KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - The 173rd Fighter Wing from here at Kingsley Field participated in a joint flight exercise, "Sentry Downunder," with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) 2nd Operational Conversion Unit (OCU) located at RAAF Williamtown, New South Wales, Australia in late August.
Along with crewmembers and F-15s from the 173rd, a KC-135 Stratotanker from the 141st Air Refueling Wing of the Washington Air National Guard at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., also participated in the exercise to help the OCU combat fighter instructor course with its advanced fighter weapons school.
The RAAF's 2nd OCU trains fighter pilots as its primary role. They run the operational conversion courses for new pilots to the RAAF's F/A-18 Hornet, operational refresher courses for former F-18 pilots returning to the aircraft and fighter combat instructor courses to provide postgraduate qualifications for selected aircrew.
"This training gives us the opportunity to work with one of our closest allies," said Maj. Brian Bergeron, the 173FW project officer for the deployment. "Camaraderie was evident from the very first day. We train fighter pilots, and we do the same things for the same reasons."
The RAAF F-18's from the 77th Squadron, which is their operational squadron located at RAAF Williamtown, is also participated in the exercise.
During "Sentry Downunder," the 173rd FW performed tactical sorties as well as familiarization flights. About 50 sorties with multiple training missions were flown during the week with the 2nd OCU and the 77th SQN.
"These missions are a great learning experience for everyone involved," said Maj. Johan Deutscher, a 173FW instructor pilot. "The RAAF gets an opportunity to look at the full capabilities of another airframe as well as train with seasoned instructor pilots."
On average, each instructor pilot has over 2,000 flight hours in the F-15, which provides a high quality training environment for the RAAF, he added.
"The Eagle pilots are really putting us through our paces with high quality fighting," said Phil Gordon, the OCU commander. "I would love this training to happen as often as it can."
The OCU has the same training mission as the 173FW, so "the 173rd FW understands what we do," Gordon said.