310th exercises with Marines

  • Published
  • By Capt. Amy West
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
NAVAL AIR STATION NORTH ISLAND, Calif. --  Members of the 310th Aircraft Maintenance Unit readied jets for action before 310th Fighter Squadron pilots took to the skies over Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., pitting the air-to-air capabilities of the F-16 Fighting Falcon against Marine Corps Air Station Miramar's F-18 Hornets April 9 through 19.

Building on the partnership forged in August 2009 during Luke Air Force Base and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar's first joint interoperability training,

"We expanded this deployment, making it more robust and collaborative," said Maj. Kevin Aunapu, 310th and 69th fighter squadrons' assistant director of operations and deployment project officer."We more than doubled the number of aircraft participating, increased the number of sorties by 110 percent, and carved out time to strengthen relationships with our Marine Corps counterparts."

During these training missions, participants engaged in various red and blue air combat scenarios, including basic fighter maneuvers, air combat maneuvering, tactical intercepts, air combat training and large force exercise, said Maj. James West, 310th and FS pilot assistant deployment project officer. Red air aircraft fight as the adversaries while blue air are friendly forces, he added.

For both flying squadrons, these exercises afforded pilots dissimilar aircraft training, an opportunity not available on a regular basis as they usually train against their own aircraft at their respective bases, according to Lt. Col. Daniel Goodwin, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225 commander, and Lt. Col. J.D. McCune, 310th Fighter Squadron commander.

"We typically provide our own bandits in training; however, the F-16s were our red air," Colonel Goodwin said. "It allowed us to see a different airplane and fight a different way; the F-16 is the most fun and challenging fight in BFM and ACM. It is all power and thrust while the F-18 is not nearly as powerful but can turn on a dime."

With the differing aircraft capabilities, the training honed pilots' skills in exploiting the limitations of the opposing aircraft and capitalizing on their jets' strengths, Major West said.

During these training missions, the aircraft not fighting against a mirror image with the same capabilities," said Capt. Jared Cagle, VMFA-225 pilot. "We're required to tailor our game plan because of it."

The same is true for Luke instructor pilots, whose primary mission is to train the Air Force's newest F-16 pilots.

"It was an excellent opportunity for us as instructor pilots to improve and sharpen our own skills, fighting adversaries with different capabilities and limitations than our own," Major West added. "It also gives us the additional experience and credibility necessary to instruct up-and-coming F-16 fighter pilots."

Joint training missions such as these also contribute to the interoperability between services. That is essential in a time of war.

"While we employ similar tactics, the way we refer to them is often different," Major Aunapu said. "This can be a limiting factor in real-world operations, so the more we train together in peacetime joint operations, the more effective we are during combat."

The deployment showed the outstanding skills of the 310th AMU Airmen, who were responsible for ensuring the aircraft were flight worthy for 124 deployed sorties in one week's time, according to Major West.

"Since we don't deploy overseas, this gives our maintainers the chance to pack up and work in a different environment with less support," said Capt. Josh Downing, 310th AMU officer in charge.

With 26 pilots and 110 maintenance personnel, supporting the 15-jet deployment, planning was no small feat, according to Major West and Captain Downing.

"We started planning in January timeframe and had to take into consideration the equipment available to us at NAS North Island, determine what we needed to supplement as well as have back up plans," Captain Downing said.

Colonel McCune described the deployment as a "class act."

"The all-around success of this deployment enhanced joint operations, refined our air-to-air skills and displayed the professionalism representative of the 56th Fighter Wing," Colonel McCune said. "Our maintainers did a phenomenal job keeping our jets in top-notch condition throughout the deployment."