Photo By David Vergun | Flt. Lt. Tom Kinsley, operations flight pilot with 76 Squadron, Royal Australian Air...... read more read more
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ROCKHAMPTON, Australia - The Army relies on its partners to win in an increasingly complex world. Such was the case demonstrated in Exercise Talisman Sabre 15 in Australia, which is going on from July 4 -19.
Lt. Col. Matt Hardman and his 400 paratroopers, from the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, had just jumped from seven C-17 Globemasters, two of which were Royal Australian Air Force, or RAAF.
They landed in the scrublands of Kapyong Drop Zone, Williamson Airfield, here in the northeast state of Queensland, July 8.
"After a 19-hour flight and jump, it's just started," Hardman said. The 19 hours was how long it took the flight from their home station on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, or JBER, Alaska.
The Soldiers, joined by their allies, the Australian 7th Brigade, met stiff resistance from the opposing forces during the exercise - Australian Army's 3rd Brigade.
The Royal Australian Air Force supported the battalion with an unmanned aerial system and four Hawk-127 fighters. To ensure the RAAF dropped ordnance at the right place and the right time, several Air Force joint tactical air controllers from JBER and some Marines from 5th Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, out of Okinawa, Japan, talked to RAAF pilots and controllers from the ground.
The battalion secured the airfield and fanned out to seize two key objectives nearby. That's when they met stiff resistance.
"We could see the Americans [from the air] popping green and yellow smoke yesterday. They were likely screening their movements," said Lt. Tom Kinsley, operations flight pilot with 76th Squadron, who flies the Hawk-127.
Kinsley spoke from Rockhampton's commercial airport, where they were operating, July 9. They were invited for the exercise, but are normally based out of Newcastle in New South Wales, about 100 miles north of Sydney.
Kinsley said that during the exercise, the joint terminal attack controller, or JTAC, called for "danger close" air support, meaning that the opposing forces and the Army were engaged in an up-close battle.
"Danger close" is the most extreme type of close-air support, Kinsley said. The ordnance, in this case laser-guided munitions, must be dropped precisely on target to avoid killing friendly forces.
To ensure that level of precision requires good communications between the Hawk-127 pilots and the JTACs on the ground, he said. Two of the four 76th Squadron's Hawk-127s were engaged in the fight. One was doing the air support and the other providing air cover for it.
A JTAC provides grid coordinates to pilots and also describes prominent features on the terrain. They also drill down to smaller details so the pilot sees the same thing the JTAC sees, he said.
Kinsley said there is a lot of conversation going on the whole time to minimize mistakes and deliver what is needed and that it is a very effective arrangement.
To deliver ordnance, "we sometimes flew as low as 250 feet and at some points we were as high as 20,000 feet to get a better, overall view," he said.
When close-air support is requested in a "danger close" situation, it sometimes makes more sense to make low passes for a show of force instead of dropping ordnance and risking friendly casualties, he said.
"Bogus or dummy stores were programmed " into the onboard computer "to simulate ordnance drops," said squadron leader Capt. Barry Skennar, who also flew close-air support.
"The weapons symbology" shows up on the screen, "just as if you had that weapon on board," he said. The communications "between the guy on the ground and in the air is the same," Skennar said. "The only difference is you don't get the bang."
The close-air support had its intended effect and the objectives were secured, thanks in large measure to the joint, combined effort, Hardman said.
Skennar said it would be nice to someday meet the Soldiers they supported, as it is not often they interact with the U.S. Army. They do meet their counterparts in the U.S. Air Force and Navy, however.
Kinsley said he would one day like to come to the United States to train on U.S. military aircraft systems, which he called the most advanced in the world.
| Date Taken: | 07.10.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.16.2015 09:46 |
| Story ID: | 170197 |
| Location: | AU |
| Web Views: | 146 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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