Nellis puts pilots to test during Green Flag exercise
Maj. Joe Palen had two things on his mind as he was about to suit up and hunt down the enemy from his Fighting Falcon jet at Nellis Air Force Base.
"Keep all the friendlies safe on the ground and destroy all the enemy targets," the clean-cut, 31-year-old pilot from Syracuse, N.Y., said as he picked up his orders from the Green Flag operations desk.
He and a team from the 55th Fighter Squadron out of Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. — with call signs such as "Custer," "Agro," "Mojave" and "Dwarf" — had just been briefed on the situation. They were anxious to hop in the cockpits of their gray, F-16CJ jets.
It was Thursday and a sweltering 108 degrees in the shade on the tarmac. The jets were loaded with bombs, bullets and missiles and waited in covered parking spots.
The pilots were told to use all their ammunition.
"Gun limiters have been turned off. Shoot it all," the instructor said. "If you’ve got 290 bullets. Shoot ’em all."
The machine-gun rounds from the jets’ six-barrel cannons can fly out at a deadly pace of 6,000 per minute. They are valuable tools for protecting U.S. troops and driving off insurgents on the ground in Afghanistan. So are their 2,000-pound bombs.
A slide projected on a big white screen in the Green Flag auditorium spelled out the situation: "At dusk last night, Taliban forces launched a complex attack. … Insurgents launched several waves of attacks to overrun COP," short for Combat Outpost.
The pilots were told to locate and destroy mortars and enemy personnel, up to 200 would-be insurgents who were scattered on the high-desert terrain. The maneuver involved more than 5,000 "friendlies," or soldiers from Fort Lewis, Wash., who were on their last leg of training before heading to the combat zone.
While flying close over bare, rocky ridges and dry lake valleys the pilots also must look for a missing Humvee, and possible machine-gun ambush points somewhere between what is called Forward Operating Base Denver and FOB Dallas.
"We also have one-zero-five millimeter artillery located to the south. JTACs should use RPAs for surveillance," the briefing concluded, using acronym slang for "joint terminal attack controllers" and "remotely piloted aircraft" that Air Force pilots and Army spotters understand.
Maj. James Vallario, a Marine Corps Harrier pilot with 1,000 hours under his belt, was about to rack up five or six more at the controls of an F-16. The 35-year-old San Francisco native was "just focused on the ground-scheme maneuver, hoping to understand where the friendlies are and that we can put bombs where they tell us to put them."
"That’s it. I’m from the Marine Corps. That’s what we do for a living, so I’m excited to do this."
By "this," he meant help soldiers hone their skills in directing attacks either in sight of the would-be Taliban or from a view provided by eye-in-the-sky images transmitted by remotely piloted spy planes, including the MQ-1 Predator, which can fire its own missiles.
On this mission, Maj. Gen. Bill Hyatt, commander of the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis, is going along for the ride in the backseat of a D-model F-16 piloted by Capt. Ryan Miller
"I’ll kind of watch everything," the 53-year-old general said while stuffing a little bag with life-support gear.
"This is significantly important. Hugely important because of what’s happening on the ground. Our Army brothers and sisters are doing their ‘spin-up’ to get ready to go to war … and bring the whole joint fight together.
"Practice together is hugely important."
Back in the briefing room, the 55th squadron’s commander spoke of the pressure that comes with getting the job done in close proximity to friendly troops.
"There are brand new guys, airmen on the ground who are trying to get better at doing that in the training environment so when it hits the fan, so to speak, they are able to do it quickly and accurately," Lt. Col. Mike Schnabel said.
To avoid a catastrophe, everybody involved in the fight must be on the same page of the same script, he said.
"When there are friendlies dying on the ground, there’s pressure. It builds as you’re there and you know people are getting shot at and actually being wounded.
"It’s a risky business because you’re trying to save lives. But putting ordnance close to those guys is a tough job," Schnabel said, describing the 2,000-pound bomb on his plane that can "make an impact no matter it lands."
"And when you talk about pressure, it’s huge because with great power is great responsibility."
The Green Flag exercise, one of 10 held in the West each year, continues this week.
Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.
