NAVAL AIR STATION KEY WEST, Fla., - Following a similar flight path of migrant snowbirds, Wisconsin Air National Guardsmen departed the cool Wisconsin weather this month on a mission to the southernmost part of the United States.
About 145 Airmen of the Madison-based 115th Fighter Wing spent almost two weeks gaining valuable training as their F-16 Falcons sparred against Navy F-18 Super Hornets and F-5 Tigers here.
The weather was a perk, but the true advantage at the Naval Air Station was the increased airspace and the ability to fight different types of adversaries.
"This is great training that we do not experience back home," said Lt. Col. Steve Kensick, 176th Fighter Squadron director of operations. "A lot of our pilots have not fought a dissimilar asset like a Hornet, and this is great training for them."
There are three types of missions flown here - basic fighter maneuvers, more commonly known as dog-fighting; air combat maneuvers which involves two F-16s versus one F-18; and air combat training that involves three or four F-16s versus any number of adversaries.
"When we do a dog-fight, it is full-on - he is fighting his best, I am fighting my best," Kensick said. "We do not formally keep score, but we normally debrief after each mission and see if our guy won."
Maj. Chris Hansen, a pilot with 176th Fighter Squadron of the 115th Fighter Wing, had never flown against a Super Hornet until this training exercise. He was grateful for the experience. "The Super Hornets are extremely capable and this opportunity provided valuable training for me," he said.
Hansen said there were many differences between the two aircraft in terms of weight and thrust, which he witnessed first-hand for the first time that day.
Lt. Phil Taggart, a Navy F-18 pilot from the Strike Fighter Squadron 213 (VFA-213) stationed at Virginia Beach, was preparing for his first training exercise with an F-16.
"Coming to Key West brings a new perspective on how our tactics work, and it is interesting to see how that works against an adversary who does things slightly different," Taggart said.
Key West provides a win-win scenario for service training from across the United States. At the forefront of the Air Force are the fighter jets and the pilots who fly them. These pilots have at their wing tips an air range that spans nearly 134,000 square miles.
"We have an airspace here that we do not have at Volk," Kensick observed. "We can also go supersonic from near surface to 50,000 feet."
Long before the pilots trained in the skies above Key West, Airmen were preparing to make this exercise a successful one. It is not a simple process to deploy a detachment of eight F-16s, including pilots and support personnel, some 1,500 miles from its home base.
Preparation for this year's training exercise began just after last year's training exercise finished, said 1st Lt. Christy Kasten, 115th FW maintenance operations officer. Every year they learn and adapt after studying the after-action reports, she added.
It takes a team to ensure as many as eight F-16 fighters are ready for missions each day. Maintenance, supply, operations, services and others all helped make the F-16s ready for flight.
"Our job is to supply operations with as many mission ready aircraft as possible," Kasten said. "At Truax, we have so many different shops who work separately. At a deployment in Key West where we are all in close quarters, it is very easy to see what others are doing and see the larger picture."
NAS Key West is a transient pilot training facility for tactical aviation squadrons. The airfield hosts aviation squadrons from around the country on a regular basis.
The air station provides an opportunity for members of all services to work together. Navy air traffic controllers run the landing strip and taxiways.
"We have dealt with all branches, including the Coast Guard, Marine, Air Force, Navy, and Army," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrew Hanson, an air traffic control specialist at NAS Key West.
These training missions prepare the pilots and crew for real-world conflict as they test the capabilities of their fighter jets against other opponents.