TRAVIS FIELD, Ga. –
TRAVIS FIELD, Ga. – Fighting Marine Corp aviators may not seem like a good idea at first, but for the 71st Fighter Squadron pilots working to finish upgrade training, it’s a godsend.
Pilots at Det. 71 are taking advantage of high sortie rates to complete upgrade training that would be much more difficult to accomplish at Langley.
“We’re building a new instructor pilot,” said Lt. Col. Robert Garland, Det. 71 commander. “We have two new mission commanders, and we’re going to have three. We have two new four-ship flight leads.”
“Normally, you’d do about 75 percent of that,” Colonel Garland said. “Nine to 10 sorties per month are required for a pilot to be Combat Mission Ready. You’re getting 20 to 25 sorties a month down here. The CMR (Combat Mission Ready) rate has gone through the roof.”
While the ops tempo has never been a sticking point at Langley, some requirements for upgrade training are often in short supply. To be rated as a mission commander, a pilot must plan, coordinate, brief and command a training mission with eight ships and fight against a force that outnumbers them.
“To get that support at home is a huge effort,” Colonel Garland said. “Not only do you have to get eight ships from us, you have to fight outnumbered.”
Finding people ready (or willing) to go up against the 71st isn’t a problem in Savannah, with F-16 squadrons at Shaw AFB, S.C., F-15E’s at Seymour-Johnson AFB, N.C., and Marine F/A-18 Hornets from nearby Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
“Being in Savannah, we’ve been able to schedule those easier,” said Capt. James Morgan, 71st Fighter Squadron aircraft commander. Captain Morgan completed his mission commander training during the Savannah deployment.
“I did all my missions in the span of two weeks,” he said. “It would have been more difficult, maybe one to two months from one flight to another at Langley.”
“It’s not only making a plan and flying,” Captain Morgan said. “You’re coordinating with a lot of people outside your squadron: tankers, AWACS, Rivet Joints. It’s any of one to three days of email and faxes. One of the reasons it simulates combat so well is that if something changes, you have to deal with it and still accomplish the mission.”
Captain Charles Glasscock, 71st FS flight commander, is in instructor pilot upgrade training. Because the training requires much more preparation than actual flying, he said the sortie rates don’t help as much, but are valuable in other ways.
“It’s a week of prep time for each flight,” he said. “Each and every sortie we do, you have to brief, execute and debrief at an instructor level. You need nine upgrade sorties. Because my family isn’t here, I’m able to spend more time on the preparation, but overall it’s about the same.”
Captain Morgan said he’s glad to have the training out of the way, but happier because of the quality of the training.
“The mission commander upgrade provides much more of the skills we’d need in combat,” he said. “It’s more realistic. I’m more equipped to lead pilots into combat.”
Captain Glasscock said he looks forward to finishing instructor training in September.
“When I finish, I can take a young lieutenant and take him from being just safe in the cockpit to being Combat Mission Ready.”