ROYAL THAI AIR FORCE BASE, Korat -- Navy Strike Fighter Squadron 97 joined forces with Thai Air Force pilots here, October 26 – 29, to dominate the sky in a weeklong series of large force air combat exercises.
“We’re simulating every aspect of an actual strike,” said Lt. Jason Knapp, VFA-97 Thailand detachment officer in charge. “There’s red teams simulating the enemy and blue teams simulating the good guys with Thai and Navy pilots on both sides.”
The exercises, according to Knapp, require heavy planning and cover everything from close air support to actual target-on-target practice.
“We have different divisions of planes pass as different things,” said Lt. Adam Rosensweet, VFA-97 assistant logistics officer. “One group may be designated as strikers and bombers one day, and designated to clear out an area and gain air superiority the next.”
Rosensweet said the role switching gives all elements involved the opportunity for practical training with a foreign military in an air strike situation.
Communication practice has also boosted the experience level of these elite fighter pilots.
“Of course there’s the language barrier issue,” he said. “This is giving us a chance to understand each other better, because when things get going fast in the air, communication is everything.”
“As pilots, we’re all pretty much the same,” said Knapp. “We do a lot of hand motions during the briefings and they know exactly what we are trying to say.”
Rosensweet said a debriefing at the end of the day brings further clarification and provides both forces the chance to go over lessons learned.
“It allows for constructive comments and for the experienced guys from both forces to give tips to the younger guys,” he said.
“Some of the ways we operate both on the ground and in the air are different than the Thai,” said Lt. Cmdr. Chris Angelopoulos, VFA-97 safety officer. “We need to understand our differences so that each one of us can benefit by seeing the way other people do business.”
Working toward that goal increases the trust between allies, according to Angelopoulos.
“If you don’t know your ally, it creates a chaotic situation during real operations,” he said. “These exercises add a great deal of stability on both sides so that we can operate quickly and efficiently.”