are space, C2 [command and control], force
protection and helicopter tactics experts; I have
SMEs across the full gambit of air capability.”
The kitchen is typically an important gathering
place for any RAF unit, and no less so at
the ABTC where green and black suits mix
in harmony, demonstrating just how healthy
the relationship is. The black suiters are all
former RAF and Royal Navy personnel, and the
kitchen hums with the services’ unique blend
of extreme professionalism and easy banter.
Dan Simmons, Inzpire’s Head of Aviation
Experts and Fixed Wing Division, and another
former Harrier pilot, explained the company
has been “in the AWC” for two years of its
initial five-year contract and none of the green
suits it began working with remain in post.
His aviation “staff” includes just nine black
suits, with a maximum of five deployed for any
individual project, including Cobra Warrior.
“The effect they have is impressive,
even in quite a large organisation like
the Air Warfare Centre. They’re here
designing all these scenarios and changing
things at the last minute when an asset
drops out, or the weather changes.
“The huge amount of work they do
enables 92 Squadron’s green suiters to
concentrate on their primary role, delivering
training and tactics to the front line.
“We’ve seen an increase in the quality
of the training. That’s the effect our five
guys have had. It’s the same for our
two guys in 29 Squadron, who’ve run a
seven-week exercise between them.”
Group Captain Puzey, Group Captain
Operations and Training, and Cobra Warrior
Exercise Director, sees a combination of black
and green suits as constituting No 92 Squadron:
“They wear the same badges, they’re of the
same mind and when it comes to the exercise it
doesn’t matter what suit you’re wearing, you’re
in that position by virtue of your expertise.”Capstone event
Wg Cdr Gordon outlines the essential
aims of Exercise Cobra Warrior: “It’s the
pinnacle of RAF collective training, the
culmination of lots of QWI courses.“We major on integration, because with
the conflicts we’re currently engaged in
it’s difficult to merge everybody together
and learn how to fight collectively. It’s an
area we’ve drifted back on because of the
op tempo, but our job on 92, working with
Inzpire, is to bring that level back up.
“The exercise aim is to teach and assess. It’s
a tough environment, with honest and frank
debriefs. It has to be, because we’re graduating
the people who are potentially going to go and
plan operations; they’re going to need to have
credibility, the self-assessment ability to take a
long hard look at themselves and to be able to
assess the people around them, and instruct.
“We work really hard on developing the
exercise scenarios. It’s where the relationship
between green and black suit works especially
well, because the black suiters have the
expertise to ratchet their scenarios up or down
depending on the desired learning objectives.”
Listening to the people behind Cobra
Warrior talking of training scenarios
and students, it’s easy to lose sight of
exactly who they’re instructing.
Every one of the QWIs under assessment
is an extremely experienced operator in their
own right. They will have flown operational
tours, many will have experienced combat,
and all will possess above average capability.Are such people challenging to instruct?
The squadron CO says: “As a group, all at
different levels of experience, it’s a challenge,
but one that we relish. The QWI staff are there
to instruct the QWI students, 92 is there to
facilitate their graduation training exercise and
provide a third-party view when required.
“Because of that, if the students have been
engaged on a current operation in the last three
or four years, we – green or black suiters – will
have engaged on it too. We therefore understand
their mindset and we can fall back on our deep
experience in the collective training environment.
“We’re really working to train the people
who will come back and take over our
jobs. It’s what I empower my SMEs to do,
with assistance from the Inzpire staff – do
whatever we need to do to raise the level
of the next generation of instructor.”Exercise control
Inzpire’s Simon Gilbert, who retired as a
Tornado GR4 navigator last year, works
seamlessly alongside No 92 Squadron’s green
suits as a crucial White Force operator.
During AFM’s visit to Waddington he was
controlling Red Force – but, taking a half-
hour out to talk while an Inzpire colleague
took over as ‘Red Chairman’, explained the
Cobra Warrior construct: “There’s lots of liveAbove: Inzpire’s black suiters are all immensely experienced operators. Garry Ridsdale via Inzpire
Right: RAF Tornado GR4 ZA560 ‘EB-Q’ of No 41 Test and Evaluation Squadron during Cobra Warrior last
September. Live fl ying is an essential Cobra Warrior component, but as with all exercises, its availability
is determined by operational commitments, serviceability and weather. Luke WebsterThe ABTC’s 80-seat debrief theatre
includes telecon facilities, so
that exercise participants may
participate in real time from other
locations. Garry Ridsdale via InzpireCobra Warrior
100 // JUNE 2018 #363 http://www.airforcesmonthly.com