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I completed my last carrier trap just more than a year ago. It was an okay 3-wire, with a little help from the landing signal officer. My adventure as an Air Force exchange pilot with the Navy is over, but what an adventure it was. The experience lasted three years, two- and-a-half of them in an F/A-18 fleet squadron. This included two six-month deployments and 244 total traps, 74 at night. I held the positions of NATOPS (naval air train-
mg and operating procedures standardization) officer, senior watch officer, safety officer, air-to-air weapons training officer, and training officer. I flew the F/A-18A/C almost 700 hours in such places as the Caribbean, North Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Indian Ocean Persian Gulf, and North Sea.
This may seem unbelievable, but I miss it. I’m never again going to bring my sleek Hornet into the break and
'a°d it on the moving deck of an aircraft carrier. Only [ 'hose who have done it can truly understand the glory of %'ng from a carrier: the joy and, at times, the terror; the day and night pitching deck recoveries, one eye always Slued to the fuel gauge; the camaraderie; and the healthy c°nipetition with your sister squadron. After reflecting on hhs experience, I would like to share some of my thoughts, exPeriences, frustrations, and ideas.
1 am often asked what the main difference is between [he two services. It’s simple: flying around the ship. There 's not much difference in the way each service generally tackles the tactical aspects of its missions. Tactics may be called something different or changed a little out of provisional pride, but they are basically the same. There are °nly a few right ways to kill MiGs and put bombs on a target. What separates the two services is the dangerous environment of carrier aviation. <(
I was famous in my Navy squadron for saying, On every mission someone is either trying to kill you or mess aP your good-deal hop.” It’s so true. Every time you launch it is a battle to achieve the objectives outlined for 'he flight. Potential train wrecks include: earher-than- Planned launches; late launches; the tanker going down 0r going sour; the catapults going down; the diverts going d°wn; or a blown tire in the landing area. I do not miss V°r one minute shooting a night Case III approach as the ^nal bearing changes by 45° four miles from the ship. Runways in the Air Force tend to maintain the same c°urse. Trying to land on a deck pitching as much as plus °r minus 15 feet can be just a bit frightening.
Even the simple task of air refueling can get exciting, Specially on a KC-135 at night. I remember one time fighting down well below my fuel ladder. Once overbad the ship, I quickly figured if everything worked perfectly (it never does), I would land just a little below my Programmed ball fuel state. I didn’t say anything. Thirty Minutes later, after a stripped 2-wire, a blown tire in t e Ending area, and a combat foreign object damage walk- down, I finally trapped. My knees were shaking as I S°t out. .
Let’s talk about some myths about the Air Force that hear all the time. .
^ Air Force pilots don’t have ground jobs. Young ir force pilots are sitting at their desks right now thinking the same thing every naval aviator thinks: I m doing 'oo much paperwork.” It’s true that Air Force pilots don’t worry much about maintenance, but there are other "'onderful time-consuming jobs such as standards and evaluation, training, weapons, scheduling, life support, and range control. Things in the Air Force are changing dramatically, and some squadrons now own their own ntaintenance capability.
v All Air Force pilots do is fly. Every ground job in the Air Force requires a lot of time and paperwork. The one thing good about Air Force ground jobs is that they usually revolve around the flying operations. This makes them a little more palatable.
V 77je Air Force has too many regulations and that makes it too regimented and inflexible. Let me tell you, the Navy has its own rules and regulations and just like in the Air
Force—if you don’t follow them, you will hear about it. My Navy squadron’s standard operating procedures document was five times thicker than anything I saw in the Air Force. Structure is not always bad, and neither are some of the rules.
>■ Air Force pilots’ boots are always shined, and they wear those ridiculous scarfs. Okay, that’s true.
>• Air Force bases are built starting with the golf course and the officers’ club. I don’t know if that is true, but they sure are nice.
I learned many things from my Navy experience, and I gained a lot of confidence. An aviator can’t help but gain a little confidence after each night silent approach or each night catapult shot.
I became a better flight leader. A lot can be attributed to more experience, but the majority of my growth had to do with being responsible for others in the dynamic carrier environment. Flight leaders must constantly keep up with fuel states, tanker status, ship’s status, weather changes, inflight aircraft problems, and the divert status, while at the same time trying to accomplish the training objectives of the mission. There’s never a dull moment, no matter what the mission.
I met some truly outstanding people. The young kids right out of flight school were impressive and confident. And then there were the real heroes of naval aviation— the maintainers. The flight deck has to be one of the most dangerous working environments in the world. These guys work 12 hours a day for six months on 1,000 feet of steel with more than 70 aircraft. At any one time, half the ship is recovering aircraft and the other half is launching them. Fuel hoses and ordnance are everywhere as the next event is prepared. Troubleshooters scui cy around the deck as they try to fix aircraft problems in 15 minutes. The temperature on deck can vary from 120° to well below zero. I never once heard a whimper. Those guys performed miracles every day. Even more impressive is the fact that we did not lose one sailor or aviator over two six-month cruises. These dedicated men can stand up to anyone, anywhere, at any time.
I flew an outstanding aircraft—the F/A-18 Hornet. This multimission fighter/attack aircraft made me learn some new weapon systems and enhanced my war-fighting knowledge. I wouldn’t hesitate to fly it into any threat environment. The Navy’s decision to buy the F/A-18E/F is a great one. Its capabilities far outdistance its one or two perceived minuses.
I learned the art of forward-deployed carrier aviation. There is nothing like manning up on a beautiful, clear, blue-sky day, surrounded by sparkling clear water. The same thing can be said for the days when the deck is pitching, the ceiling is 300 feet, and the visibility is one mile! The launch and recovery drill without radio communications is a work of art. The teamwork of the ship’s personnel and air wing gives everyone a sense of pride. Awakening each day with the opportunity to fly over someone else’s country is exciting. Learning about new war-fighting mission areas, such as antiship, antisubmarine, and HARM/electronic warfare, is interesting. Learning the art of strike planning till you drop is agonizing.
learn. The squadrons benefit from the experience of second-fleet-tour JO/Top Gun graduates—perfect candidate for squadron training officer.
> To help share the cost and to provide a mix of dissimilar aircraft to fight, adversary squadrons should combine Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps aircraft and air ere"'5- Let s have three large adversary squadrons—one on eaC^ | coast and one in the heartland. Each squadron would have F~15, F-16, and F/A-18 aircraft. This combination would allow each adversary squadron to tailor both aircraft and tactics to operational squadrons’ mission objectives. Thi5 would ensure complete training for everyone.
Each adversary squadron must have enough aircraft to support Navy replacement air group training requirement5 and also deploy six to eight aircraft to fighter wings in their area of responsibility, while serving as a host base for units deploying for off-station training. Adversary p*' lots now work together to exchange ideas and see ho"' other services operate in the air combat environment. Academics could become a major part of each squadron visit. This would include not only current threat briefs> but also briefs on U.S. TacAir capabilities and respective | services’ war-fighting doctrines.
>■ We should combine the two service fighter weapons schools. Each aircraft would have its unique academic and flying syllabi leading up to a combined force graduation exercise. With colocated programs, instructors and students would learn appropriate war-fighting doctrines of all services. The professional and personal relationship5 made here would pay dividends in future joint force operations.
► We should expand the Top Gun program to include the I full range of each fighter’s air-to-ground capability. Each | certified weapon would have an academic program and either a live drop or a simulated delivery with a training weapon. Graduate-level training using night vision goggles also must be incorporated.
► I recommend having strike leader attack training at least once each year, for the most qualified junior officers in each air wing. We need to establish a solid foundation early in an officer’s career, then build on it with flying and strike planning experiences.
When I first reported to my fleet squadron, the com- | manding officer told me to stand by for the time of my \ life. He was right. Naval aviation’s capability to put bombs on target and kill MiGs is formidable. The aircraft are outstanding and those who fly and maintain them are some of the most dedicated Americans you will ever meet. 1 will miss the challenges that naval aviation offers and the i feeling of invincibility you get after a stressful night I hop. If you ever want to see America’s best on a couple t of acres, visit a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.
Captain Smiley has accumulated nearly 1,800 hours in the F-16 and 700 hours in the F/A-18. He is a graduate of the Air Force’s F-16 Fighter Weapons Instructor Course. During his exchange tour, he made two six- month deployments with the VFA-131 Wildcats on board the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69). He has left the Air Force and is noW a full-time F-16 flight instructor with the South Carolina Air National Guard at Air National Guard Base McEntire.
Standing an alert at 0300 gets old fast. Night carrier operations take every ounce of courage. To grasp the full impact of carrier operations, you must witness them. It is one of the most powerful experiences you will ever have.
Based on my two-service experience, I would like to pass on some observations about naval aviation.
► The F/A-18 Hornet community needs additional training ordnance with greater reliability at sea. The training ordnance they do have—Maverick, HARM, Walleye, Data Link Pods, and CATM-9s—is insufficient and not reliable enough. Ordnance allotted to training must have the rocket motors removed to allow simulated launch. Battle groups must deploy with threat emitters to allow realistic HARM and electronic warfare training. CATM-9s must be available for as many training sorties as possible—not the 25% availability I experienced.
> We must increase, at the unit level, interservice exchanges and joint training. As each service downsizes, the ability to work together effectively and efficiently must improve Every carrier air wing, Air Force fighter wing, and Marine Coips air group should have an exchange officer from each of the other services. The exchange aviator learns another service s way of doing business, while passing along his service’s techniques. The aviator establishes friendships and acquaintances that can be used throughout his professional career to solve problems, enhance training opportunities, and pass information quickly. If you are an aviator thinking about an exchange tour, do it
► The Air Force Red Flag School must be attended by all Navy and Marine Corps TacAir aviators on a regular basis Strike University, at NAS Fallon, needs to incorporate Air Force and Marine Corps assets into its training. Unit level deployments to a sister service’s base are an excellent way to train and learn from each other.
> If you have an exchange officer, use him. He’s there not only to learn your system, but to share his as well. Only by learning from each other can we improve interoperability for the next crisis.
► The Navy needs to acquire long-range strategic tankers. The shipboard tanker assets might be enough to pass gas for cyclic training operations, but they are inadequate for sustained long-range wartime operations. Navy long-range strategic tankers don’t need to operate from the ship P-3s don’t. Air Force assets must become more user friendly for the Navy to keep using them. Every KC- 135, once airborne, must be able to refuel both Air Force and Navy aircraft.
> Navy carrier-based squadrons need more experienced junior officers (JOs). When I left my Navy squadron, the next-most-experienced JO had only 700 hours of total fighter time. The normal Air Force fighter squadron has at least two senior JOs with more than 1,500 hours total fighter time. There is no substitute for experience. It is the senior JO’s responsibility to ensure his buddies are training the way they will fight. An easy fix is to use our Top Gun graduates as intended—as a steady flow of expert aviators dedicated to keeping their squadrons’ blades sharp. If you accept orders to Top Gun, you must accept back-to-back fleet tours. Top Gun continues to get dedicated career-oriented fighter air crews who are there to