Airforces

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