75 years later, 90th Fighter Squadron returns to Australia

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK, UNITED STATES

03.24.2017

Story by Staff Sgt. Sheila deVera 

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson   

The 90th Fighter Squadron returned to JBER on Saturday, March 18, 2017, after participating in a bilateral exercise with the Royal Australian Air Force in RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory, Australia.

The Airmen spent more than 45 days at Tindal as part of the Enhanced Air Cooperation program under the Force Posture Initiative between the U.S. and Australia.

“[This was] the first Enhanced Air Cooperation deployment [the Pacific Air Forces] has executed," said Lt. Col. Dave Skalicky, 90th FS Commander. "One of the unique aspect of this exercise was the ability for the 90th Fighter Squadron pilots, No 75 Squadron pilots, and No 2 Squadron controllers to manage individual training scenarios that challenged each platform."

Twelve F-22 Raptors and approximately 230 Airmen provided an opportunity to work and train together – fighters, logistics, security forces, combat communications, and maintainers.

"We are back to operate where we operated during World War II," Skalicky said. "It's neat to think the EAC provided us an opportunity to return to Australia to achieve some common goals, but under much better circumstances."

The 90th FS, formerly known as the 90th Bombardment Squadron, operated out of Northern Territory, Australia in 1942.

"Our squadron returned to Australia and worked with them in a peacetime training role versus a combat role," Skalicky said. "In August, the squadron will celebrate its 100-year anniversary… 75 out of the 100 years, we’ve had a relationship with the RAAF."

U.S. Air Force Capt. Joshua Gunderson, 90th FS C flight commander, said working with the Australian counterparts was seamless.

"The Australian tactics and our tactics are very similar," Gunderson said. "We were able to work and operate together to provide realistic and robust scenarios for our pilots. This opportunity allowed us to get down to the tactical pieces of each scenario, work together and see what capabilities they have."

The EAC provided the Dicemen a chance to interact closely with them.

"We know them now on a personal level, and it makes it much easier to break down the barriers to get things done," Gunderson said. "We were able to crosstalk every single day, and fly on their E-7A Wedgetail to see how the crew works, to enhance the Raptors’ and the [F/A-18A/B] Hornets’ capabilities."

During the EAC, the 90th FS was able to create tactical problems no individual aircraft type could solve on its own. That forced the squadrons to work together more closely than they ever have before, Skalicky added.

"Mission success or failure in our scenarios relied on an individual RAAF F/A-18 pilot supporting an F-22 pilot or vice versa," Skalicky said. "Over the course of the exercise, that made us stop looking at our aircraft in terms of their differences and start looking at how well they complement one another."

The Dicemen said, having the chance to deploy to Tindal as part of the EAC was an honor.

"We've worked together very effectively in other exercises and real-world contingency operations," Skalicky said, "But in some respects, this was our first chance to sit down and dive into the details of how to integrate our aircraft with one another.

“It was an incredible experience."

(Editor’s note: Staff Sgt. Alexander Martinez contributed to this article.)

• Date Taken: 03.24.2017
• Date Posted: 03.27.2017 17:29
• Story ID: 228229
• Location: JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK, US