them, then we kind of have to punish that,
because that’s a pretty bad mistake. I mean
I fly a lot older aircraft and they should
have no problem shooting me down.”
In practice, it’s not often that the ‘Saints’
get to ‘shoot down’ another aviator, as
Corky elaborated: “If I’m lucky, I’ll get a shot
every once in a while. It all depends on
what kind of event we’re on – how sneaky
we’re being. If they shoot me, I think, ‘Yeah,
I’m dead – sweet, I’m ready to go home.’
However, if I’m trying to be sneakier, then I’ll
definitely have a greater opportunity to get
to a merge and shoot one of the guys.”
Flying out of the same location for most of
their sorties helps the ‘Saints’ get something
of a ‘home field advantage’, LT Corky
contended: “We are very familiar with this
area [the ranges around NAS Fallon]. I can
just look outside and I know where I am.
Fighting ‘Saints’
http://www.airforcesmonthly.com #358 JANUARY 2018 // 47
Above: ‘Saints’ pilots are a mix of active-duty aircrew who remain with the squadron for three to four
years, and seasoned reservists, some of whom have fl own with the squadron for a decade or more.
Pilots fl y a minimum of 100 sorties each year. Søren Nielsen Below: F-5N 761568 over a snowy northern
Nevada. The airspace around Fallon is one of the US Navy’s primary training areas, with plenty of room
for visiting squadrons to tangle with the agile F-5s. Andy Wilson