48th Fighter Wing hosts Swedish Airmen Published Nov. 9, 2011 By Staff Sgt. David Dobrydney 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- A group of Airmen from the 211 Squadron of the Swedish Air Force arrived here Nov. 8 for a training exercise with the 493rd Fighter Squadron. The exercise is centered on air-to-air training between the American F-15 Eagle and Swedish JAS-39 Gripen, said Capt. Mike Culhane, 493rd Fighter Squadron C-flight commander. "They have a fantastic aircraft," said Culhane. "So we'll get our training that we normally get just in-house and beyond that, get a lot of dissimilar aircraft training." The Swedish pilots are also looking forward to meeting their American counterparts and training with the American aircraft. "The main goal is to meet them, exchange experiences and get to do some flying of course," said Lt. Magnus Ericsson, 211 Squadron pilot. Ericsson noted that this exercise will be his first time flying against an F-15. "I think it will be good to see the capabilities. It's going to be interesting," he said. In addition to the pilots and maintainers, the Swedish contingent brought other support personnel, including security forces. Pvt. Alexandra Rahm, 211 Squadron security guard, has only been in the Swedish Air Force six months and this will also be her first time working alongside American Airmen. "To tell the truth I've had no contact with the U.S. Air Force except for movies," Rahm said. "I don't think that's very close to reality so I'm very excited to see how they work over here." The training exercise is scheduled to last until November 18.