Posted on 04/13/2005 7:53:53 AM PDT by NorthOf45
A Day in the Life of MAPLE FLAG XXXVII:
A Look Back at the Inner Workings of a Coalition Air Combat Exercise
By Lt Sonia Dumouchel-Connock
March 8, 2005
As excitement builds for the upcoming MAPLE FLAG exercise, which will take place at 4 Wing Cold Lake 15 May - 24 June 2005, Lt Connock takes a look back at last year’s air combat exercise and explores what happens during a typical MAPLE FLAG day.
4 WING COLD LAKE - - In the early morning hours, dozens of military members wearing flight suits of different colours, patterns and styles, file up the stairs of the Maple Flag headquarters building. They make their way into the large, dark briefing room and settle into the seats with other members of their squadrons. As they wait for the pre-mission brief to begin, the energy in the air is palpable.
So begins another day of Exercise MAPLE FLAG for the aircrews assigned to the morning mission. These aircrews, who have come to Canada to participate in this international coalition air combat training exercise from as far away as New Zealand and Singapore, are taking part in a 10-day simulated coalition air campaign. Exercise MAPLE FLAG, which consists of three two-week periods, runs these missions twice daily as part of a 10-day campaign – once for the morning mission aircrews and once for the afternoon mission aircrews.
“We have a structured scenario simulating a UN coalition effort, and the daily missions are based on the training objectives of the individual units,” says Capt. Brehn “Noodle” Eichel, the MAPLE FLAG Exercise Director and Operations Officer. Low-level flying, threat reaction and surface-to-air reaction, and flying with a large number of aircraft (referred to as Large Force Employment) are some of the types of training conducted during MAPLE FLAG.
The pre-mission brief for the morning crews begins bright and early at 6:30 a.m. The mission objective is briefed, as is the overall mission situation, the types of air, surface and ground threats that might be encountered, and the weather conditions.
The mission or “package” commander – a position daily performed by a different person from a different nation, and intended to train more senior pilots in this leadership role – presents his or her general plan for executing the assigned task for that mission. This plan must include: how to get more than 100 aircraft airborne and out to their respective holding points (the point in the sky that is occupied by the aircraft until it is time for them to execute their mission); how to execute the mission – which may be to destroy a bridge or airfield within “enemy” territory; and get back home safely taking into account all the threats.
At the disposal of the mission commander are the various elements of the “package,” or the total friendly force available to fight and win the mission. Air to Air (A/A) assets like the F-15s – known as “escorts” or “sweepers” – are quick and agile fighters that move into an area ahead of the rest of the package to “clean-up” the air space by shooting down enemy aircraft. A/A assets then move to their “Cap”, or assigned place in the sky, to protect the rest of the package.
Air to Ground (A/G) assets such as CF-18s and F-16s – known as “strikers” – are the heavy hitters that move in to the mission area to bomb the ground threats after the sweepers have cleared the airspace. Their sophisticated weapons and mission systems allow them to do their work from a high altitude, thus decreasing the chance that they will be shot down by ground-based and surface threats.
Suppression of Enemy Air Defence aircraft (SEAD), such as F-16s and EA-6B Prowlers, also move in after the sweepers have cleared the area. These aircraft, with their various sensors and electronic warfare equipment, protect the airborne force from the numerous surface-to-air threats such as the ADATS operated by the Canadian 4 Air Defence Regiment, simulated SA-6 Batteries, or the Rapier Battery from the Republic of Singapore.
If the mission assigned to the mission commander in the Air Tasking Order (ATO) is to destroy a bridge within Redland (enemy territory), the sweepers may be sent in first to destroy enemy aircraft that are patrolling their airspace. SEAD aircraft might then be sent in to destroy enemy weapons such as the SA-6 that might be a threat to the friendly force. Finally, the strikers might go in to destroy the high-value asset – in this case, a bridge that is centrally important to the adversary.
The deafening and uncomfortably piercing high-pitched roar of the engines of the F-16s parked on the Maple Flag tactical ramp opposite the headquarters building greets the aircrews as they make their way to their respective aircraft after the completion of the pre-mission brief.
Having completed their pre-flight checks, the morning mission flight crews are soon out of the chalks and taxiing to the runway in preparation for mission execution – and the launch begins.
“Attention all personnel. This is the Control Tower. Maple Flag launch is now in progress. Control Tower out.”
Hundreds of aircraft are launched during a period of about half an hour. Multi-purpose jet fighters make up the majority of the aircraft flown during the exercise: F-3 Tornados (UK), F-4F Phantoms (Germany), F-15 Eagles (US), F-16 Fighting Falcons (Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, US), CF-18 Hornets (Canada), Mirage F-1 (France), and Mirage 2000s (France).
Air-to-ground strikers that seek and destroy surface threats, like the British GR-7 Harriers, and electronic warfare and SEAD aircraft, like the American EA-6B Prowlers, also take to the sky.
Transport aircraft – consisting of C-130 Hercules aircraft flown by Canada, Norway and New Zealand; the Canadian refueling KC-130 Hercules; and French and German C-160 Transall – are also launched. The slow-moving transport aircraft take off first and proceed to the mission area. They are tasked with tactical re-supply missions and act as high-value assets to be protected from enemy airborne forces.
Finally, airborne early warning and control aircraft (AWACS) E-3 Sentry aircraft flown by NATO, France, the United Kingdom and the United States can be seen. One AWACS aircraft usually participates in the daily missions, giving the friendly “blue forces” crucial information about the location of “enemy” forces and helping jet-fighter pilots build their situational awareness.
Once in the air, the jet-fighter aircraft fly in simulation mode and go through the same procedures they would go through if in a real-life operational situation, explains Capt. Nick “Grizz” Griswold, a CF-18 pilot from 416 Squadron who is participating in period three of the exercise.
“We pull the trigger to get used to the action of pulling the trigger,” he says. “When you take a shot, you assess if you would have had a valid shot by looking at what your airplane and what his airplane is doing. On the ground, we also study our instrumentation tapes to again assess if it was valid.”
After being in the air for about an hour and a half, the aircraft land and each element of the package is individually debriefed. A mass debrief involving all of the elements in the package is then held in the same large room as the pre-mission brief. A representative of each element reviews and evaluates the actions of its aircrew, and the mission commander evaluates the overall success of the day’s mission.
The Air Combat Manoeuvring Instrumentation Package (ACMI) records each aircraft’s mission. This recording, which appears as both a digitally-rendered aerial and side view of the mission area, is displayed on a large screen in the briefing room and allows interested personnel to track the movement of the aircraft in real-time. During the mass de-brief, the recording is played back and analyzed, and the lessons-learned are highlighted.
The rest of the afternoon and early evening is then spent planning the following day’s mission. Another ATO is given to the next mission commander. The mission commander develops a general plan, and that plan is then refined with the help of a representative from every unit participating in the exercise. The plan is finalized by 6:30 p.m. – and the following day, the plan is implemented.
“MAPLE FLAG XXXVII, which is the largest and most successful one we’ve had so far, is a great success,” says Col. Charles “Duff” Sullivan, Wing Commander of 4 Wing Cold Lake. “MAPLE FLAG provides critically important air combat training for Canadians and our allied partners – and we’re happy to be able to invite our friends and allies to participate in this exciting and worthwhile exercise.”
Lieutenant Sonia Dumouchel-Connock is the Exercise MAPLE FLAG Public Affairs Officer
Hey now, that's not fair! We got TWO of 'em. ; )
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