Iron Thunder roars through Shaw

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman John Gordinier
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  On most days, the only aircraft on the flightline at Shaw are F-16CJs, but this week the 77th Fighter Squadron hosted a four-day exercise called Operation Iron Thunder, in which many aircraft and people from different states and countries participated.

Participating aircraft included B-1B bombers from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas; F-15E fighters from Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.; E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar Systems from Robbins AFB, Ga.; F/A-18 Hornets from Naval Air Station Oceana, Va., and Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.; F-16s from the 77th, 79th and 55th Fighter Squadrons here and the Alabama Air National Guard in Montgomery, Ala.

Additionally, a U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker from Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England, as well as refueling tankers from all over the Southeast and Northeast, participated, said Capt. Kevin Pugh, 79th FS weapons and tactics large force exercise officer.

An E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System from Tinker AFB, Okla., and a British E-3 from RAF Waddington, England, participated in the large-force exercise as well, he said.

The E-3 from England participates in many American exercise scenarios to include Iron Thunder and Red Flag, said RAF Sqd. Ldr. Gary Coleman, 8th Squadron pilot.

"It is a benefit for us to get the chance to train with coalition aircraft," the squadron commander said. "Training and getting familiar with the way coalition forces operate helps us when we assist in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom."

Operation Iron Thunder had suppression of enemy air defense and air-to-air combat scenarios, Captain Pugh said. There were two phases in the exercise play. One phase had blue air protecting a target from red air, the aggressors. The other had blue air attacking an enemy target. Who flew blue or red air during the exercise, which was off the North Carolina coastline, was determined each day.

On a typical day during Operation Iron Thunder, the AWACS and about six or seven tankers take off at about 9 a.m., the captain said. These are the first aircraft out because they have extra fuel. At around 10 a.m., the fighters roll out to the coastlines between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, S.C. They fly north towards the North Carolina coastline while receiving fuel from the tankers. Each tanker refuels about four aircraft at any given time.

Around 11:30 a.m., the fighters are approximately 120 miles off the coast of North Carolina when the first phase of exercise play begins, Captain Pugh said. There are approximately 85 blue air aircraft, which includes escorts, versus about 15 red air aircraft. Blue air, which is striking the coastline, heads west and red air heads east. Blue air performs simulated attacks towards red air until the threat is destroyed.

For the next phase, blue air attacks an enemy location on the North Carolina coastline, he said. They simulate dropping bombs.

Some may wonder how a kill or dropped bomb is simulated.

There is a set of parameters that must be fulfilled when the simulated attack or simulated bomb drop occurs, the captain said. If the pilot is within those parameters when the kill is made, it counts as a successful simulated kill.

"Operation Iron Thunder trains our pilots and coalition pilots to perform better for future contingencies," Captain Pugh said. "That way, when we are all called upon to fight, we can successfully fight together."