Turkey Shoot: Bombs on target

  • Published
  • By Maj. Karen Davis
  • 477th Fighter Group Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  A team comprised of F-22s from the 525th Fighter Squadron, Intel personnel from the 517th Airlift Squadron, Command and Control from the 962nd AACS, and a C-17 crew from the 3rd OSS took first place in the annual Turkey Shoot competition here July 15-17.

The Turkey Shoot competition provided an opportunity for four teams from multiple units within active duty 3rd Wing and the Reserve 477th Fighter Group to face off during an offensive counter air mission scenario.

"The opportunity for our 477th Fighter Group team to work as team with other 3rd Wing airframes and crews is very valuable for us," said Col. Tyler Otten, 477th Fighter Group commander. "It provides a level of complexity and coordination that we don't have to work through on typical daily training sorties. It is great training."

The biggest change to this year's competition was the addition of increment 3.1 upgrade to Alaska's Raptors adding air-to-ground targeting to what used to predominately be an air-to-air scenario.

F-22 pilot Capt. Brett Vongroven, 525th Fighter Squadron, said the competition "fostered a competitive spirit between different squadrons" and it enabled "improvement in the name of friendly competition."

Also stress tested in this competition were the maintainers, who were graded on a number of categories, including the ability to launch and recover the aircraft, the condition of their tool box, weapons proficiency, knowledge of the job and professionalism, dress and appearance. When asked what was exciting about participating in the Turkey Shoot, Senior Airman Eric Smith, 90th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, quickly responded "I like the rivalry" between the squadrons and then added "and getting a sense of why we are out here beyond launching sorties every day."

A key reason why this type of competition is so effective was that it allowed the operators and maintainers to work in a realistic threat environment while including many of the weapons systems based at JBER. Lt. Col. Chad Spellman, 3rd OSS director of operations said the "scenario was intentionally designed to be extremely challenging" and that making it a competition "puts added pressure on the members of each team to succeed. Spellman added "as a fighter pilot, you typically don't get to conduct missions with C-17s" since most fighter bases are not co-located with cargo planes.

In total, there were four teams competing representing the 3rd OSS, 90th Fighter Squadron, 525th Fighter Squadron and the Reserve 477th Fighter Group.

The term "Turkey Shoot" dates back to the World War II era, during one of the most massive air battles, the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot" or officially, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, took place. The conflict was the largest aircraft carrier battle in history, involving nearly 1,800 aircraft. Due to the ease of defending a multitude of Japanese attacks, American pilots started referring to the battle as the "turkey shoot." The battle decimated what remained of the Imperial Navy's cadre of trained pilots, and effectively eliminated Japanese carrier aviation for the duration of the war.

Best Overall Team

525th Fighter Squadron - F-22
Capt. Richard Stocker, Capt. Benjamin Gilliland, Capt. Jason Roth, Capt. Jonathan Riegle

3rd OSS - C-17 Capt Matt Petersen, Capt Chris Blake, Capt Ryan Vorhies, SSgt Michael Simmons

962 AACS - C2
Capt Matthew Sumrall, SrA Matthew Bal

517th AS -- INTEL

1st Lt. Cory Leckrone, Senior Airman Raef Gamble

Maintenance Award Winners:

Top A Man
90th AMU, Senior Airman Eric Smith

Top B Man
517th AMU, Staff Sgt. Joshua Gilbert

Top Launch Crew
90th AMU, Staff Sgt. Kenneth Rodriguez, Senior Airman Eric Smith

Top Load Team

525th AMU, Staff Sgt. Philip Bennett, Airman 1st Class Arthur Vigil, Senior Airman Jonathan Riggins

Top AMU : 517th AMU

Operations Group Award Winners:

Top Intel Team

525th FS, 1st Lt. Kyle Ames, Senior Airman Bryan Velasquez, Airman 1st Class Brendan Lee

Top C2 Scope

962 AACS, Capt Matthew Sumrall

Top C2 Tracker

962nd AACS Senior Airman Matthew Bal

Top C-17 Crew

3rd OSS team, Capt. Matt Petersen, Capt. Chris Blake, Capt. Ryan Vorhies, Staff Sgt. Michael Simmons

Top E-3 Team

962 AACS, Capt Matthew Sumrall and SrA Matthew Bal

Top F-22 Wingman

90th FS, Capt Ryan Sivertsen

Top F-22 Flight Lead

525th FS, Capt Rich Stocker