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Thread: Exercise DESERT TIGER 16-3

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    Retired Pilot Tex's Avatar
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    Post Exercise DESERT TIGER 16-3

    After Action Report For Exercise DESERT TIGER 16-3

    Date of Flight: 4 JUN 2016

    Location: NTTR

    Description: DESERT TIGER 16-3 was a Large Force Exercise (LFE) conducted in the NTTR with 76th vFS and the 81st vFS out of KLSV. There were a total 12 x A-10C aircraft and 2 x Air Traffic Controllers supporting the exercise.

    Scenario: Following a military coup in Northeria, Northerian military forces have begun attacking their southern neighbour Southeria in what is believed to be an attempt to unite both countries under the rule of the Northerian military Junta. NATO forces have been deployed in support of the Southerian government following a request for assistance in defending against any attack.

    Desired Learning Objectives:
    1. Large force strike/interdiction planning & execution
    2. Multi-flight coordination
    3. LATN
    4. Threat Avoidance


    Plan : The aircraft were split into three, 4-Ship flights, NINJA 1, NINJA 2, and NINJA 3. These flights were tasked with 3 x primary targets and 3 x secondary targets as follows:
    NINJA 1: Pri - T75.04, Sec - T75.43
    NINJA 2: Pri - T75.29, Sec - T75.34
    NINJA 3: Pri - T75.32, Sec - T75.15
    All flights were to depart Nellis, marshal at Alaska, and ingress low-level to avoid detection and engagement of 2 x SA-6s, 1 x SA-3 in the vicinity of (IVO) the targets. Additionally, there were 2 x SA-9s and 1 x Roland mobile IVO the target area. After conducting their attacks, flights were to egress low-level to avoid engagement until clear then return to Nellis via Sally to an ARCOE Recovery.

    Observations and Lessons Learned :
    1. Communications: During LFEs / Flight Nights, radios get really busy. Pilots need to focus on and practice be quick and concise on radio calls. Pilots should think through their radio call before pressing the transmit button.
    2. Communications: During the exercise, the front VHF/AM radio was used for flight communications rather than the standard Aft FM radio. This caused many pilots to transmit on the wrong radio during the initial portion of the flight.
    3. Airspace: Many of the aircraft ended up violating the 08 airspace at some point during the flight.
    4. Threat: One aircraft was simulated killed by an SA-9 in the target area. Root cause was an equipment malfunction in the pit. Recommend abort the attack/flight if equipment is malfunctioning in the future.
    5. Threat: One element was engaged by an SA-6 due to cutting inside their planned route of flight. Decision was based on perceived lack of time. Recommend pilots take a breath and slow down when they are feeling the pinch. Rushing usually leads to compounding the problem.
    6. Planning: While each flight was given a secondary target, the planning an execution should focus on the primary target.
    7. Future Planning: With the high number of waypoints due to the LFE ingress and egress routing, along with the radio checks, preflight ground ops took about 30 minutes.
    8. Formation: When flying with a wingman/element that has a different gross weight and drag factor, consider using airspeed rather than ITT for references during flight.
    9. Future Planning: Consider having AWACS or Blackjack relay communications between flights that are low-level and terrain masked.
    10. Brief/Debrief: Use of PowerPoint combined with Teamviewer was an effective way of briefing the mission.
    11. Brief/Debrief: During LFEs or other multi-flight events, consider reserving briefing room alpha for the large group only. This will allow each flight to have their own briefing/debriefing room and prevent other flights from interrupting when joining back in alpha for a mass brief/debrief.
    12. Planning: NINJA 3 had an aircraft fallout during departure due to a DCS crash. Flight Lead for NINJA 3 had a 3-ship contingency plan which allowed his flight to continue the mission on time.
    13. ATC: The ATC and Blackjack support was an enhancement to the mission. There were many discussions on ATC radio calls and procedures. Recommend continue to develop and refine 476th ATC procedures.


    Supporting Documents
    Mass Brief Located Here

    TACVIEW File Located Here

    Video from NINJA 1-1 Here
    • Ground Radio Check-In - 0:20:21
    • Ninja 1 Departure - 0:40:00
    • Ninja 1 Marshal - 1:14:55
    • Ninja 1 Ingress - 1:31:30
    • Ninja 1 Attack - 1:46:55
    • Ninja 1 Egress - 1:51:00
    • Ninja 1 Recovery - 2:22:10


    Event Forum Thread Here
    Last edited by Tex; 05Jun16 at 14:01.
    “Rules are made for people who aren't willing to make up their own. " - Chuck Yeager

  2. The Following 15 Users Say Thank You to Tex For This Useful Post:

    Dojo (05Jun16), Eddie (05Jun16), Energy (05Jun16), Gunny (05Jun16), Hansolo (05Jun16), InFlames (05Jun16), IronHog (05Jun16), Isimus (05Jun16), Kimi (05Jun16), Oliver (05Jun16), Ragtop (05Jun16), Scaley (05Jun16), Ski (05Jun16), Snoopy (05Jun16), Trigger (05Jun16)

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