Ready on Day One, always ready

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Richard Williams
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Leveraging months of preparation, hard work and top-quality training, Airmen of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing, some with less than 24 hours in theater, suppressed a large enemy ambush recently thanks to the readiness of the entire unit.

Christopher Henderson, a pilot deployed from the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath, England, had just pinned on captain the day before and was preparing for his initial flight on his first deployment to Afghanistan.

"I had been in country for about 16 hours, and I hadn't even gained my bearings as to where things were on base," said Capt. Henderson, an Indianapolis native and a Weapons Systems Officer in the 494th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, 455 AEW.

As Henderson's F-15E Strike Eagle was taxiing, the crew heard over the radio that a joint coalition force and Afghan national army patrol in the Kunduz Province was taking small arms fire, and that immediate air support was required. Since the flight was nearly ready for takeoff, the flight lead requested their mission be changed to support the time-critical tasking.

The Air Support Operations Center quickly approved, and "we launched out in support of the troops-in-contact situation," Capt. Henderson said.

After getting airborne en route to the location, he made radio contact with coalition ground forces.

A joint tactical air controller embedded with the patrol directed the aircraft's sensors to the approximate location of the enemy fighting positions. Using disciplined search procedures and with the assistance of video downlink, Henderson positively identified the location of the enemy fighters in the vicinity of coalition forces.

With the positions of both the friendly forces and the enemy fighters identified, Henderson and his wingman's F-15 provided suppressive fire, ensuring ground forces were able to continue on patrol.

After about three hours providing air support, the Control and Reporting Center told Henderson his F-15 replacement had arrived. The handoff went smoothly, just as rehearsed in the training scenarios flown at home station and at Exercise Green Flag at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

Being ready on Day One continued with the 494th EFS' relief flight. The lead weapons systems officer, Capt. John Rabun of Atlanta was also on his first combat sortie less than 24 hours since arriving in Afghanistan.

"We took off for my initial familiarization sortie; we were going to look at a few areas of interest in southern Afghanistan," Rabun said.

Immediately after takeoff, his tasking changed.

"We were diverted from our mission and tasked to flow north 'as fast as we could' to maintain constant support for the forces on the ground. Once we arrived on scene, we began communicating with the other aircraft to gain an understanding of the situation," Rabun said.

Using standard handoff procedures, Henderson was able to quickly and accurately give Rabun a mental picture of the battle space. Further, he directed the relief aircraft's sensors to both the coalition forces and the enemy fighter positions.

With the handoff complete, Rabun began talking with the JTAC on the ground and "took over the duties of neutralizing the enemy and providing cover for our ground forces."

While no enemy gun fire was coming from the south, the JTAC asked Rabun and his flight lead to look in that direction for any suspicious activity. He quickly spotted the enemy. As he was relaying the information to the JTAC, the enemy fighters detonated an improvised explosive device immediately in front of the coalition vehicles, and then opened up with heavy, coordinated fire from machine guns, small arms, rocket propelled grenades and mortars. Rabun and his pilot, Capt. Michael Alfaro of San Antonio "engaged the enemy forces at that point giving our (ground) forces the opportunity to pull back from the effective range of enemy weapons."

The aircraft then executed multiple follow-up runs allowing the coalition and ANA patrol to continue its mission.

More than six hours after aircraft relieved Henderson, both crews were back on the ground, assessing the Kunduz mission and preparing to fly again.

"Training exercises, operational readiness inspections, and coalition operations all lead to our pilots and ground crews being mission ready whenever called to action on behalf of our fellow U.S. service members and coalition partners," said Col. Jay Silveria, 48th Fighter Wing commander. "Whether 18 hours in theater or during sustained operations, the Air Force has adapted its tactics, techniques and procedures throughout its history, allowing our folks to be ready to support whenever and wherever called upon."

According to Rabun and Henderson, the key to this mission's success was preparation and training.

"The Air Force has taken the time to make sure our squadron's pilots and weapons system officers are prepared to do our mission," Rabun said. "Our mindset is to be ready on day one. Our commanders have instilled that in us."

"We have another advantage in the fact that we are stationed in Europe and we regularly coordinate with coalition forces during exercises," Henderson added. "This allows us to learn the terms and requirements of coalition JTACs, which helps us be more effective in an area where non-U.S. forces are operating on the ground."

Mission success not only lies with the training and capabilities of the pilots and weapons system officers, it is dependent on the preparation and training of everyone involved.

"I can't say enough about the teamwork involved in getting the fliers ready to go," Henderson said. "When we prepare to do our mission, the aircrew flight equipment section has to be there and our equipment has to be ready to go; intelligence personnel are standing by, ready to give us the information we need to have a successful flight; and the crew chiefs are ready for us when we step to the jet. They all make sure we have everything we need to be successful."

In a job where a few seconds could mean life or death for combatants on the ground, Henderson said all the operations must work like a well-oiled machine. "One of the best things when I return from a real world mission," Henderson said "is telling the support crews that they helped save coalition lives."