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airforcesmonthly.com #264 March
Forging Friendships With The Fighting Falcon
nearly 2,000 graduates from 24 nations that fly
the F-16. Its a mission we know very well, said
Colonel Stroud. Enhancing the air capabilities of other nations is
what we do; and as senior leaders often point out,
its an undertaking of the utmost significance in our post Cold War environment.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates emphasized the importance of international training to USAF leaders on April 21, 2008, during a speech he gave to the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
The 162nd Fighter Wing of Arizonas Air National Guard is regarded as
the place to be if you want to learn how to fly an F-16 for your country. Currently training students from
around the world, the Wing's Major Gabe Johnson explains how
it all works.
Over European castles, Middle Eastern deserts and Pacific Islands, F-16 fighter pilots are operating in ever-increasing numbers. With more nations adding the fighter to their inventories, the need for qualified F-16 pilots has increased. Pilots from all over the world
are travelling to the Air National Guards 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport, Arizona, to learn to fly the multipurpose fighter.
Our primary goal for international pilot training is to build a foundation that will enable us all to carry out operations as coalition partners, said the 162nd's Wing Commander Colonel Greg Stroud.
Roughly 1,500 Arizona Air Guardsmen at Tucson International Airport maintain and operate 66 F-16s for the purpose of training fighter pilots from Italy, Norway, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and US.
Over the last 20 years, the Wing has trained What the last 25 years have shown is that the threats can emerge almost anywhere in the world, but our own forces and resources will remain finite, said the secretary. To fill this gap, we must help our allies and partners to confront extremists and other potential sources of global instability within their borders.
To advance the initiative, the 162nd Fighter Wing trains more than 70 international student pilots per year, offering several training programmes that range from initial F-16 qualification to the advanced weapons delivery course.
The syllabus each country follows is tailored to meet their specific needs. Some request more air to-ground training, while others focus on air-to-air missions, and some want a combination. The initial
training course, for example, is six-to-eight months in duration and carries the largest number of students.
By the time a student pilot arrives in Tucson, they already have their pilots wings and have graduated from the Defence Language Institute, so we can be sure they know how to fly and how to communicate in English, said Colonel Randy Straka, an instructor pilot, who has 14 years of experience training foreign military students.
The Barry Goldwater Range in southwest Arizona consists of 2.7 million acres (10,926.5km2) of relatively undisturbed Sonoran Desert. Overhead are 57,000 cubic miles (237.586km3) of airspace
where fighter pilots can practice air-to-air manoeuvres and engage simulated battlefield targets on the ground.
We average 17,000 flying hours per year, and were able to do that because of Arizonas yearround good weather. Less than three percent of scheduled sorties here are cancelled due to
weather, Colonel Stroud said.
The Old West
The 162nd was not always in the international training business. Unit history dates back to 1956 when the 152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Arizona ANG flew North American F-86A
Sabres. At that time the base consisted of an old farmhouse and a dirt-floor hangar with enough space for three aircraft. Its mission then was air defence. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s,
Arizona Guardsmen flew several single-seat fighters. The ANG officially re-designated the unit as the 162nd Tactical Fighter Training Group and the 152nd Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1969. The units new job was producing combat-ready pilots for the North American F-100 Super Sabre.
The international training mission came to Arizona in 1989 when the Netherlands and the US formally agreed to use the 162nd Fighter Groups facilities to train Dutch Air Force pilots in the F-16.
In April 1992, the Groups international training mission began a major expansion, training fighter pilots for the Republic of Singapore, followed in 1993 by Bahrain, Portugal in 1994, and later
Thailand, Indonesia and Turkey in 1995.
The unit was designated a Wing in October of 1995, and the international training mission continued to expand, adding Belgium in 1996 followed by Jordan and Norway in early 1997. Danish pilots began training at the base in June 1998, and Japan in late 1998. Italy sent their first pilot to Tucson in October 2000 followed by Greece
in January 2001. The latest client is the United Arab Emirates, whose first batch of students arrived in August 2001. New F-16 operators will be added to this list and the services that the 162nd offer look
set to continue well into the future.
The First Squadron, the 152nd
The 152nds instructor pilots fly 24 F-16C/D Block 42s for the purpose of training students from Italy, Morocco, Poland and Singapore. Poland, for example, in its transition from Soviet-built MiG-29s and Su-22s to American-built F-16s, has taken on one of NATOs most aggressive fighter programmes known as Peace Sky.
A new generation of Polish Air Force pilots are learning how to fly their countrys most advanced fighter, the F-16C/D Jastrzab or Hawk as it is called. Poland received 48 F-16s, and is steadily increasing
its number of qualified pilots.
When the programme started here in 2004 we were training Polands senior pilots. These days were training their more junior ones, said Lieutenant Colonel Will Johnson, an instructor pilot whos
worked closely with the wings Polish programme. Weve graduated about 40 pilots so far, and we anticipate that there will be a lot more to come. First Lieutenant Adam Jantas is a recent graduate
of the 162nd Fighter Wing training programme. He has eight years of fighter pilot operations in the Su-22 Fitter. It was my goal to train in the US, said the Lieutenant. I started at language school at
Lackland Air Force Base in Texas then I went to T-38 training at Columbus [AFB], Mississippi. My final phase is here. As a student, Jantas flew an average of two or three times per week, but in the first few months; there were five sorties per week. In the beginning it was good to fly often as I could. The long breaks are not helpful when you are learning, and repetition is very important, he said.
According to Colonel Johnson, the goal is to get the Polish Air Force to fly like the USAF.We teach Polish students that fighters can be
flexible, and that when they make a flight plan, thats good, but we may deviate from that during the actual flight. We teach them to adapt quickly. They like to have the ability to take off and have the
flexibility to make their own decisions once airborne. The real learning begins at debrief when student and instructor review video from the flight. The instructors know what theyre doing, and
Im aware that they have a lot of experience and a lot of patience. They just calmly say, OK, dont do that again, said the Lieutenant.
When the students graduate, they return to their own flying squadrons in Poland, but the US instructors know that they will see them again.
Colonel Johnson explains, Weve been sending our members to a base in Poznan for the last three years as mobile training teams. Each team consists of three pilots and they spend three months at
a time assisting Polish F-16 pilots, keeping them current on their training.
Arabs in Arizona
F-16 pilots and maintainers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force participated in their countrys first Red Flag exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada beginning on August 22 through to September 5, 2009. Before this, UAE airmen spent the previous two weeks at the 162nd preparing for the advanced training exercise. For the Emirati pilots, the stay at Tucson was a chance to get familiar with US airspace regulations.
Arizonas ANG have trained UAE fighter pilots for the last eight years, five of them in their own aircraft. Currently, the Wings 148th Fighter Squadron (FS) is the only squadron of UAE-owned F-16E/F Desert
Falcons, or Block 60s, in the US. Of the 80 Block 60s purchased by the UAE, 13 reside at Tucsons airport.
It was great to welcome back our friends, some of whom we hadnt seen for a while, said Colonel Stroud. It was really rewarding for us to see how theyve developed and we were proud to send
them off to their first Red Flag.
The F-16E/Fs most notable characteristics are conformal fuel tanks mounted on the top of the fuselage, digital colour displays in the cockpit and the General Electric F110-GE-132 engine, which
compensates for the jets increase in weight. Its typically called a generation 4.5 fighter, not quite at the level of the 5th generation F-22 Raptor, but its avionics, 32,000lb (14,515kg) of thrust and fuel capacity make it a very formidable fighter, said Colonel McGuire.
Diverse but Dedicated
The largest of the Wings three flying squadrons is its most diverse. Pilots of the 195th Fighter Squadron The Warhawks fly 29 Block 25 F-16s, to train student from Norway, Pakistan, Poland and Singapore.
We have the most airplanes of the three squadrons on base and we fly the most hours per year, said Lieutenant Colonel Kelly Parkinson,
195th Fighter Squadron Commander. And they are always getting more students.
The Pakistan training programme is the Wings newest. The first eight students arrived in Tucson in October 2009. As experienced F-16A
Block 15 pilots, the students came to the 195th to get C-model training in order to fly the Block 52s recently purchased by Pakistan.
Were training these eight pilots so they can return home and be instructors themselves andteach others to fly the new F-16s, said Colonel Parkinson, a 22-year veteran fighter pilot.
Even though were training them in Block 25s they will still be able to operate their Block 52s back home. When they leave here they will get training from Lockheed Martin in Texas on the differences. The two blocks fly the same; its essentially the employment of weapons that makes the difference, said the Colonel. Parkinson and his cadre of instructors haveextensive experience with transitioning from
F-16As to F-16Cs. The 195th was the last squadron in the US to fly the Block 15 version.
The Future
USAF officials announced on October 29, that the 162nd Fighter Wing is one of the top five locations being considered for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training, (see JSF Basing Options, January, p12). The Air Force
considered 205 bases in the initial selection round,based on several factors, including: airspace, flight training ranges, weather, support facilities, runways, taxi ramps, environmental concerns and cost. Military efficiencies, aircraft maintenance, logistics support and
partnership building were also measured.
The ultramodern Air Guard Base at Tucson is very different from the farmhouse and dirt-floor hangar of 50 years ago. What remains unchanged is that the 162nd Fighter Wing is one of the most
professional and capable fighter training units in the world.
Forging Friendships With The Fighting Falcon
nearly 2,000 graduates from 24 nations that fly
the F-16. Its a mission we know very well, said
Colonel Stroud. Enhancing the air capabilities of other nations is
what we do; and as senior leaders often point out,
its an undertaking of the utmost significance in our post Cold War environment.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates emphasized the importance of international training to USAF leaders on April 21, 2008, during a speech he gave to the Air War College at Maxwell AFB, Alabama.
The 162nd Fighter Wing of Arizonas Air National Guard is regarded as
the place to be if you want to learn how to fly an F-16 for your country. Currently training students from
around the world, the Wing's Major Gabe Johnson explains how
it all works.
Over European castles, Middle Eastern deserts and Pacific Islands, F-16 fighter pilots are operating in ever-increasing numbers. With more nations adding the fighter to their inventories, the need for qualified F-16 pilots has increased. Pilots from all over the world
are travelling to the Air National Guards 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport, Arizona, to learn to fly the multipurpose fighter.
Our primary goal for international pilot training is to build a foundation that will enable us all to carry out operations as coalition partners, said the 162nd's Wing Commander Colonel Greg Stroud.
Roughly 1,500 Arizona Air Guardsmen at Tucson International Airport maintain and operate 66 F-16s for the purpose of training fighter pilots from Italy, Norway, Morocco, Pakistan, Poland, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and US.
Over the last 20 years, the Wing has trained What the last 25 years have shown is that the threats can emerge almost anywhere in the world, but our own forces and resources will remain finite, said the secretary. To fill this gap, we must help our allies and partners to confront extremists and other potential sources of global instability within their borders.
To advance the initiative, the 162nd Fighter Wing trains more than 70 international student pilots per year, offering several training programmes that range from initial F-16 qualification to the advanced weapons delivery course.
The syllabus each country follows is tailored to meet their specific needs. Some request more air to-ground training, while others focus on air-to-air missions, and some want a combination. The initial
training course, for example, is six-to-eight months in duration and carries the largest number of students.
By the time a student pilot arrives in Tucson, they already have their pilots wings and have graduated from the Defence Language Institute, so we can be sure they know how to fly and how to communicate in English, said Colonel Randy Straka, an instructor pilot, who has 14 years of experience training foreign military students.
The Barry Goldwater Range in southwest Arizona consists of 2.7 million acres (10,926.5km2) of relatively undisturbed Sonoran Desert. Overhead are 57,000 cubic miles (237.586km3) of airspace
where fighter pilots can practice air-to-air manoeuvres and engage simulated battlefield targets on the ground.
We average 17,000 flying hours per year, and were able to do that because of Arizonas yearround good weather. Less than three percent of scheduled sorties here are cancelled due to
weather, Colonel Stroud said.
The Old West
The 162nd was not always in the international training business. Unit history dates back to 1956 when the 152nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Arizona ANG flew North American F-86A
Sabres. At that time the base consisted of an old farmhouse and a dirt-floor hangar with enough space for three aircraft. Its mission then was air defence. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s,
Arizona Guardsmen flew several single-seat fighters. The ANG officially re-designated the unit as the 162nd Tactical Fighter Training Group and the 152nd Tactical Fighter Squadron in 1969. The units new job was producing combat-ready pilots for the North American F-100 Super Sabre.
The international training mission came to Arizona in 1989 when the Netherlands and the US formally agreed to use the 162nd Fighter Groups facilities to train Dutch Air Force pilots in the F-16.
In April 1992, the Groups international training mission began a major expansion, training fighter pilots for the Republic of Singapore, followed in 1993 by Bahrain, Portugal in 1994, and later
Thailand, Indonesia and Turkey in 1995.
The unit was designated a Wing in October of 1995, and the international training mission continued to expand, adding Belgium in 1996 followed by Jordan and Norway in early 1997. Danish pilots began training at the base in June 1998, and Japan in late 1998. Italy sent their first pilot to Tucson in October 2000 followed by Greece
in January 2001. The latest client is the United Arab Emirates, whose first batch of students arrived in August 2001. New F-16 operators will be added to this list and the services that the 162nd offer look
set to continue well into the future.
The First Squadron, the 152nd
The 152nds instructor pilots fly 24 F-16C/D Block 42s for the purpose of training students from Italy, Morocco, Poland and Singapore. Poland, for example, in its transition from Soviet-built MiG-29s and Su-22s to American-built F-16s, has taken on one of NATOs most aggressive fighter programmes known as Peace Sky.
A new generation of Polish Air Force pilots are learning how to fly their countrys most advanced fighter, the F-16C/D Jastrzab or Hawk as it is called. Poland received 48 F-16s, and is steadily increasing
its number of qualified pilots.
When the programme started here in 2004 we were training Polands senior pilots. These days were training their more junior ones, said Lieutenant Colonel Will Johnson, an instructor pilot whos
worked closely with the wings Polish programme. Weve graduated about 40 pilots so far, and we anticipate that there will be a lot more to come. First Lieutenant Adam Jantas is a recent graduate
of the 162nd Fighter Wing training programme. He has eight years of fighter pilot operations in the Su-22 Fitter. It was my goal to train in the US, said the Lieutenant. I started at language school at
Lackland Air Force Base in Texas then I went to T-38 training at Columbus [AFB], Mississippi. My final phase is here. As a student, Jantas flew an average of two or three times per week, but in the first few months; there were five sorties per week. In the beginning it was good to fly often as I could. The long breaks are not helpful when you are learning, and repetition is very important, he said.
According to Colonel Johnson, the goal is to get the Polish Air Force to fly like the USAF.We teach Polish students that fighters can be
flexible, and that when they make a flight plan, thats good, but we may deviate from that during the actual flight. We teach them to adapt quickly. They like to have the ability to take off and have the
flexibility to make their own decisions once airborne. The real learning begins at debrief when student and instructor review video from the flight. The instructors know what theyre doing, and
Im aware that they have a lot of experience and a lot of patience. They just calmly say, OK, dont do that again, said the Lieutenant.
When the students graduate, they return to their own flying squadrons in Poland, but the US instructors know that they will see them again.
Colonel Johnson explains, Weve been sending our members to a base in Poznan for the last three years as mobile training teams. Each team consists of three pilots and they spend three months at
a time assisting Polish F-16 pilots, keeping them current on their training.
Arabs in Arizona
F-16 pilots and maintainers from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force participated in their countrys first Red Flag exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada beginning on August 22 through to September 5, 2009. Before this, UAE airmen spent the previous two weeks at the 162nd preparing for the advanced training exercise. For the Emirati pilots, the stay at Tucson was a chance to get familiar with US airspace regulations.
Arizonas ANG have trained UAE fighter pilots for the last eight years, five of them in their own aircraft. Currently, the Wings 148th Fighter Squadron (FS) is the only squadron of UAE-owned F-16E/F Desert
Falcons, or Block 60s, in the US. Of the 80 Block 60s purchased by the UAE, 13 reside at Tucsons airport.
It was great to welcome back our friends, some of whom we hadnt seen for a while, said Colonel Stroud. It was really rewarding for us to see how theyve developed and we were proud to send
them off to their first Red Flag.
The F-16E/Fs most notable characteristics are conformal fuel tanks mounted on the top of the fuselage, digital colour displays in the cockpit and the General Electric F110-GE-132 engine, which
compensates for the jets increase in weight. Its typically called a generation 4.5 fighter, not quite at the level of the 5th generation F-22 Raptor, but its avionics, 32,000lb (14,515kg) of thrust and fuel capacity make it a very formidable fighter, said Colonel McGuire.
Diverse but Dedicated
The largest of the Wings three flying squadrons is its most diverse. Pilots of the 195th Fighter Squadron The Warhawks fly 29 Block 25 F-16s, to train student from Norway, Pakistan, Poland and Singapore.
We have the most airplanes of the three squadrons on base and we fly the most hours per year, said Lieutenant Colonel Kelly Parkinson,
195th Fighter Squadron Commander. And they are always getting more students.
The Pakistan training programme is the Wings newest. The first eight students arrived in Tucson in October 2009. As experienced F-16A
Block 15 pilots, the students came to the 195th to get C-model training in order to fly the Block 52s recently purchased by Pakistan.
Were training these eight pilots so they can return home and be instructors themselves andteach others to fly the new F-16s, said Colonel Parkinson, a 22-year veteran fighter pilot.
Even though were training them in Block 25s they will still be able to operate their Block 52s back home. When they leave here they will get training from Lockheed Martin in Texas on the differences. The two blocks fly the same; its essentially the employment of weapons that makes the difference, said the Colonel. Parkinson and his cadre of instructors haveextensive experience with transitioning from
F-16As to F-16Cs. The 195th was the last squadron in the US to fly the Block 15 version.
The Future
USAF officials announced on October 29, that the 162nd Fighter Wing is one of the top five locations being considered for F-35 Joint Strike Fighter training, (see JSF Basing Options, January, p12). The Air Force
considered 205 bases in the initial selection round,based on several factors, including: airspace, flight training ranges, weather, support facilities, runways, taxi ramps, environmental concerns and cost. Military efficiencies, aircraft maintenance, logistics support and
partnership building were also measured.
The ultramodern Air Guard Base at Tucson is very different from the farmhouse and dirt-floor hangar of 50 years ago. What remains unchanged is that the 162nd Fighter Wing is one of the most
professional and capable fighter training units in the world.
