Exercise & Deployment Themed Articles

DEC222011

Military Aviation >> USA: Red Flag 11-3: It's Not Always About Being On Base Back in February, Red Flag 11-3 presented an opportunity to catch some of the participating aircraft at low-level. With RAF Tornado GR.4s and USAF A-10s, both well known for getting down among the weeds, and no really exotic visitors, this would provide a good opportunity for off-base shooting. Paul Filmer reports from the wilderness of Nevada.

MAY252011

Military Aviation >> Europe > Exercises: NATO Tiger Meet 2011 It's that time of year again, when garishly painted military jets gather to strut their stuff in the sky whilst their crews adorn their uniforms with anything with black and gold stripes. Yes, it's NATO Tiger Meet time, and Chris Wood (a former 'Tiger' himself, having served with the Royal Navy's Flying Tigers, 814 NAS) reports from Cambrai on the 2011 activities.

APR262011

Military Aviation >> USA > Exercises: National Disaster Medical System Exercise The National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) is a federally coordinated system which establishes a single integrated medial response capability for assisting local and state authorities in dealing with major peacetime disasters. Paul Filmer reports from Colorado on the latest NDMS Exercise.

MAR222011

Military Aviation >> USA > Exercises: Red Flag 11-2, Nellis AFB, NV The first Red Flag of fiscal year 2011 was RF11-2, which ended up being quite light on aircraft numbers for the traditional two-week exercise. Paul Filmer reports from Nellis AFB on the latest Red Flag.

FEB152011

JHC Pashtun Jaguar on Salisbury Plain From late January through until mid-February, the Salisbury Plain Training Area (SPTA) took on the role of Helmand Province for a massive two part training exercise. "Pashtun Dagger" saw 3 Commando Brigade of the Royal Marines taking part in a large field training exercise (FTX) in final preparations for their Operation HERRICK 14 deployment to Afghanistan in the spring. Hundreds of personnel from all three services took part in the three week exercise that involved many scenarios likely to be faced whilst deployed in Afghanistan. John Higgins was there for GAR.

DEC072010

Exercise Vega 2010 Eagles with strange nobbly bits, majestic looking brown, green and sand camouflaged F-16s and the most interesting looking Gulfstream you ever did see; Chris Wood guest reports from the Italian island of Sardinia as the Israeli Defence Forces take up residence for Exercise Vega 2010.

DEC072010

The F-111's Nellis Swansong - Red Flag 09-3 Last weekend marked the sad retirement of the World's last remaining F-111s. Last year the Australian Air Force F-111C Aardvarks made the long trek to deploy to Red Flag for the last time and Paul Filmer travelled to the edge of the vast Nellis ranges to try and catch up with the oldest swingers in town...

OCT122010

Tiger, Tiger! - NATO Tiger Meet 2010 This year's NATO Tiger Meet (NTM) is taking place in the Netherlands from 4-15th October. The exercise is being held at Volkel Airbase, situated in the south of the country, which is home to several Netherlands AF F-16 units. Chris Muir guest reports for GAR.

SEP142010

Red Flag 10-4 Red Flag 10-4 epitomised the good and the bad of a mid-summer Red Flag; good because we had the day/day launches which gives us two bites at the launches and recoveries cherry (although the morning light can be extremely tough), but bad because it is usually the hottest time of the year. Paul Filmer reports from Nellis AFB on the latest Red Flag exercise, with additional photos by Paul Dunn.

AUG102010

Preparing for the worst - Colorado National Guard Exercise From 5th to the 7th August the Colorado National Guard, along with the West Metro Fire District and Colorado Task Force-One (CO-TF1), conducted a large scale emergency response exercise in Lakewood which is a South Western Denver suburb. Paul Filmer reports from a field on one of the last elements of the exercise.

MAY042010

Red Flag 10-3 The latest Red Flag exercise (RF10-3) was the normal two-week affair and took part between 22nd February and 6th March at Nellis AFB. Paul Filmer reports on the highs and lows of shooting at this time of year.

NOV172009

Red Flag 10-1 Running from the 19 - 30 October, Red Flag 10-1 saw 15 units and three countries deploying to Nellis AFB on the outskirts of Las Vegas to take part in some of the most realistic war games on the planet. Paul Filmer reports for GAR.

NOV102009

Merlin Force - Exercise Merlin Vortex Earlier in the year, GAR published two pieces focusing on the RAF Merlin Force as they began to prepare for their deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation HERRICK. As part of this process a detachment recently deployed to Southern California to take advantage of the superb training environment there. Paul Dunn visited NAF El Centro to catch up on how preparations are going, and offers an exclusive insight for GAR.

SEP182009

NATO Tiger Meet 2009 NATO’s annual Tiger Meet headed for Belgium this year to Kleine Brogel, within reach of many European enthusiasts including many Brits. Glenn Beasley was one seeking exotic tiger liveries for GAR.

SEP142009

Red Flag 09-5 Red Flag 09-5 - the fifth, and hottest, one of the year and that which saw debut appearances from the United Arab Emirates alongside the Italian Air Force AMX. Paul Filmer went along for Global Aviation Resource.

SEP122009

Red Flag Ahead of GAR's first report on one of the exercises, Paul Filmer takes a closer look at possibly the best known and most realistic training programmes ever created for military aircrew. Welcome to the world of Red Flag.

JUL152009

CQWI Course 2009 The Combined Qualified Weapons Instructors' (CQWI) Course is designed to provide today's front-line RAF squadrons with thoroughly trained and prepared Qualified Weapons Instructors (QWIs) and with the 2009 edition marking the culmination of a two-year long overhaul of the course, Karl Drage travelled to Scotland to report on how it all panned out.

JUL012009

493rd Fighter Squadron Deploy to RAF Coningsby The skies above RAF Coningsby rumbled even louder during the past week with the arrival of F-15Cs from RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk. Glenn Beasley checks out of the action for GAR.

MAY102009

Exercise Wyvern Tor '09 The Ten Tors Expedition takes place annually on Dartmoor and, because of the rugged nature of the venue, helicopters are utilised to provide essential support and safety functions for the organisers and those taking part. Morley Lester was there to record the happenings for GAR.