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DHC-2 Beaver pilots Capt. Curtis Cebulski (left) and Capt. Brad Sipperley – commander and deputy commander, respectively, of the Ninth Composite Operations Squadron -- discuss their location and the time to the next waypoint during a Red Flag – Alaska mission Oct. 8.
Photo by Senior Member Brittney Ferreira
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(Clockwise, from bottom left) Maj. Steve Brewer of the Eielson 71st Composite Squadron, Lt. Col. Gary Hunt and Capt. Curtis Cebulski of the Nine Composite Operations Squadron, Air Force 1st Lt. David Lang and 2nd Lt. Jon Rumfelt of the Eielson 71st discuss new waypoint locations before the early morning mass briefing Oct. 15.
Photo by Lt. Col. Mark C. Biron
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Air Force Lt. Col. John Rydland and Capt. Curtis Cebulski load waypoints into a GPS database in preparation for a Red Flag – Alaska mission Oct. 15.
Photo by Lt. Col. Mark C. Biron
(4)
(From left) Second Lt. Jon Rumfelt, Lt. Col. Gary Hunt, Capt. Curtis Cebulski and Air Force Lt. Col. Matt Rytting listen to the CAP squadron coordination and safety briefing before a mission Oct. 15.
Photo by U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Rachelle Coleman
(5)
2nd Lt. Jon Rumfelt and Lt. Col. Gary Hunt work through the preflight checklist Oct. 15
Photo by Lt. Col. Mark C. Biron
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Mission scanners viewed this and similar landscapes during a Red Flag – Alaska mission Oct. 8.
Photo by Senior Member Brittney Ferreira
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(From left) Maj. Steve Brewer, Lt. Col. Gary Hunt and Air Force Lt. Col. Matt Rytting file preflight plans Oct. 15 with Base Operations.
Photo by Lt. Col. Mark C. Biron
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Air Force Maj. “Bat” Simmons, Alaska Red Air mission commander, takes questions at the conclusion of his pre-mission brief during Red Flag – Alaska exercises Oct. 15/
Photos by Lt. Col. Mark C. Biron
Lt. Col. Mark C. Biron
Public Affairs Officer
71st Composite Squadron
Alaska Wing
ALASKA -- The Alaska Wing provided the U.S. Air Force with valuable assistance in training domestic and allied pilots during the 2009 Red Flag – Alaska season, contributing aircraft, pilots and crews to the effort.
Red Flag-Alaska is a series of Pacific Air Forces commander-directed field training exercises for U.S. joint and coalition forces. The exercise provides joint offensive counter-air, interdiction, close air support and large force employment training in a simulated combat environment.
U.S. and allied pilots, aircrews and operational support personnel train and improve their air combat skills in preparation for a myriad of worldwide contingencies.
The exercises are held on the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex -- the largest training range in America, totaling more than 65,000 square miles. Air operations are flown out of Eielson and Elmendorf air force bases.
The 2009 exercises
CAP participation in the 2009 exercises -- which spanned three two-week blocks, taking place April 16- May 1, July 23- Aug. 7 and Oct. 1-16 -- provided an added dimension to the exercises.
“In daily training at home station, fighter aircraft generally practice against their own kind, F-15 versus F-15,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Matt Rytting, chief of advanced programs for the 353rd Combat Training Squadron as well as commander of the Alaska Wing’s Eielson 71st Composite Squadron. “The opportunity to fight dissimilar F-15 versus F-16 is highly valued but infrequent for most pilots. Even when they fight dissimilar, however, they're both doing 350-plus knots and operating in the same environment.
“Fighter pilots virtually never get to train in a combat-like setting against aircraft simulating low and slow targets ... until now,” Rytting said.
During Red Flag-Alaska large force employment exercises, CAP aircraft assisted Red Force Aggressors by providing just such targets.
“These low and slow aircraft provide unique three-dimensional problems for high-tech fighters that spend most of their time between 20,000 and 40,000 feet,” Rytting said.
“Our potential adversaries have certain aircraft -- Antonov AN-2 Colts, for example -- that fly just above the trees at about 100 knots,” he said. “These propeller-driven aircraft are used for various missions, including behind-the-lines parachute insertion of special operations forces.”
CAP aircraft from all over Alaska participated in the exercises.
“For this latest exercise, we used four corporate aircraft -- a DHC-2, C-185, C-182 and a C-172 -- to simulate the high-wing AN-2 Colt, and one low-winged multi-engine privately owned CAP member aircraft to ensure a significant difference of aircraft design,” said Maj. Steve Brewer, operations officer for the Eielson 71st.
The twin-engine aircraft was added to the scenario for two of the four training days as a neutral-country, nonhostile aircraft that couldn’t be shot down, furthering the requirement for crews to visually identify each aircraft before firing.
The 71st Composite became uniquely positioned to provide low and slow support to the Air Force when it gained a new commander and operations officer in Rytting and Brewer, whose day jobs in the 353rd Combat Training Squadron directly support planning and execution of Red Flag -- Alaska and other exercises.
"With ELT and other CAP searches declining rapidly in Alaska, mission development became very important,” Rytting said. “I wanted members to feel a strong sense of purpose and saw an obvious opportunity to use CAP assets and crews to support the Air Force.
“Having several active-duty Air Force pilots and Department of Defense civilians in our squadron working at Red Flag gave us needed experience, knowledge and contacts to make these missions happen,” he said.
As a training resource, CAP’s “value to the Air Force is absolutely phenomenal,” Rytting added. “Last Thursday, the entire exercise except CAP and eight F-16s was cancelled for a massive cloud deck. They sent dozens of planes home from the airspace.
“The F-16s intercepted us at low altitude and received the only training of the day. Had we not been there, it would have been a wash.”
For CAP pilot and crew participating in Red Flag – Alaska, no day is average.
“The day prior to the mission,” Brewer said, “the designated lead pilot for the CAP aircraft will spend four to six hours planning and coordinating the CAP aircraft route of flight with Air Force exercise planners.”
Then, “the day of the exercise mission the crews attend a mass briefing with all the exercise participants four hours prior to takeoff,” he continued. “Then they attend a smaller briefing with the Red Air mission commander, and finally a brief with just the CAP crews to ensure all safety measures are in place, and all crewmembers’ questions are answered.”
The CAP crews benefit from their participation just as the Air Force pilots do.
“Red Flag provides a special opportunity for squadron pilots, scanners and observers to watch the military at work in a simulated combat environment, sometimes up-close and personal,” Rytting said. “Crews attend mission briefs and debriefs and see how their involvement adds to the scenario.
“Sister services and coalition forces are often also involved. While CAP flies at a relatively low 1,000 feet above ground level, some fighter aircraft such as the French Mirages that recently participated flew much lower,” he said.
For many CAP crews the demands and limitations of military flying provide a new experience.
“Flying Red Flag missions has expanded the knowledge base of CAP pilots into the realm of military exercises and military fighter training requirements,” Brewer said. “Our CAP crews have improved their visual scanning skills, and pilots are more effective and accurate at executing low-level flights and meeting timing requirements of plus- or minus-30-second windows for arriving at required waypoints.”
The hard work and attention to detail has paid off for the CAP crews.
“On Tuesday, two of our three aircraft made it to the target,” Rytting said. “We're 4-for-6, by the way. This proves the difficulty of targeting these unique threats in a large force employment exercise.”
The Air Force pays for CAP to furnish training aids. “The cost is just over $1,000 per day to have four aircraft participate in the visual identification exercise,” Brewer said.
In addition, the CAP pilots and crews walk away from the exercise with a strong sense of accomplishment.
"I’ve really enjoyed being a CAP Aggressor pilot," said Capt. Brad Sipperley, deputy commander of the Ninth Composite Operations Squadron.
A certified flight instructor, Sipperley is a retired Air Force chief of weather station operations now employed with the National Weather Service.
"I’m sitting in the briefings as a pilot and watching the weather briefers do what I did for so long and training with and against such a diverse number of pilots and crew from different nations and services," he said.
