Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Sorties at 1-minute intervals … urgent and precise

12 fighters made a sortie just in 10 minutes… doing the amount of training 2 times more than normal
Adding to the sense of realism by using live ammunition, etc., being extremely careful with every single movement

 
 
On February 8, the runway of 19th Air Force Fighter Wing (19th FW) was filled with the engine sound of fighters starting their wartime sortie training. There was continuous practical training based on local provocation and wartime situations all over the base. Let’s take a look at the 19th FW’s combat readiness training for the first half of 2017, where the training heats up despite the sub-zero temperatures.

Double the sorties compared to normal… Wartime Sortie Training

The 19th FW’s combat readiness training took place over 4 days, from February 6 to 9. Being the Fighter Wing, the main part of the training is a fighter. Many more sorties have to be performed during wartime than in peacetime. It is Wartime Sortie Training to practice for this situation realistically. In the afternoon on February 7, a splendid scene was exhibited as 12 (K)F-16 fighters made a sortie one by one in just 10 minutes. Fighters appeared at intervals of less than 1 minute and received Last Chance Inspection (LCI), then soared up to the northern sky of the base. Surrounded by an unbearable roar without wearing earplugs, it was easy to get a sense of how urgent the wartime air operations were.

During the training, the 19th FW pulls up the sortie up to 2 times more than in normal daily training. The flights go on from dawn to night. From noon to midnight on February 7, 6:00 a.m. to midnight on February 8, the flights continued. All pilots and fighters continue with this hard schedule of more than 3 sorties a day throughout the training period.

Colonel-to-be Hong Seung-bae, air operations commander, said, “This training is essential to maintaining a firm military readiness posture given the severe security circumstances around Korea. We will return the support of citizens, who have been giving us great support for national security and the fighter wing, with our commitment for our national air security.”

Maximum loading training…increasing the accuracy manually

Maximum loading training of armament mechanics was held in a storage igloo. This training is to load the maximum amount of armament the fighters can operate in an emergency sortie situation in the least amount of time. In front of the igloo, there were plenty of armaments piled up as high as a mountain, including air-to-air missiles, AIM-9 and AIM-120, precision guided bombs, GBU-31 and SPICE-2000, etc.. The mechanics loaded air-to-air and air-to-ground armaments one by one in a group of 4. This is not a mission that can be done in a short time ’in the blink of an eye’. They need to lift up the armaments carefully with dedicated mounting equipment, then insert them under the aircraft wings while holding the correct altitude. After equipping with machines, they need to mount dozens of wing parts which raise the accuracy of the armament manually one by one.

Significantly, all of the armaments used this day were live ammunition. Warrant officer Kwon Gwang-an, an armed supervisor  who participated in the training, said, “Normally we use training shells to practice loading, and during the combat readiness training, receive evaluation with live ammunitions. With the recent improvement of F-16PBU performance and completion of SPICE-2000’s force-integration, we’ve been devoting all of our energy to practicing loading new armaments.” The training agents were careful with every single movement they made in handling the live ordnances, as not only are they worth hundreds of millions of won each but they also can cause tremendous damage in an explosion. Lieutenant Lee Jo-eun, squadron leader of 155 maintenance company, said, “Quick and accurate armament loading ability will determine the victory or defeat of air operations in wartime. We will enhance our quick mission capabilities.”

 
Around 30 detailed comprehensive training sessions in for 4 days

Combat readiness training is a comprehensive process. This is because  the entire air force group needs to practice for any local provocations and behavioral procedures in wartime. A total of around 30 detailed training sessions were conducted by combat agents in each area throughout the base. Numerous training exercises were held simultaneously over 4 days, including training to enhance the state of readiness, reinforce information operations conditions, cultivate general support and reinforce personnel mobilization, prepare for major equipment and supplies distribution, defense for CBR, rescue of massive amounts of war wounded, restore runway damage, etc.. Base defense and antiaircraft defense are also important training exercises. This is because when the safety of the air force group itself is secured, smooth air operations can be performed. At night on February 8, a night base defense training was held, which was based on a situation in which enemy trespassed on the base under the cover of night, and low-altitude low-speed aircraft response training was performed at the major short-range air defense weapons operational camp.

During the combat readiness training, the noise of fighters inevitably occurs far into the night. While enhancing the mission capabilities, the 19th FW took care to minimize inconvenience to local residents by notifying them of the flight schedules in advance through heads of villages, and also providing a text messaging service, etc.. As well, the 19th FW will further develop its flying procedures and plans to reduce flight noise through a number of means, including changing the angle of ascent when taking off and operating a noise reduction facility, etc..

From Chungju = By Sang-Yun, Kim  <ksy0609@dema.mil.kr>
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