Fighter squadron takes fl ight

Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska - Airman 1st Class Jennifer Craig, 90th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, left, and Australian Maj. Matthew Harper, 90th Fighter Squadron pilot prepare an F-22 for departure to Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., Oct. 30. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Cynthia Spalding)

Fighter squadron takes flight

A QF-4 drone taxies by an F-22 at Tyndall AFB

A QF-4 from the 82nd Aerial Targets Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Fla. taxies by an F-22 from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson. The QF-4 is supersonic and is a reusable full-scale target drone modified from the F-4 Phantom. The QF-4 provides a realistic full-scale target for air-to-air weapons system evaluation, development and testing. WSEP’s full mission includes loading missiles, flying with and firing missiles and hitting targets. (U.S. Air Force photo/Technical Sgt. John Hoffman)

Fighter squadron takes flight

Published Nov. 9, 2010
By Senior Airman Cynthia Spalding
JBER PAO

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- The 90th Fighter Squadron, 3rd Wing, deployed F-22's and personnel to Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., Oct. 30, to participate in exercise Combat Archer, the air-to-air evaluation portion of the United States Air Force's Weapons Systems Evaluation Program.

The 90th FS is training and being evaluated with the maintainers of the 90th Aircraft Maintenance Unit and their reserve counterparts from the 302nd Fighter Squadron, 477th Fighter Group, for this temporary duty assignment.

During this three-week deployment, pilots and maintainers are working together to validate the air-to-air combat capability of the newest F-22s in the Air Force inventory.

The jets assigned to the 90th FS have never fired live air-to-air missiles before and this deployment will ensure the squadron is ready for any contingency operation, leaders said.

Combat Archer provides a unique opportunity for our fighter pilots to experience firing a live air-to-air missile prior to combat, said Lt. Col. Joseph Kunkel, 90th FS commander.

"Because our F-22s are less than three years old and many of our pilots are young; most of them have never shot. This program allows first time shooters, jets and pilots, to fire actual air to air missiles and gain invaluable experience. The payback to the operational Air Force is enormous," Kunkel said.

WSEP creates an opportunity for pilot-maintainer interaction, he said. The full mission includes loading missiles, flying with and firing missiles and hitting targets.

This means that pilots, crew chiefs, armament systems specialists and avionics specialists are all working together to complete the mission, Kunkel said.

The squadron will be flying more than 10 sorties per day; shooting air-to-air missiles, 20-mm Vulcan cannon rounds and dropping GBU-32 GPS guided bombs during the deployment, Kunkel said.

All of the weapons evaluations will be conducted over water in the warning areas of the Gulf of Mexico range complex, Kunkel said.

To prepare for this deployment, the 90th FS conducted a number of simulator programs as well as academic programs.

"Combat Archer offers unparalleled aerial weaponry training. The 90th Fighter Squadron, from maintainer to F-22 pilot, is gaining immeasurable tactical experience from this deployment. The true measure of success is increased combat capability and we are getting that in droves." Kunkel said.
The colonel said he is thankful for help the 517th AS and the 249th AS offered in the deployment phase. Without them, he said, this trip would not have been possible.