MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho - "Everybody brings different capabilities, so the challenge at Mountain Roundup is to determine who the best person is to execute a task," said German Air Force Maj. Marcel Schlereth, ME phase manager.
A multitude of various planes arrived while others already took to the skies near Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, today as the multinational combined-joint exercise dubbed Mountain Roundup 2013 kidcked-off.
The exercise is part of the German Air Force Tornado Fighter Weapons Instructor Course Mission Employment (ME) Phase, and is scheduled to end Oct. 19.
The base and the 266th Range Squadron control and maintain emitter sites across almost 7,500-square miles of operational range space, and it's that access to airspace and ranges that allows for realistic, safe training and testing while providing the flexibility to accommodate the complexity of this multinational, multiservice exercise.
The end result to proper training is real-world employment.
The Air Force has become a crucial component of combined-joint operations. In Afghanistan's Regional Command-North, there's a very similar operational situation to what will be exercised here throughout the next few weeks.
In RC-N there's a large German military contingency working in union with the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines to employ forces and eliminate threats on the ground. That exact scenario will be exercised during Mountain Roundup.
Realistic training provides the U.S. and partnered war fighters with the combat edge.
Mountain Home has hosted the training since 2004 because the base has the right mix of air space, modern ranges and proficient personnel, which creates the perfect location for this type of combined-joint training.
"The end result of this exercise is a collection of war fighters from multiple nations and branches of services that are significantly more prepared to engage in coalition major combat operations," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Tapan Sen, 366th Fighter Wing Weapons and Tactics Flight commander.
In training for warfare, realism is paramount.
"Everybody brings different capabilities, so the challenge at Mountain Roundup is to determine who the best person is to execute a task," said German Air Force Maj. Marcel Schlereth, ME phase manager.