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Green Flag trains Airmen, Soldiers

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Benjamin Gonsier
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  Around 225 personnel and 15 F-15E Strike Eagles from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, were at Barksdale Air Force Base, La., from Jan. 12 to 28 participating in Green Flag. The training exercise helps Airmen from different career fields work together to prepare for deployments in combat environments.

The exercise gives aircrew communication experience and allows Soldiers and Airmen an opportunity to integrate their forces and simulate combat situations in a deployed environment.

"Green Flag is an Air Combat Command sponsored exercise that prepares fighter squadrons, Air Support Operations Squadrons and combat weathermen for deployment," said Lt. Col. Pat McKeever, 548th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 1 commander. "Our Airmen are able to receive experience they need by working with the Army at the brigade level."

The Army equivalent of Green Flag is the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La., which trains Soldiers in highly realistic combat environments.

In 2011, more than 1,042 exercise sorties were flown, more than 1,125 Airmen were sent to Barksdale and more than 32,000 Soldiers were trained.

For many Airmen, it was their first time participating in the two-week exercise. Members of the 391st Fighter Squadron from Mountain Home AFB; however, have been here before and know firsthand the significance of this training.

"About half of the squadron has been here before," said Maj. Cody Hawkinson, 391 FS weapons systems officer. "This exercise helps train both the ground and air forces. Our focus is close air support training."

According to McKeever, the experience the two services receive is instrumental when they are deployed. Tactical Air Control Party Airmen work with the Soldiers on the ground and are able to contact air support when nasty situations arise.

Airmen are like the big brothers to the Soldiers, said McKeever. When their convoy hits an improvised explosive device and they start to take heavy fire, the Air Force has their backs.

The two forces are able to come in, learn and work hard together to prepare for a good deployment down the line, he said. Through this exercise, the two forces are able to fully understand what it's like working with each other.

"This is the only chance we get to train with the Army," McKeever said. "Communication and integration can be challenging, and that is why we practice with them."

It is a complex exercise because of the variety of missions assigned. The ability to gain experience is what helps out the aircrew because they never know what their first real combat mission is going to be.

"Your first sorties may be dropping weapons and supporting ground troops being shot at," Hawkinson said. "We are able to significantly improve our capabilities in supporting ground forces and build our experience as a squadron in a close air support environment."

So far, the 391st FS has done a great job meeting daily training objectives daily, according to Hawkinson. Regardless of their success, the mistakes they make provide additional training opportunities.

"They come here and mess things up," McKeever said. "Then they will receive a debriefing and contact the JRTC to figure out what went wrong. They learn from their mistakes to better figure out our mission."

They will take what they learned here and use it in a real combat environment. The exercise and training received here could save lives someday, McKeever said.

"These exercises guarantee our close air support ensures the return of our Army Soldiers to their wives and children," he said.