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A Green Flag mission: from cradle to grave

  • Published
  • By Capt. Ashley Norris
  • Nellis Public Affairs
"Three, two, one, hack. The time is now zero nine forty; let's get started," said Capt. Andy Labrum, the operations supervisor for Green Flag.

Captain Labrum began the aircrew mass brief Aug. 11 with roll call, making sure that all aircrew, intelligence and Army liaison personnel were present, and quickly moved into the objectives for the fourth exercise day of Green Flag-West operations.

Green Flag-West's mission is to provide realistic air-land scenarios, preparing allies and U.S. forces for deployments and modern close air support in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The first seven days of every Green Flag exercise are focused on practicing CAS in isolated tactical scenarios for more than 6,000 Army, Marine and Air Force troops at the 1,000-square-mile National Training Center near Fort Irwin, Calif.

The day's mission was preplanned and the flight objectives set: interact with the joint tactical air controllers, perform lethal CAS, drop inert bombs, escort convoys and receive a nine-line tasking from JTACs. Days eight to thirteen of the Green Flag exercise will be a continuous war-time scenario that will escalate and change depending upon how the players interact and react to their enemy.

A key point that is practiced throughout both weeks is nine-line procedures. Nine-lines are standardized across all allied forces so that a JTAC, on the ground, can call in an aircraft and tell them where the good guys are, where the bad guys are and what they want the airplane to do to the bad guys.

This is laid out in the Joint CAS publication 3-09.3, which standardizes how airborne forces employ weapons in close proximity to friendly forces without committing fratricide, explained Maj. James Barlow, director of operations for the 549th Combat Training Squadron.

"Almost all fratricide incidents occur from failure to follow these procedures," he said.

No air-to-air refueling was planned for this mission, so flying times were limited and a few changes were made by Captain Labrum to ensure mission success and that CAS was constantly available for the ground players.

As the brief continued, they discussed emergency runways, weather conditions and new intelligence. The mass brief wound down with a review of common mistakes made and lessons learned from the previous day's missions.

The 22 aircrew members split up into their individual flights of two aircraft for their flight briefings. They discussed in detail their individual missions, objectives, threats, weapons and tactics.

Capt. Mike Albrecht, pilot and flight leader for a two ship formation of F-15E Eagles from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, gave the briefing for Strike 1-1 and Strike 1-2. With efficiency and an arsenal of acronyms, Captain Albrecht ran through the fundamentals of the upcoming flight.

Mission objective: support the ground commander's intent.

Tactical objective: 100 percent adherence to the Rules of Engagement, SPINS (Special Instructions) and Joint CAS publication JP 3-09.3; effective use of sensors; 100 percent target and friendly force identification; maintain situational awareness; 100 percent hits with DWE (desired weapons effect).

Threats: small arms and MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defense System, or missiles).

They break for a few minutes to scarf down some lunch, and between bites, Capt. Chad Shenk, the pilot for Strike 2-2, joked that a bratwurst with mustard and ketchup was the best thing to eat before a flight. Minutes later, as the crew of Strike flight stepped to life support, the jokes stopped and the war began as they put on their G-suits and preflighted their aircraft.

Over the next two hours, U.S. Air Force, Royal Saudi Air Force and Pakistan Air Force flights talked over the radio with Marine JTACs located on the ground at the NTC. The JTACS gave the flights nine-lines that led them to drop bombs, follow enemy convoys or do shows of force flyovers. Flights often worked together to find and destroy enemy targets, increasing every participant's skills in close air support capability and interoperability between air forces.

All the while, Captain Labrum and two civilian contractors monitored everything that happened at the NTC from the War Room in the Green Flag building at Nellis. Captain Labrum watched and listened to all the operations. He observed the entire exercise and found tactical lessons learned, highlights and deviations from JP 3-09.3 to review during the debrief. If necessary he had the ability to contact aircrew or JTAC members over the radio to prevent any unsafe actions from occurring.

"I'm the liaison between the supervisor of flying, my commander and anybody else who has a play in Green Flag," he said.

Marine JTACs imbedded with the Army at the NTC directed aircraft to provide CAS via low passes, strafing and dropping bombs on targets or providing armed escort to convoys. From 1-3:30 p.m., 14 aircraft flew over the NTC and made 20 passes, attacks or shows of force and dropped six bombs in addition to all the simulated weapons they employed.

The aircraft rotated through their scenarios, and after the last player landed, a mass debrief was held in the War Room. Each flight leader and JTAC, via radio, discussed every scenario, nine-line and weapon that was employed. They discussed confusing points, correct and incorrect tactics and mistakes. They learned from each other and learned how different aircraft, allies and services operate and how to enhance interoperability, since this is the first Green Flag exercise for the Pakistani and Royal Saudi Air Forces.

Captain Labrum closed out the briefing, encouraging the crews to keep up the fight. As he reflected on that mission, he hoped that if they only learn one thing from Green Flag, it is the Joint CAS publication 3-09.3.

"We live and die by the 3-09.3 in the CAS world."

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