suppression of Enemy Air Defense) mission.

  “Marshal” McCloud and the wing staff plunged into their jobs with almost fanatical determination, and the results rapidly began to show.

  In recent years, declining budgets and downsized forces have provided less and less money for flying hours. Most units of the USAF are desperately trying to hold the line at just twenty hours per month for proficiency and tactical training. When we visited the wing at Mountain Home, we heard a young fighter captain complaining that he had to fly over fifty hours the previous month, and he was tired! The 366th enjoys a high priority at ACC headquarters, and it shows up as extra money for flight hours, fuel, and spare parts. Another sign of the wing’s high priority is the enlargement of the 390th (F-15C Eagle) and 391st (F-15E Strike Eagle) FSs to eighteen PAA aircraft each. Those birds are worth their weight in gold these days; to get more of them is unheard of. High priority also provides the wing with important little extras, like JTIDS terminals for the F-15Cs, and stressed steel Ro/Ro floors and satellite terminals for the KC-135R tankers of the 22nd ARS.

  While General McCloud did wonders for the material side of the wing, it takes more than money and hardware to build a combat unit, especially when that unit is made up of five squadrons, all from different communities within the USAF, split between two separate bases. So General McCloud began a program of goodwill and coalition building among the five squadrons of the 366th. Where previously the personnel of a squadron spent their leisure time with members of their own little circle, now they were encouraged to mingle, to share ideas and experiences, and build the kind of comradeship that you need when you go to war. In the 366th command briefing (a presentation given to VIP visitors) you hear, “We live together. We train together. We play together. And we fight together!” This is more than just rhetoric. The very survival of the wing depends on working together.

  The first real test of the new wing organization and its concept of operations (CONOPS) came in the fall of 1993, when the 366th Wing was chopped to CENTCOM to become the core air unit for Operation Bright Star-93, the yearly Middle East exercise. General McCloud deployed an A+ Package to North Africa, with the fighters, tankers, and command elements going to Cairo West Air Base in Egypt, and the bombers going to Lajes Air Base in the Azores. Over the next several weeks, the wing exercised with elements of several air forces, including Egypt’s, and some U.S. Navy air units. Two important lessons learned were the need for more F-15 aircraft in the 390th and 391st FSs, and the urgency of reducing the amount of heavy airlift required to move the wing overseas.

  In late 1993 came the announcement by Secretary of Defense Les Aspin that the entire fleet of B-52Gs would be retired within a matter of months. By November 1993, the last of the -G model BUFFs were history, and the 366th was without a long-range bomber component, or any maritime or standoff weapons capability. This hurt a lot, and ACC went to work to find a solution, not only for the Gunfighters, but for the whole Air Force. Soon after, the 389th FS began to take delivery from the Lockheed Fort Worth factory of their brand-new Block 52 F-16Cs, with the powerful new F100-PW-229 engines.

  Good news arrived early in 1994, when ACC announced the formation of a new squadron of B-1B Lancers, the reborn 34th BS, to be co-resident with the 28th BW at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota. While General McCloud still lacked the mining, maritime strike, or standoff weapons capabilities he had lost with the retirement of the B-52Gs, the B-1B squadron would bring some new capabilities to the wing. The work on reducing the number of C-141 loads required for deployment began to yield results, as sergeants at the squadron level found ways to leave more stuff behind and share resources among units. While the Air Force may look like an officers’ club, without the work of the enlisted personnel, not one bomb would be loaded, not one plane fueled, not one engine changed.

  During the winter, the Gunfighters went on a pair of deployments. One of these was a mobility exercise to Michigan, and the other to Alaska. This second one, dubbed Northern Edge, sent an A Package north to Elmendorf AFB, to play the role of an aggressor force in a large PACAF exercise. This let the 366th practice cold weather operations skills. Since they do not have any particular regional focus, just a fast response time, one week they may need to be ready to go to a desert environment, and the next week a jungle.

  When they returned from Alaska, the Gunfighters threw themselves into the biggest challenge of 1994, getting ready for Operation Green Flag 94-3, the largest, most expensive, and most realistic annual training exercise in the Air Force. Run out of the huge range complex north of Nellis AFB in Nevada, Green Flag is the closest thing to war you’re likely to run into, without actually having the other guys shoot back with live ammunition. The 366th Wing would make up the core force for this Green Flag exercise, with numerous other units plugging in under General McCloud’s command. It was going to be a critical test of the Gunfighters and the composite wing concept. The entire wing began the move down to Nellis AFB in mid-April of 1994.

  NELLIS AFB: THE BIG SKY

  Once upon a time, Las Vegas was just a dusty stop on the railroad across the desert from southern California. Later, after Bugsy Siegel started the gambling resort boom in the late ’40s, it became a place where people went to escape. Today it is America’s fastest-growing city, thanks to a construction boom brought on by an influx of retirees and tourism. Up on the north side of town, just off Interstate 15, is Nellis AFB, the USAF’s biggest and busiest air base. Started during World War II as the Las Vegas Gunnery Range, Nellis was renamed to honor a local P-47 pilot who died during the war. After World War II, it remained a primary gunnery training center, with its complex of ranges to the north heavily used to teach pilots the art of shooting straight and true. It also has been home to combat units like the 474th TFW, which flew F-111s, F-4s, and F-16s during the Cold War before it was disestablished. Nellis is a unique center for training, testing, and competition, with large, trackless desert ranges to the north, closed to civilian air traffic, and providing room for almost any kind of flying.

  Nellis is home to the USAF Weapons and Tactics Center (W&TC, formerly the USAF Fighter Weapons Center), which expends over 45% of the USAF’s practice munitions worldwide! Commanded by Lieutenant General Tom Griffith, the W&TC runs a range complex that covers much of southern Nevada. At any given time, there are almost 140 aircraft based at W&TC, flying some 37,000 sorties each year. The core of the W&TC is the 57th Wing (formerly the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing), whose personnel are distinguished by checkered yello
w and black scarves worn with their flight suits. It is commanded by Colonel John Frisby, and its units include:• 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES)—Flying a combination of A-10A Thunderbolt IIs, F-15C/D/E Eagles and Strike Eagles, and F-16C/D Fighting Falcons, the 422nd TES is tasked with operation testing and tactics development for the USAF fighter force and their weapons.

  • USAF Weapons School (WS)—This is a 5 1/2-month, graduate-level course in weapons, tactics, and strike planning. While only 7% of USAF aircrews are WS graduates, over 45% of wing commanders have attended the school. One measure of the effectiveness of WS training is aircrew performance during Desert Storm, where only 7% of the crews had successfully completed WS, but 66% of the air-to-air kills were accomplished by WS grads. The current curriculum includes a course for virtually every type of combat aircraft in the USAF inventory, as well as a special course for E-3 controllers. In 1994, the school was commanded by Colonel Bentley Rayburn.

  • 561st FS—Flying the F-4G Wild Weasel version of the Phantom, this is the last remaining active-duty squadron dedicated to the SEAD mission in the USAF. In recent years the squadron has been deployed to Turkey to support the air embargo over northern Iraq, and to Italy to fly similar operations over Bosnia. This highly respected and heavily tasked outfit is headed into its sunset years. The squadron has twenty-four PAA aircraft, with an additional eight F-4Gs as spares and pipeline aircraft.

  • 414th Training Squadron (Adversary Tactics Division)—With the deactivation of the 64th and 65th FSs, which were tasked with the adversary mission, this detachment of F-16C/D aircraft provides the W&TC with a small force of aggressor aircraft for realistic training.

  • Detachment 1, Ellsworth AFB—This small detachment of B-1B and B-52H heavy bombers fulfills the same mission for the bomber force that the 422nd TES does for the fighter force. They are co-located with the 28th BW at Ellsworth AFB, but report back to the 57th Wing. Eventually, there will also be a B-2 detachment at Whiteman AFB, Missouri.

  • The Thunderbirds—This renowned air demonstration squadron performs at air shows all around the world. Presently, they fly the Block 32 F-16C and -D Fighting Falcons. In 1994, Lieutenant Colonel Steve Anderson led the T-Birds through a demanding schedule of some seventy-two air shows, thrilling millions of viewers. The unit has eight aircraft, eleven officers, and between 130 and 140 enlisted personnel in any given year. An assignment to the Thunderbirds is a high honor, reserved for the best of the best, since this team, more than any other unit, represents the U.S. Air Force to the public.

  • 549th Joint Tactics Squadron (JTS)—Known as “Air Warrior,” the 549th provides simulated close air support and debriefing services to the U.S. Army National Training Center (NTC) at Fort Irwin, California, about one hundred miles to the southwest. They fly the F-16C/D, and can now show visitors the results of their strikes in real time, thanks to a special data link to the NTC “Star Wars” building (a complex of high-tech three-dimensional real-time displays).

  • 66th Air Rescue Squadron (RQS)—This is one of four RQSs that were activated following the poor performance of the U.S. Special Operations Command in the Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission during Desert Storm. Combat Search and Rescue gives aircrews confidence that if they are shot down behind enemy lines, well-trained and well-equipped professionals will be on the spot to find them and bring them home. When you read down the list of Medal of Honor recipients, you’ll find quite a few CSAR aviators who sacrificed their lives trying to save others. When there are pilots around the bar, CSAR crews never have to buy their own drinks. Composed of 4 HH- 60G Pave Hawk helicopters and a HC-130 Hercules tanker/C31 aircraft, the RQSs provide rapidly deployable CSAR forces, as well as supporting emergency rescue, safety, and security operations at Nellis AFB.

  • USAF Combat Rescue School—Designed to provide a graduate-level Combat Search and Rescue training curriculum, the school flies the same HH-60G/HC-130 aircraft as the 66th RQS. In 1994, Lieutenant Colonel Ed LaFountaine commanded the school. The plan is to graduate two classes per year, as well as to provide testing and evaluation services for CSAR squadrons worldwide.

  • 820th Red Horse Squadron—This highly prized civil engineering unit can rapidly deploy anywhere in the world. Given a steady supply of water and concrete, the engineers can build a full airbase complex in a matter of days.

  • Federal Prison Camp (Area II)—There is a medium security federal prison camp located on the Nellis base complex. One notable recent prisoner was former Undersecretary of the Navy Melvin Paisley, convicted on corruption charges in the late 1980s.

  • 554th Range Squadron—Commanded in 1994 by Colonel “Bud” Bennett, this organization monitors range safety and controls the flight activities for Nellis AFB and the various ranges to the north. In addition, the squadron provides local air traffic control for the FAA, feeding into the LAX control center in Los Angeles.

  The twelve-thousand-square-mile/3 1/2-million-acre range complex fans out north of Las Vegas. There is enough range space to put the whole nation of Kuwait inside, with room to spare. Divided into a series of different ranges, or “areas” as they are called, the whole complex is instrumented with an electronic system known as the Red Flag Measurement and Debrief System (RFMDS). An aircraft flying over the complex can be constantly monitored, providing a continuous record of everything that happens overhead. Each area has a specific function. Some are live-fire gunnery and bombing ranges, while others have arrays of manned radar emitters designed to simulate enemy air defense systems. These include:• 60-Series Ranges—Test and evaluation, as well as WS training goes on here.

  • Ranges 71 and 76—Deep strike-type targets that simulate a strategic weapons factory, SCUD launch sites, and an airfield.

  • Range 74—This area simulates a Soviet-style mechanized battalion.

  • Range 75—Simulates a follow-on supply convoy, typical of Iraqi columns attacked during Desert Storm.

  These ranges are maintained by contractor personnel from Loral and Arcatia Associates, who spend their days servicing the target arrays and keeping the radar emitters working. There is also a Cubic Corp. Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation (ACMI) system, which can record and play back every movement and simulated weapon-firing in air-to-air combat engagements involving many aircraft. This instant-replay capability is heavily used by the Weapon School for after-action debriefings, in which pilots can review every mistake in slow motion from any three-dimensional viewpoint. Also located in the range complex is a legacy of the Cold War: the old nuclear testing range for the Department of Energy (DOE).

  No account of Nellis AFB and its ranges would be complete without mention of the three (officially acknowledged) airfields inside the complex. The first of these is Indian Springs Airfield, where the Thunderbirds practice their routines. Indian Springs is also an emergency divert field during exercise and other activities. Farther north is the Tonopah Test Range (TTR) Air Base, which was constructed and used by the 37th TFW when they operated the F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter. Following the Gulf War and its public exposure of the “black jets,” the USAF transferred the 37th’s aircraft and personnel to the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman AFB, New Mexico. Today, Tonopah is frequently used by reserve and Marine aviation units to simulate operating out of a bare-bones base in the field. The last of the bases that we know about is the mysterious Groom Lake Test Facility, located in the heart of the Nellis AFB/DOE range complex. Based around a large dry lake, Groom Lake is similar in function to the USAF’s main test facility at Edwards AFB, but the intense security would make you think the Russians were still coming. Known also as Area 51 and Dreamland, it was used during the testing of the Lockheed U-2 spy plane in the 1950s. It has been used ever since as a base for testing black (classified) aircraft, including the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the D-21 reconnaissance drone, and the F-117A. It is also reportedly home to exploitation (i.e., technical evaluation) programs for foreign aircraft (MiGs, etc.), as well as black prototypes and techno
logy demonstration aircraft. Whatever goes on there, the USAF is trying to expand the range boundaries to include several desert ridge lines that overlook the area, so civilian observers cannot see any part of the complex directly.

  But our interest now at Nellis AFB has nothing to do with the black activities at Groom Lake; we’ve come to observe what goes on in the open light of day. In a word, Flags. The Flag-series exercises simulate real-world combat conditions in a relatively safe and secure environment. The best known of these is Red Flag, which started running in 1975. Conceived by the legendary Colonel “Moody” Suiter, Red Flag grew out of an alarming statistic of the war in Vietnam. If a pilot survived his first ten combat encounters, his chances of surviving a full combat tour would increase by over 300%. Such combat encounters help build “situational awareness,” making an aircrew much more able to survive in the deadly air defense radar and missile thickets that the USAF has to penetrate. So Colonel Suiter got this bright idea: If you could provide those first ten combat missions in a safe stateside training environment, you might lose fewer aircraft and crews when a real war came along. Such training would also allow units to practice the complex art of strike warfare in large formations. Red Flag is designed to give every aircrew in a combat unit those first ten missions up on the Nellis AFB range complex, facing the most talented enemy force they will ever see. Every combat crew is supposed to go through at least one Red Flag during each two-year flying tour, to keep their flying and combat skills honed to a razor’s edge. About six Red Flags are run annually, each consisting of a six-week training exercise, divided into three two-week segments.