Green Flag prepares 9 BS for deployment

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Robert Hicks
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  As a B-1 patrols the skies ready to strike at a moment's notice, a Joint Terminal Attack Controller on the ground relays coordinates of a building where enemy targets have taken refuge. Using the sniper targeting pod to pin point the target, the B-1 drops a bomb and destroys the building. That's one of several scenarios the 9th Bomb Squadron, aviators faced at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. during Green Flag.

Green Flag West is an exercise that provides units training on a scale not available near their home stations. It replicates irregular warfare conditions currently found in overseas contingency operations. Dyess aircrews, working closely with JTAC's embedded with the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., flew close air support, aerial reconnaissance and other missions to protect  6,000 soldiers, and 400 armored and support vehicles from an opposing enemy force in the US Army National Training Center's 1,000-square-mile combat environment.

"Green Flag is an invaluable asset," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Terry Ferrell, National Training Center commanding general. "They complete multiple objectives established for their pilots of various airframes. More importantly, the aspects of Green Flag--from fighter to jammer to air-refuel capability employed--ensure they can achieve the training objectives they need to reach, and we see how they are going to employ in various conditions."

Throughout the exercise, the 9th Bomb Squadron provided close air support for kinetic and non-kinetic operations to the ground commander with real time video of what's happening on the ground.

"The exercise gives us a chance to work hand-in-hand with the soldiers and Marines we're going to be deployed with," said Capt. Scott Pontzer, 9 BS, Green Flag project officer. "This is a great opportunity for us to work on communication skills so we can put bombs on targets."

A key point practiced throughout the training is nine-line procedures. Nine-lines are standardized across all allied forces so a JTAC can call in an aircraft and tell them where there target is located.

"In the nine-line he's going to give me everything I need to strike the target from the ground commander authority to the type of weapon they want us to use," Pontzer said. "From there we put the sniper pod on the target and if they have a rover video downlink capability they can see the live feed and tell us if it's a go."

This is not only an important exercise but our biggest before we deploy, Pontzer said. It gives us a chance to see what we can improve on in a deployment environment with scenarios.
"Green Flag West is an integral part of our squadron's deployment spin-up program," Lt. Col. Matt Brooks said, 9th Bomb Squadron Commander. "While the B-1 has been conducting combat operations in the Middle East almost continuously since 9/11, many of our newest aviators in the 9 BS have not yet had the opportunity to train with actual JTACs or use the sniper pod. It was very important for all of us to get this training."

The two-week exercise was a success. The 9 BS launched 38 of 38 planned missions during the exercise, and achieved greater than 97 percent effectiveness rating supporting the squadron's fragged vulnerability periods. Eighty five percent of the 9 BS pilots and weapons system officers are now fully qualified on the Sniper pod, up from a 40 percent qualification rate prior to Green Flag.

The 9 BS also had the opportunity to share air space with F-18 Super Hornets, Apache helicopters, KC-135 refueling aircraft, and MQ-1 and Shadow Unmanned Aerial Systems. Pontzer noted that having the aircraft in the same air space supporting the ground commander's intent was good integration for the upcoming deployment.

"I could not be more proud of our combined operations and maintenance team," Brooks noted. "38 of 38 jets airborne despite very tight aircraft turn times and a staggering operations tempo is a testament to the hard work of our maintenance team. Likewise, the operators took full advantage of the excellent training opportunities to hone their combat skills. In the end, the squadron achieved all of our objectives for Green Flag, and as a result we are better prepared to provide persistent and reliable combat airpower for the joint fight."