Lakenheath Strike Eagles return from Bulgaria

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  • By by Louis A. Arana-Barradas
  • Air Force Print News
Airmen and their F-15E Strike Eagles returned to this base today from Bulgaria with new flying skills and friends in a land they had never visited.

About 200 Airmen and 10 jets from the 48th Fighter Wing deployed to Graf-Isnatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, for the two-week exercise Immediate Response that began July 17. It was a joint, trilateral exercise with the Bulgarian and Romanian militaries. American Soldiers also took part.

The training went well, said Lt. Col. Troy Stone, the 492nd Fighter Squadron operations officer and deployment commander. The deployed jets came from the squadron.

"We developed a very close relationship with the Bulgarian pilots and their air force leadership," the fighter pilot from Hemlock, Mich., said. "And I think we established long-lasting relationships between our two air forces."

The visit was the first bare-base deployment for a Lakenheath unit in about seven years. The Airmen -- flyers, maintainers and support troops -- ran into a few problems, the colonel said.

First, the Russian-made An-124 Condor transport that flew the Airmen and their equipment could not land at the air base. The huge aircraft had to land at Plovdiv, about 10 miles from the air base. From there, trucks had to finish the job.

There were also initial problems getting fuel for the jets because Bulgarian fighters use a different type, Colonel Stone said. After some searching, the unit found a supplier in Turkey, but had to arrange to truck in the fuel.

"We had a lot to learn," Colonel Stone said. "But other than that, everything went extremely well. The people there gave us great support, both on the base and in the local community."

The problems the Airmen faced and the lessons they learned are exactly why the wing deploys for training throughout Europe. Because apart from its number one job of training to deploy when needed for Air Force deployments, the Liberty Wing's second mission is to support NATO's European Command, wing vice commander Col. Jay Silveria said.

The colonel from Houston said the Bulgarian deployment was a perfect example of how the wing supports European Command. Wing elements have also deployed to Sweden, Norway, Portugal, Denmark and Spain to ply their trade. Currently, the wing has Airmen training with the Dutch air force.

Engaging with other countries in military-to-military contacts helps establish and maintain relations with allies and other nations, Colonel Silveria said. Apart from that, Airmen also get to complete training they need and meet individual aircrew requirements.

"Deployments like this help teach us to fly with other nations," he said. "We have to train next to them to be able to fight next to them."

Such was the case in Bulgaria. The pilots were able to fly over unfamiliar airspace and bombing ranges. And the Strike Eagles flew sorties against dissimilar aircraft, including MiG-21 Fishbed and MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters.

Colonel Stone said each day, about half the Lakenheath jets supported a ground exercise in which U.S., Bulgarian and Romanian troops took part. The other aircraft flew against the Bulgarian MiGs. Aircrews gained valuable training in ground attack and air-to-air tactics.

But there was another thing the Airmen learned, which was just as important, the colonel said.

"If we all learned something from this, it's that our two air forces, even though we fly different airplanes, and grew up under different systems, are really not that much different," Colonel Stone said. "We learned something from them and they learned something from us."

On the ground, the support troops also learned a few things, Senior Master Sgt. Geneive Eidson said. The superintendent of the 48th Logistics Readiness Squadron's readiness flight said the wing did plan and pack for a bare-base operations.

"We didn't have a footprint in place, so we wanted to make sure we covered every area," the sergeant from Oceanside, Calif., said. Faced with initial glitches, she said the troops "just had to adapt."

With the deployment over, the wing will now look back at it and apply what it learned so the next deployment will be better, the sergeant said.

It was unseasonably warm and bright when the Strike Eagles taxied to their parking spaces at the noisy fighter base. On the tarmac, some of the pilots' families waited to welcome them home.

As he got out of his jet, Capt. Martin Hemmingsen replaced his game face with his father face. Because at the foot of the ladder was his excited 3-year-old, Mitchell, waiting with his mother, Aimee. Mitchell waived an American flag as he jumped into his father's arms.

After a group hug, the captain asked his son, "Did you take your nap today?"

Mrs. Hemmingsen said it was good to have her husband back home. It is tough not being able to communicate as often with him when he deploys. And she misses his help with Mitchell.

"We hear things through the grapevine that they're doing OK and doing their job well," she said. "And we're proud of that."