International Training with NATO Partners; Leeuwarden, April 1, 2019

Frisian Flag 2019, part 2; Text and Photograph's Alex van Noye & Joris van Boven

In addition to the Dutch participants, many international participants were involved during Frisian Flag. For example, the French with their Mirages have become a familiar face in Leeuwarden in recent years. The American Air National Guard is also a returning participant who came to Leeuwarden Air Base with F-16Cs.

One of the now well-known participants during Frisian Flag are the French who are participating in the scenarios with their Dassault Mirage 2000Ds from Nancy with four planes. The leader of the French formation during Frisian Flag 2019 is Lieutenant Colonel Raphael "Dani". He is the Detachment Commander (Detco) of the French detachment during the exercise. In total Raphael has more than 2400 flight hours to his name, of which he made more than 1500 on the Dassault Mirage 2000D. The French detachment at Leeuwarden Air Base consists of 84 people. These are a total of twelve Mirage crews, so 24 pilots and Weapons System Officers (WSO, or 'WIZZO). The rest of the staff are support staff for the Mirages, Raphael said. During Frisian Flag, the Mirages fly in their usual Air-to-Ground (AG) role during the different scenarios which are flown. All French pilots and WIZZOs must be Combat Ready to participate on the French side. Raphael adds that some young pilots are only Limited Combat Ready. They have received dispensation to participate in the exercise because they have high potential for the future. There is a slight difference between the NATO definition and the Armee de l'Air definition of the term "Limited Combat Ready." No special preparations or training were required for this edition of Frisian Flag, because the French Mirage squadrons are always ready for operational deployment or international exercises, according to the Lieutenant Colonel. Raphael indicates that Frisian Flag is a very important exercise for the French; "Frisian Flag is a huge international and challenging integration exercise for us".

The goals of the French contribution are very diverse, according to Raphael. One must learn to fly in a large CAMAO scenario with more than 40 to 50 aircraft in one airspace. A number of Mission Commanders (MC) are also qualified to plan, lead and command large CAMAOs. Learning to cooperate with other aircraft types, with different characteristics, with different tactics, from different countries are important for filling

their training syllabus. For the French, it is also an opportunity to improve the English language during combat missions. Lieutenant Colonel Raphael would be the commander of the mission for Red Air on Tuesday afternoon (2 April 2019), while the interview with him took place on Monday afternoon (1 April 2019). The schedule is always recorded 24 hours before the actual mission. The commander of the mission also decides during the planning of refueling in the air at the tanker. Despite the fact that the training area of Frisian Flag is almost above Leeuwarden and refueling is not necessary, refueling in the air for combat aircraft is mandatory to get a realistic scenario. “I love the way we are treated and welcomed. We have a great time here and everything works well, we get good help and it is really a pilot oriented exercise. We take lessons learned with us to improve the skills of our pilots, WIZZOs and mission commanders in France".

In addition to the French participation, the participation of the American F-16s in particular was a striking appearance during this Frisian Flag. The F-16Cs are from the 179th Fighter Squadron (179 FS) which is part of the 148th Fighter Wing (148 FW). This unit is based at the American Duluth Airport in Minnesota where it is part of the Minnesota ANG. On behalf of the United States Air National Guard (ANG) of the USAF, First Lieutenant Chaz Smidt explains the role of the Americans during this exercise. Meanwhile, Smidt has accumulated over 300 flight hours of which he has now made over 100 on the F-16C Fighting Falcon. During his training he flew with the Northrop T-38 Talon and the Lockheed Martin F-16C Fighting Falcon in Phoenix in Arizona. After training in America, he was assigned to the Minnesota Air National Guard at Duluth in November 2018. The Frisian Flag exercise is his first exercise abroad which he completes. "The Netherlands is fantastic, I have met very nice and friendly people in this country". Lieutenant Smidt did not fly the F-16 over the Atlantic to Leeuwarden. He flew with a civilian Boeing 747 from the United States to Eelde airport in Groningen. The 179 FS came to Leeuwarden with a total of ten Block 50 F-16s for the exercise. According to Smidt, the unit will only stay in Europe for two weeks and will fly back to the United States after Frisian Flag. "It is important for us to be here and demonstrate our commitment to protecting our allies and I think it is a symbol of reassurance that we will be ready to provide a deterrent to potential threats."

Despite the versatile roles that these F-16s can play, the 179 FS will only occur in the air defense role according to the lieutenant. The aircraft can normally be deployed in the Air-Air (AA) role, the Air-Ground (AG) role or Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD) role. The F-16Cs are painted in the striking dark gray radar-absorbing "Have Glass" colors for the SEAD role. Lieutenant Smidt achieved his "Mission Qualified" status just a month ago and was therefore just in time to participate in this exercise. He can fly like a wingman during Frisian Flag. It is the first chance he gets to fly with and against non-American combat aircraft. It is also the first opportunity for Smidt to fly in a large Composite Air Operation (COMAO). "The most exciting thing for me is to see several countries in the air at the same time, to be there and to fly and practice together." If more than fifty planes fly at the same time, that is a new great experience for him. This great exercise brings the Lieutenant in his career from wingman to two ship leader. Later he hopes to grow to flight leader and then to instructor. As an instructor, he wants to teach young pilots not to make the flight mistakes he made in his early days. Smidt is a full-time pilot with the Air National Guard. About 40% of the pilots at the ANG are full-time pilots. The remaining 60% of the ANG are part-time pilots. This means that they only fly at the ANG during the weekend or during a number of predefined weeks.