TUCSON, Ariz., - To take advantage of a mild climate and terrain, the 158th Fighter Wing of the Vermont Air National Guard recently deployed here to Davis Monthan Air Force Base for training.
"This is a training opportunity that we couldn't get in Vermont," said Chief Master Sgt. Tim Brission, the NCOIC of the deployment. "The great weather creates great training conditions. It gives us an opportunity to gear up for the (operational readiness inspection) and to train together as a team. It is a great teambuilding experience."
More than 200 Green Mountain Boys and 12 F-16 Falcons deployed here for Operation Snowbird for the second time in three years.
Operation Snowbird is a National Guard Bureau program, which started in 1975. Visiting units take advantage of the warmer weather between the months of October and May, typically training for two weeks at a time.
Snowbird is located next to one of the best airspace range complexes in the world, the Barry M. Goldwater Range Complex. The compound is operated by a detachment of the 162nd Fighter Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard.
The training event gave a variety of shops from the Vermont Guard an opportunity to work together in a deployed environment.
"The 2007 training was a spin up for our deployment to Iraq," said Lt. Col. Michael Ahmann, the 158th detachment commander. "This training is geared specifically to the ORI in March."
The pilots rehearsed defensive counter air maneuvers flying in conjunction with the Marine Fighter Training Squadron from Yuma, Ariz. They also trained on close air support and interdiction maneuvers.
"This allows us to employ both live and inert ordinance in a tactical scenario that we would not be able to do at home station," said Maj. Scott Seigfried, the project officer for the deployment.
During the first week of training, the pilots were given an opportunity to drop live bombs, which also helped use up their allocation for the year. They also worked with the joint tactical air controllers, who are the guys on the ground calling in the air strikes.
Airmen on the ground also worked with the live bombs.
"The coolest thing I got to do was load live bombs," said Airman 1st Class John Candido, who works in aircraft armament systems for the unit. "It was good to get live training, I haven't had any up until now."