Photo By Tech. Sgt. Chance Johnson | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Joseph Lynch (right), crew chief, 140th Maintenance...... read more read more
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More than190 Citizen Airmen from the 140th Wing, Colorado Air National Guard participated in the Checkered Flag exercise at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida Oct. 25-Nov. 8, 2023. Nearly half of the COANG participants were drill status guardsmen who traditionally serve one weekend a month as well as during annual training and deployments.
“Individuals are giving up multiple weeks of their time and their personal careers to come down here and do this training,” Detachment Commander Lt. Col. Luke Donovan, 140th Civil Engineering Squadron said. “For example, we have one gentleman who’s a surgeon. He literally comes to drill and loses money every single day that he comes to serve because he wants to serve his nation and his state. Other individuals are instructors, they’re teachers or school administrators. One of the most significant things in the Air Force right now is making sure that we have personnel that are multi-capable in the skills and tasks that they do.”
Checkered Flag, hosted by the 325th Fighter Wing, is one of the DoD’s largest air-to-air exercises and is designed to integrate 4th- and 5th-generation airframes to enhance the mobility and employment capabilities of aviators and maintainers.
The exercise directly supports the National Defense Strategy in defending the homeland, deterring attacks and aggression posed by China and Russia as well as building a resilient joint force and defense ecosystem. Combined with counterparts from Active Duty, Reserve Air Force assets, Navy and Marine aircraft, and allied partners, this integration between forces builds on the Secretary of Defense’s global response force by strengthening partnerships between units to ensure a more lethal force in combat.
As well, Checkered Flag supports U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark D. Kelly, Commander, Air Combat Command’s plan to train the Immediate Response Force (IRF), a dedicated force for “Rapid Response” to unforeseen or unplanned operations, enabling aircrew not only to train, but also to certify on the Immediate Response Force.
“If we do have to take these jets to war in a China-type scenario, there will be a lot of missiles coming off the jet,” 140th Wing Commander U.S. Air Force Col. Jeremiah “Weed'' Tucker said. “We haven't shot a lot of missiles in a Global War on Terror fight in the better part of 20 years. You have to continue to make sure the jets are able to actually fire missiles, if indeed we are sending signals to do so, and this is the opportunity to do that.”
The 140th Wing was also involved with Weapons System Evaluation Program East 24.02, the Air Force’s joint program to test air-to-air live fire weapons employment for combat aviators, which the 53rd Wing and 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron out of Tyndall hosted and ran.
The combination of both exercises saved resources and provided a unique training battlefield for a variety of aircraft and support personnel from across the U.S. military. It serves as a formal evaluation of a squadron's ability to conduct live fire missions by affording aircrew the opportunity to launch live missiles at threat representative-maneuvering targets while providing maintainers with experience loading live munitions onto their aircraft.
Through generational integration, Checkered Flag builds upon the readiness of an already stellar and dynamic force in the face of any threat. This is especially critical in the face of near-peer competitors such as China and Russia.
“If indeed that day comes and we have to go to war with a near-peer adversary, that is what this event is created to start practicing against that, frankly,” Tucker said. “We go to war with what we’ve got, and right now what we’ve got are a bunch of 4th-gen fighters, especially the F-16 and F-15.”
The strain of maintaining the aging F-16 was felt at this event as the 140th shared the runway with the 5th-generation F-35 and F-22. “The amount of time we see our maintainers on the runway compared to that of the F-22 is significant,” Donovan said. “We’ve had a lot more folks out there and put a lot more hours into getting these planes ready to fight every single day. It really builds on the need for the COANG to modernize its fleet, preferably into one of these fifth-generation fighters. Not only to save on maintenance but to stay on the leading edge of what we can bring to the fight.”
Aside from the invaluable training that pilots from the 120th Fighter Squadron receive, the exercise also helps to test and sharpen the skills of all Airmen who play a part in a successful fighter squadron, such as maintainers and operations personnel.
“Every shop and person out here has a critical piece to mission success,” The Adjutant General of Colorado U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Laura Clellan said while spending a day visiting 140th Airmen at Checkered Flag. “It just can’t happen without every single person. That's what I really enjoy about seeing these exercises and visiting the different shops. Everyone has a piece and a part of success. I would think that it gives people a purpose. They can see how they tie in truly to the mission, and ultimately the National Defense Strategy.”
| Date Taken: | 12.14.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 01.26.2024 15:55 |
| Story ID: | 462537 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 69 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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