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In a city known for nightlife, gambling, and shows the 124th Fighter Wing brought their own show to “Sin City” for the Green Flag West exercise in preparation for future deployments.
Nearly 200 personnel including pilots, maintainers, and support personnel from the 124th Fighter Wing in Boise, Idaho participated in Green Flag West 16-03 at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada Jan. 15-29, 2016. During the exercise, Idaho pilots flew more than 400 flying hours and 192 sorties.
The mission of Green Flag West is to train and prepare Air Force units to support Army units engaged in force-on-force combat operations on the ground. This robust and fast-paced exercise was something of a dress rehearsal for the contingency operations the wing may be called on to support in the future.
“We've been able to identify and address minor shortfalls in how we operate as a unit, meaning we won't have to work out those kinks in combat,” said Capt. Tom Silkowski, an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft pilot assigned to the 190th Fighter Squadron.
At Green Flag West, the 124FW provided close air support to the U.S. Army's 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team from Joint Base Lewis-McChord and operating out of the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.
“We provide close air support and forward air controllers to help them achieve their objectives on the ground,” said Silkowski. “We'll leave here with lessons learned that will benefit us in future training and combat operations alike.”
This exercise gave pilots the opportunity to support a large-scale Army ground fight is training that they couldn’t get anywhere else. Additionally, the pilots employed AGM-65 Maverick anti-tank missiles and GBU-38 precision-guided munitions, both of which cannot be employed near home station in Boise, Idaho.
"Green Flag was a phenomenal success,” said 124th Fighter Wing Commander, Col. Tim Donnellan. “Green Flag West is an amazing amount of work, both in the planning and the execution phase. However, the investment is more than worth the return in this case. Realistic training both in scenarios and schedule are almost impossible to get locally as we have so many day to day factors to consider here at Gowen. But at Nellis AFB and the National Training Center, with an actual maneuvering U.S. Army Stryker Brigade requiring Close air Support combined with loading and dropping live munitions, the experience is priceless. We couldn't have asked for a better training deployment –well done to the entire 124 Fighter Wing!"
"We flew more during this 2-week exercise—over 440 hours and approximately 190 sorties—than many A-10 squadrons fly in six weeks,” said Lt. Col. Matthew McGarry, the 190th Fighter Squadron commander during the exercise. “We also dropped almost one hundred MK-82 500-lb bombs, including eight GBU-38 “JDAM” GPS-guided bombs, plus eleven AGM-65 “Maverick” missiles and 16,000 rounds of 30MM."
“Back home, we might work with a three-man joint tactical air controller team at Saylor Creek; here, we are supporting a ground force that numbers in the thousands,” said Silkowski. “Integrating into that very dynamic fight and providing the Army with the unique and robust close air support capabilities of the A-10 is a challenge in and of itself.”
The pilots also got to perform day and night austere landings on a dry lakebed, which was a first for all but one of the pilots. Typically only two to four pilots achieve the austere airstrip operations during a Green Flag exercise but the 549th Combat Training Squadron personnel worked the sorties into the schedule and the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron provided support to get 10 pilots fully qualified in austere airstrip operations.
"We were able to qualify more pilots for day and night austere field landings than any other operational squadron in the U.S. Air Force,” said McGarry, the 190th. “Even more importantly, we took advantage of the opportunity to build relationships, refine processes, and operate away from home in a manner very similar to combat operations."
The austere operations took place at Delamar Dry Lake, also referred to as “Texas Lake” because its shape from above, located north of Las Vegas. The lake’s hard smooth surface and span greater than 15,000 feet makes it an ideal location for austere aircraft landings. The A-10 is the only fighter-type aircraft with the capability to land on austere runways.
“The austere landing was very cool—it made me appreciate the ‘Hog’ even more than I already did. To be able to take a strip of dirt in the enemy's backyard and make it our own airstrip... well, it's just another capability that only the ‘Mighty Hog’ brings to the fight,” said Silkowski. “The simplicity of it all was what blew me away—just a couple of CCT (combat controllers) guys out there with a truck, a radio, and some panels to mark where to land! That's America!”
Much like the pilots, the maintainers and support personnel had the opportunity to exercise their skills in a new environment and work at a pace more akin to combat operations. This pace and range of operations offered experience that will help 124FW Airmen hit the ground running should they deploy in the future.
“The maintainers have been turning jets, to include reloading weapons, in minimum time, and our intel specialists have been working almost 24/7 to keep the pilots up to date on the latest changes to the battlefield operations they're supporting,” said Silkowski. “It's a team effort across the board and the results have been outstanding.”
The exercise scenario that played out at Green Flag West reminded Airmen to depart from a counter-insurgency mindset and get back into the force-on-force fight mindset.
“Our primary tasking for the past decade has been counter-insurgency operations, which, while challenging, are very different than the task of taking on a near-peer enemy,” said Silkowski. “That's why coming to Green Flag West has been so invaluable to us, as it lets us jump head-first into full-scale combat ops and make mistakes in a training environment—mistakes we won't repeat when the bullets are flying and lives are on the line.”
The 124th Fighter Wing participated in Green Flag West before a deployment in 2008 and has hopes to return in the future to support Idaho Army National Guard troops with the 124th Air Support Operations Squadron air controllers embedded with them during their rotation at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California.
| Date Taken: | 03.05.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 04.03.2016 15:45 |
| Story ID: | 194210 |
| Location: | NELLIS AFB, NV, US |
| Web Views: | 108 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 124th brings air power to ‘Sin City’, by MSgt Sarah Pokorney, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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