Staff Sgt. Chester Johnson, from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., performs a post flight inspection on an F-15 Strike Eagle during a Maple Flag exercise at Cold Lake, Canada. Maple Flag 41 is a four-week international air combat exercise held annually at 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada. The exercise provides Canadian and allied aircrew with realistic training in a modern simulated air combat environment, and it emphasizes air operations involving large package coalition forces. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Cecilio Ricardo)
COLD LAKE, Alberta, Canada (AFPN) -- Fighter pilots from seven different countries, including the United States, participate in Maple Flag 41May 5-16 and May 19-30 at Cold Lake in Alberta, Canada.
"Ask any U.S. fighter pilot and he'll tell you the best part about flying here is the unrestricted air space," said Maj. Derrick Johnson, Maple Flag project officer from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
Roughly 3,000 servicemembers are participating in this year's exercise, according to the 4 Wing Public Affairs. The exercise is divided into two periods;
"Four Wing Cold Lake is proud to host Exercise Maple Flag 41, one of the largest coalition exercises in the world," said Capt. John Pulchny, 4 Wing public affairs officer. "With its vast and unrestricted air space and its cutting-edge technology and training assets, the wing is a leading center for coalition training."
Four Wing is Canada's largest fighter wing. Its mission is to train, deploy and support tactical fighter forces to meet Canada's defense and security requirements -- domestically, continentally and internationally.
Maple Flag nearly mirrors Red Flag training at Nellis AFB. One of Red Flag's aggressor units is participating in this year's Maple Flag.
"From the 64th Aggressor Squadron flying the F-16 Fighting Falcon to the 65th Aggressor Squadron flying the F-15 Eagles -- that aggressor forces provide a huge training opportunity for Maple Flag participants," Major Johnson said.
This year's participants include forces from the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Netherlands, New Zealand and the Republic of Singapore.
The Blue Force, or "good guys," control the pace of the training based on its training objectives. The aggressors' job is to match that level of difficulty, and its Major Johnson's mission to ensure both sides are on the same wavelength. In other words, if one were to put a numerical value on the difficulty of a certain flying scenario, say a rating of four for the Blue team, then the major ensures the threat level presented by the aggressors is also a four, as is the surface-to-air missile threat. All must be equal.
"The difficulty level for fighter pilots increases each day," Major Johnson said. "We usually start with a very vanilla-type of threat. But as the exercise progresses, we try to make the complexity more difficult, based on training objectives. By the time the last training day rolls around, each pilot will see a much more robust threat, from the air and the ground. "
And, it's not just the fighter pilots who receive all the training.
"This is my second Maple Flag, the first being with the 27th Fighter Wing from Cannon Air Force Base in 2006," said Maj. Michael Shetler, 33rd Maintenance Operation Squadron commander at Eglin AFB, Fla. "How we do the job is the same at home or deployed. Exercises like Maple Flag teach our maintainers how to pack-up and deploy and how to work with other military services and host nations."
Taking part in the exercise are F-15s Eagles from Eglin AFB, an E-3 Sentry from the 965th Airborne Air Control Squadron, Tinker AFB, Okla.; eight F-16s from the 64th Aggressor Squadron from Nellis, and three EA-6B Prowlers from VAQ-137 Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island, Wash.
"Exercises, like Maple Flag, Red Flag Alaska and Red Flag Nellis, allow us to train like we fight today; as coalition partners. The training and relationships developed during exercises like this lay the foundation for future interoperability during the real deal," said Col. Jeff Gustafson, 33rd Fighter Wing vice commander from Eglin AFB.