SCENE
SCENESentry Eagle goes
Fifth-generation
Training Squadron and continued F-4C
training until 1988 when the last pilots and
weapon system of cers were trained on the
type. Kingsley subsequently transitioned to
the F-16A Fighting Falcon, held its training
mission and continued with F-16C and
F-16Ds until 1998 when it commenced
training Air National Guard F-15C Eagle
pilots, now as the 114th Fighter Squadron.
In November 2014, a US Air Force
initiative called Total Force Integration saw
the 114th Fighter Squadron also begin to
train active-duty F-15 pilots. The basis of
the initiative seeks to integrate reserve, Air
National Guard and active-duty components.
With the change, the 114th Fighter Squadron
became the sole F-15 Eagle training unit
in the US Air Force. Today, the active-duty
component falls under the command of the
56th Operations Group, Air Education and
Training Command’s largest ghter pilot
training organisation based at Luke Air Force
Base, Arizona. On July 21, Air Education
and Training Command activated the 550th^
Fighter Squadron at Kingsley Field as the
dedicated active-duty F-15 Eagle training
unit, which shares aircraft with the 173rd
Fighter Wing.
Back in 1985, commanders based at
Kingsley Field set out the concept of a regular
air-to-air training exercise that provided
instructors and students more familiarity of
other aircraft type’s capabilities to enhance
the training programme conducted by the
F-4C-equipped 114th at the time. In 1986,
Kingsley Field was the venue for the rstedition of Exercise Sentry Eagle. According to
the current commander of the 173rd, Colonel
Jeff Smith there are not many opportunities
for dissimilar air combat training during
regular ight operations from Kingsley Field:
“To bring a wide array of ghters, multiple
components and services to our ramp to ght
together is unbelievable.”
Commenting on the bene t of the
exercise through the years, Col Smith said
Sentry Eagle continues to pay dividends:
“It’s phenomenal for our students and
instructors every time we add another
challenge or another variable in the air-to-air
combat arena. You have to think on your
feet, react, quickly, adapt your tactics,
communications and weapons deployment
to beat the adversary or to survive the
scenario you are in.”Fifth-generation debut
This year’s edition, staged on July 20–23,
featured the F-35A Lightning II for the rst
time, but not in a major way. On the rst of
six exercise missions, two F-35As joined
the ght on their transit from Luke. The
same aircraft also entered the ght on the
nal mission before recovering back home
to Luke, some 800 miles to the south of
Klamath Falls. Much criticism has been
thrown at the F-35 aircraft because of
programme overruns through the years
of its development. Little is reported on
the aircraft’s operational impact in a large
force exercise such as Sentry Eagle. As
a consequence of participation by twoF-35As in the rst mission on July 20,
mission success of the Blue Air force was
considerably improved; at the early stage
of the ght, the opposing Red Air looked
like scoring considerable success over the
Blue Air component. Col Smith provided a
brief account of the F-35As ght: “Flown
by Brigadier General Brook Leonard,
commander of the 56th Fighter Wing and
Major Michael Mickus, the two F-35As made
a timely entry into the ght immediately after
air refuelling: “Unfortunately we [the Blue
Air force] had missed a couple of F-18s that
were about to bomb a simulated target we
were defending. The F-35s swooped in and
took them out, demonstrating a successful
entry into the exercise by F-35s.”
As a ghter pilot, Col Smith appreciates
the learning experience gained by pilots
participating in Sentry Eagle: “In these kinds
of ght, integrated as they are, it’s a lot about
learning what other people can and can’t do,
and when they can and can’t do things.”
Access to large areas of controlled
airspace near to base is a major enabler for
conducting large force air-to-air exercises.
Two such areas support the 173rd’s ight
operations, the larger of which is currently
in the process of being increased in size, as
Col Smith detailed: “About 40 miles to the
southeast is an area we call Goose, which
extends from southern Oregon into northern
Nevada; that’s where we stage our close-
range air-to-air events. It’s the smaller of the
two areas, but it is right next to home, which
is great for getting as much ght as we can
out of the gas we have in the tank. About
100 miles to the north is the larger area
extending 120 by 50 miles wide, that’s where
we conduct long-range intercepts: exactly
what the F-15 was built for. If we are allowed
to make that area a little wider, instead of
conducting a north-south ght we can get
multiple ights stacked in with east-to-west
access in the same airspace. We are allowed
to use the larger area during Sentry Eagle,
which is the requested requirement for the
long haul.”
As with all NATO-standard air-to-air
exercise, Sentry Eagle comprises a
series of missions, each led by a mission
commander selected from a different
unit; with all participating squadrons
assigned to both Blue and Red Air.Jim DunnBased in San Antonio, Texas, the 149th Fighter Wing has painted F-16C 86-0321 in a
commemorative colour scheme to mark this year’s US Air Force 70th anniversary. The
aircraft is fi nished with bright yellow markings and World War Two invasion stripes;
a mark of the unit’s operations during the allied invasion of Europe in 1944. Other
markings include the unit’s name ‘ Lone Star Gunfi ghters’ on the forward fuselage and
the offi cial Air Force 70th Anniversary shield applied to the tail. Dan StijovichTwo F-35As from the 56th Fighter Wing based at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona
made the type’s debut participation in Sentry Eagle. Jim Dunn