flying and we run the exercise on the basis
of planning one day to fly the next, for two
weeks of daytime flying and one of nights.
“The students are given an Air
Tasking Order [ATO], Air Ops Directive,
commander’s intent and generic Red
threat, just as they would be for real.
“Within the ATO they’re given a mission and a
selection of assets as mission commander, since
the exercise is all about command and leadership.
“They have to assess the task, what they
have and haven’t got, and what the enemy
has, then go through a process of analysing
the targets, the tactics and the threat, to
come up with a suitable plan and all the
contingencies they’ll need for when the glorious
blue, sunny skies they’d hoped to fly in are
actually solid cloud and they need to consider
how to co-ordinate all their aeroplanes when
they can’t even see out of the window.
“We’re aiming to get to the point where
they can derive a simple plan for a complex
scenario that gets all their aircraft safely
through a particular point in space and time
to achieve the commander’s intent.”
Inzpire’s black suits are security cleared
to the same level as their green suit
colleagues and though they no longer have
current frontline experience, their tactical
understanding is far from obsolete.
Indeed, part of Inzpire’s AWC role is to assist
in the development of tactics, techniques
and procedures for current operations, and
its personnel also work on No 29 Squadron,
the Typhoon operational conversion unit at
Coningsby (see AFM May and June), running
the squadron’s Triplex Warrior exercise. Others
deliver elements of the Reaper QWI course.
For Cobra Warrior, Inzpire fielded counter-
air, attack and ISR QWIs, plus C2 and
intelligence experts, most of them only
recently out of the service, working on No
92 Squadron to design the exercise.
A green suit Tactical Director (TD) has
responsibility for exercise execution, supported
by a black suiter, the Exercise Co-ordinating
Officer (ECO), who runs the missions they’ve
designed. They’re there to support the
TD through the mission planning stages,
ensuring the students are following the correct
path according to the exercise intent.
The process is one of planning today for
tomorrow’s activity, delivering the brief, then
going into the execute phase, for which black
and green take the short drive north around
Lincoln to RAF Scampton – where 1 Air
Control Centre enables command and control
of live flying as if this historic station were a
combined air operations centre (CAOC).
With the ECO and TD running the exercise
from Scampton, radio communications and
data links deliver information to participating
aircraft, adding to the mission’s realism.
Group Captain Puzey, who is also head of the
AWC’s Operations and Training Division, sits
above the TD as the overall Exercise Director:
“I’m ultimately responsible for overseeing
the safe conduct of the exercise,” he says.
“Because 92 Squadron is one of my units,
it’s also about output assurance and the
quality of training delivery. My interaction
with green or black suiters is through
OC 92 Squadron, as commander of
the unit delivering the training.
“But that doesn’t mean I don’t
speak with the other guys on
a routine basis, and when I
do they’re just one
of the team. I’llgo to the person I know has the answer or can
tell me who has the answer, regardless of suit.
“I avoid getting too far into the detail
because it means I can sit back and see the
bigger picture as the missions are planned.
“Each mission is run through with me
beforehand so that I’m satisfied it’s as
safe as it can be and looks tactically
sound. We do that the day before; then it’s
briefed, and we move over to Scampton,
where I observe it being flown.
“I’ll only get involved if something unusual
happens and if necessary I’ll call it off, but
generally that doesn’t happen. I’m primarily
there as a
backstop.”Red and Blue
“We have black
suiters in other
roles too,” continues
Inzpire’s Simon
Gilbert, “including the
Red Chairman, which
has been my job over
the last few days, and
several ‘doing Blue’.
“‘Red Chair’ designs Red,
based on the ECO’s plan
and incorporating whatever’sWhether operating as
Blue or Red, there is
much training to be
had for RAF Typhoon
pilots supporting Cobra
Warrior. Wearing No
11 (Fighter) Squadron
markings, FGR4 ZJ942
‘DH’ was involved in last
September’s exercise.
Luke Websterhttp://www.airforcesmonthly.com #363 JUNE 2018 // 101