The Claws of the Dark Smoking Tiger; Mont de Marsan, May 17, 2019

The NATO Tiger Meet 2019, part 1; Text and Photograph's by Alex van Noye

This year the NATO Tiger Meet took place at the French airbase Mont de Marsan in the south west of France. The French unit Escadron de Chasse 3/30 “Lorraine” was to host the Tiger Meet this year where international members will meet. The meeting is always surrounded by traditions where the team spirit is central.

With the main goals of sharing experiences, increasing interoperability, exemplary values and team spirit as a guiding principle, the NATO Tiger Meet has developed into an important exercise within NATO in more than 50 years. The tradition teaches that the participating squadrons, whether they are flying with airplanes or helicopters, are always present in the well-known tiger colors. The squadron emblem of all these participants is the tiger. This predator is a formidable and proud predator and an excellent hunter, this character fits exactly with the operational units of the NATO countries. The motto of the tiger units in Europe is "Hard to be Humble". The NATO Tiger Association is a collection of military units from NATO member states. The organization allows all units with helicopters or aircraft with a tiger or a feline as an emblem. Since 1961, the organization has been organizing the NATO Tiger Meet every year. This meeting gives the units and their crew the opportunity to gather and participate in various exercises. The story of the Tiger Meet began on July 19, 1961, when three Tiger squadrons met at the British airbase RAF Woodbridge which was in use at that time by the US Air Force. The units that participated in the meeting from the first hour are the Royal Air Force 74 Squadron with the Lightning, EC 1/12 “Cambresis” with the Super Mystère B2 and the 79th Tactical Fighter Squadron with the F-100 Super Saber. During the Cold War in a context of international tensions, the French Minister of Defense Pierre Messmer created the meeting to promote solidarity between the NATO units and to improve the quality of operational deployment.

The objectives of the previous editions of the Tiger Meet are still relevant during today's Tiger Meet. Today, cooperation has only become more important and the units often have to act together in countries far beyond Europe. The exercise commander of the NATO Tiger Meet in 2019 is Lieutenant Colonel Hugues Fouquet. He is a pilot himself on the Rafale and has over 2300 flying hours to his name. In addition to the

exercise commander, the Lieutenant Colonel is also the commander of the squadron EC 3/30 “Lorraine”. Fouquet has flown more than 84 war missions in French service. These missions were mainly during Operation Chammal in Syria and deployments to Afghanistan. During fifteen of these missions, he actually carried out bombing of enemy positions on the ground. For his efforts he has received quite a few awards from the French armed forces over the years. For this 55th edition of the NATO Tiger Meet, the French airbase BA118 Mont de Marsan is the ideal combat platform to host this meeting. For the French Air Force, the famous SPA-162 "Tigre", the 3rd flight of the Escadron de Chasse 3/30 "Lorraine", is the reason for designating this unit as a Tiger Unit within the NATO Tiger Association. By integrating SPA-162 in "Lorraine" in 2016, this unit became a member of the Tiger community.

Every year the NATO Tiger Meet has a specific theme on which the colored tails of the planes are matched. For this year it was the 75th anniversary of the landing in Normandy during D-Day. Every event during the Tiger Meet is organized around a chosen topic by the participating squadrons. Each participating unit paints an aircraft and adjusts the uniforms that match the chosen themes. To pay tribute to the 75th anniversary of landing on Normandy, the guest squadron EC 3/30 “Lorraine” has adapted a Rafale to the theme of the “Dark Smoking Tiger”. The Dark Smoking Tiger on the Rafale symbolizes the operations which unit "Lorraine" performed during this historic day on the Normandy coast on June 6, 1944. In the morning, twelve Douglas Bostons belonging to the 342nd squadron of the French Free Air Force (Forces Aériennes Françaises Libres) flew to Normandy for their historical mission. The 342nd Squadron is the French unit which is nowadays referred to as EC 3/30 “Lorraine”. The Bostons flew at low altitudes over the beaches of Normandy to construct a long and dense smokescreen. This smokescreen was a great success, because it protected the landing units against German bombings on the beaches. The French flew more than 25 km along the Cotentin coast to the mouth of the Vire river. The Dark Smoking Tiger emerges from the darkness of the night and blows the wind of freedom over France. It symbolizes the union of the Tiger spirit and the mythical legacy of the Free French Forces who entered France as the first liberation troops. Because of this message and symbolism, it is therefore not surprising that the color scheme of the guest unit was chosen as the best “paint job” during this NATO Tiger Meet.

Traditionally, trophies are awarded every year to the participating units in different categories. The main prize that can be won is the Silver Tiger, which was taken home this year by the Portuguese from the 301 Esquadron. The trophy for the best performing unit during the exercises and the trophy for the best painted aircraft were both won by EC 3/30 “Lorraine”. The Tiger Games were won this year by ECE 1/30 "Côte d'Argent". The most beautiful uniform was worn by the crew members of the Austrian 1 JTS. Finally, the prize for the best skid was won by the French helicopter unit EHRA 3 of the 3 RHC. In addition to the prices, there are usually more traditions that are continued during the Tiger Meet. This meeting of the different combat aircraft is the opportunity for pilots to deepen their knowledge about the different aircraft types. That is why each unit usually brings a few two-seater aircraft, which means that foreign pilots can fly in each other's aircraft during the missions. The squadrons also give each other different gifts, in particular between the host and guest squadrons this often takes place by, for example, donating their mascots, sculptures or model planes. Finally, military uniforms are provided with tiger markings. Also, the flight equipment such as helmets, masks, gloves, flight suits and glasses are often displayed with tiger stripes. Sometimes even the ground equipment is adapted to the tiger spirit.