Army Patriots protect sister services on ground, in sky

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Samantha S. Crane
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (ACCNS) --  (Editors Note: This is part of a series written on the 389th Fighter Squadron's participation in Red Flag 09-3 at Nellis Air Force Base). Soldiers with the Army's 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade from Fort Bragg, N.C., traveled to Nellis Air Force Base to participate in Red Flag 09-3 to blend their air and missile defense skills into the simulated three-week air war.

Armed with mobile radar and tracking systems to identify enemies in the air and protect allies on the ground and in the sky, Patriot units remain an invaluable asset to coalition forces, according to Soldiers participating in Red Flag.

A mainstay of the U.S. military's defensive strength in deployed locations across the Middle East, the Patriot is a long-range, all-altitude, all-weather defense system used to counter tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and advanced aircraft.

"We provide robust situational awareness and airspace de-confliction," said Army Capt. Christopher Miller, senior tactical director and fire direction section officer in charge of the 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

In addition, the air defense brigade gives U.S. and coalition forces another way to view the entire airspace in a deployed location.

"Different people send and receive messages over a data link, and we supplement their data link with our radar feed to enhance situational awareness," said Captain Miller.

"Before anything even enters other radar feeds, we can tell them what it is," said Army Staff Sgt. Robert Mountain, tactical director assistant and fire direction section noncommissioned officer in charge.

The team uses this information to identify possible threats in the airspace. A chain of command linking Air Force and Patriot units is used to ensure possible threats are not, in fact, friendly forces.

"We work all the time with the Air Force, so the pilots learn to trust us and we learn to trust them," said Sergeant Mountain.

Exercises like Red Flag give the Army opportunities to build trust with friendly forces they will work with in deployed locations all around the world.

"Joint 'kill chain' exercises are critically important to all of us because this is how we would fight when we are deployed together," said Army Brig. Gen. Robert Woods Jr., 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command commanding general from Fort Bliss, Texas. "What's critically important is that we make the most out of exercises like Red Flag, which enables us to work with live aircraft, live data feeds and the entire joint kill chain."

Not only do coalition exercises mimic real-world deployments, they also help U.S. sister services learn the best ways to work together.

"There's a constant struggle in the inter-service world to improve joint interoperability and our tactics, techniques and procedures," said Air Force Col. James McGovern, Red Flag Air Expeditionary Wing deployed commander. "Patriot has a huge role in how we operate. As an Army and Air Force [team], we need to have solid procedure in place to shoot down the bad guys."

Not only does Red Flag improve coalition operations, it also gives Patriot batteries the opportunity to receive live-fire training.

"We do a lot of virtual training, but here we do live-air training, and we can engage with and see how specific aircraft react," said Sergeant Mountain. "In virtual training, there's no individual pilot thinking, so you can't predict the outcome."

Live training also gets units closer to how they would operate in a deployed setting.

"This is going to replicate everything we're going to do when we deploy," said Army Lt. Col. Michael Tronolone Jr., 1st Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery Battalion commander. "We show the Army's ability to go into an austere environment, set up in the middle of nowhere and reach back to our joint controlling agency."

"Out here, it's about as realistic as it gets before going into combat," said Spc. Brian Byrne, Patriot launcher crew member.