Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing

by Tom Clancy

  The temptation to engage in an aerial form of guerrilla warfare must be balanced by the principles of mass and coordination that were proven during operations like Desert Storm and Just Cause. This means massing airpower assets, not just parceling them out wastefully and dangerously in penny packets. It also means looking for unconventional ways of hurting an opponent, so that they can be caught looking somewhere else while the wing hits the “real” target. The Gunfighters Operations Staff must look for centers of gravity to hit, rather than punching away at an enemy’s strength. The key to doing this is keeping their fighting edge sharp, and that means training and exercising. We’ll take a look at the wing doing this in the next chapter, when we deploy with them to the biggest exercise they attend each year, Operation Green Flag at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

  Getting Ready for War: Green Flag 94-3

  AN air force is more than an expensive collection of planes and personnel. A nation cannot just throw money and youth into building an aerial fighting force and expect to get anything more than a glorified flying club for military pageants. While an air force cannot win a war all by itself (despite what some zealots would like you to believe), since World War I no country has won a war without having a winning air force overhead. The history of the last six decades is filled with examples like France (1940), the Middle East Arabs (1967), and Iraq (1991), who spent a fortune on aircraft and had their heads handed to them when real combat came. Building a winning air force has relatively little to do with how much money a country spends.

  Yes, air forces are hideously expensive. Figure on spending about $20 million for each modern single seat fighter, $2 million to select and train each pilot to a combat-ready level, and perhaps $100 million per wing per year, plus real estate costs for a no-frills air base. To maintain proficiency, your flight crews need to fly at least twenty hours a month, at a couple of thousands of dollars an hour. Don’t forget to budget enough for administration, security, medical services, spare parts, practice ammunition, bombs, missiles, targets, and a thousand other details. Still, it isn’t money alone that does the job. For starters, building an air force is a multi-generational task, which requires decades of investment in the cultivation of skills that are relatively rare and fragile. The best example of this is the Israeli Air Force, which uses a network of “talent scouts” with sophisticated psychological profiles to identify its future aircrews (and thus its future leaders) on the soccer fields and elementary schools while they are still pre-teen kids.

  While such a system of selection may work for small countries with a few hundred aircraft and strong social cohesion, it would not be practical for a country of the size and diversity of the United States. America has an air force (actually several if you count the Navy, Marine, Army, and Coast Guard) with thousands of aircraft. Because of its worldwide responsibilities and interests, the U.S. has to reach deep to build its military forces, calling upon a wider range of skills and cultures than any other nation on earth. Backing up the selection of the right people is a massive industrial commitment, for only nations with a viable airframe industry can hope to avoid crippling dependence on one or two major powers for weapons, spare parts, and training.

  There is a saying that goes, “If you think training is expensive, try ignorance!” Consider an example from the Vietnam War. Prior to the 1968 bombing halt over North Vietnam, both the Navy and Air Force suffered severely in air-to-air combat with the wily and agile MiG interceptors of the North Vietnamese Air Force. In fact, the critical kill/loss ratio was going decidedly against the Americans—only 3:1 (three MiGs shot down for every U.S. aircraft lost in air-to-air combat. Now, this doesn’t sound bad until you consider that the MiGs and their pilots cost the North Vietnamese almost nothing to replace, and that fighting over friendly territory, a MiG pilot who ejected often lived to fight another day, while American aircrews who ejected stood a good chance of dying in a POW camp. In World War II, by way of contrast, the average kill/loss ratio was something like 8:1; and in Korea it was 13:1.

  To improve the odds, the Navy launched a program of adversary flight training, flying practice missions against aircraft more agile than the F-4, including a few real MiG fighters that had found their way to the United States for evaluation and testing. The Navy opened the famous Top Gun school at NAS Miramar near San Diego, California, and a dozen or so classes of crews had cycled through by 1972. Every Navy pilot going to Southeast Asia received thorough intelligence briefings on the enemy aircraft and tactics that he would face.

  The results were stunning. When the air war over North Vietnam started up again in 1972, the USAF still took a beating from the North Vietnamese, for a while losing more aircraft than they were shooting down. At one point the kill/loss ratio fell to only .89:1! Only the rapid introduction of electronic warning systems based on real-time intelligence saved the day for the Air Force, bringing the ratio back to a barely acceptable 2:1. But the Navy story was quite different. In a matter of weeks, the Navy fighters drove the North Vietnamese MiGs from the coastal zones; and at one time they had an incredible 31:0 kill/loss ratio. By the time of the cease-fire in early 1973, the ratio was a more realistic 13:1—a massive success compared to the Air Force’s dismal performance during the same period. An unpopular war, fought under impossible political restrictions, was bad enough, but being outperformed in the air by the Navy was a burning humiliation for the USAF.

  Today’s U.S. Air Force is built on a foundation of education and training that only can be understood in terms of the bitter experience of USAF personnel in the skies over Southeast Asia in the 1960s and 1970s. The air force that America sent to the Persian Gulf in 1990 and 1991 was very much the product of the unacceptable cost of the Vietnam War and a twenty-year struggle by a generation of officers to exorcise the ghosts of dead comrades. Over the two decades since the end of that divisive conflict, the USAF has remade itself to ensure that its Vietnam experience will never happen again.

  THE AIR FORCE CORPORATION

  Like any large organization, the United States Air Force has a corporate culture. That culture is the product of its history and the collective experience of its people. Just like most big American corporations, it’s had mergers and take-overs, reorganizations and purges. The Air Force Corporation started small, grew as a result of the vision of its founding members, and came into its own because it had a unique product at a time when it was needed. It has grown and shrunk as a result of competitive market forces in its own very specialized line of business, where the only customer is the U.S. Congress and ultimately the voters, taxpayers, lobbyists, and political interest groups that shape the law-making and budgeting process. Let’s look at some of that history.

  The Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Army Signal Corps was organized on August 1st, 1907, only four years after the Wright brothers’ first powered flight. Commanded by a captain, the unit had one Wright biplane and a few mechanics. By 1914, it had become the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps, under a lieutenant colonel; and by 1918, after the United States entered World War I, it was upgraded to the Air Service, under a major general; and then in 1926, during a period of disarmament, it was downgraded to the Army Air Corps. On June 20th, 1941, with the threat of a new war on the horizon, it became the Army Air Forces, now led by a lieutenant general. By 1944, its strength had peaked at 2.3 million personnel, with tens of thousands of aircraft. Finally, on September 18th, 1947, after a forty-year struggle for identity, the U.S. Air Force was born, under the leadership of General Carl “Tooey” Spaatz.

  Over the next five decades, its strength rose and fell, based on the perceived Soviet threat as well as its overseas commitments (Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, etc.). At the end of 1994, the Air Force consisted of 81,000 officers and 350,000 enlisted personnel; a ratio of one officer to every 4.3 enlisted, compared to an Army/Navy/Marine Corps ratio of about 1 to 10 or 12. More than half the officer corps consists of captains (O-3s) and majors (O-4s), ranks that have been especially hard hit by
recent cutbacks. Under present downsizing plans, the active-duty Air Force will bottom out at around 400,000 people by 1996. There will also be about eighty thousand Reserve, 115,000 Air National Guard, and 195,000 civilian Air Force personnel working within the force. The Reserves consist of veterans who have completed their active duty and are available for recall in a national emergency on order of the President. The National Guard units evolved from the state militias of Colonial and Civil War times. Nominally under the command of their respective state governors (or commonwealth in the case of Puerto Rico), they can be called into federal service by a Presidential executive order. Many of the flight crews and maintenance personnel of U.S. commercial airlines serve in Reserve and National Guard units, and a major mobilization would wreak havoc on airline flight schedules, much as it did in 1990 during Operation Desert Shield.

  The average age of USAF personnel is thirty-five for officers and twenty-nine for enlisted airmen. There are 66,000 women in the Air Force, some 15% of the officers and also 15% of the enlisted force, a proportion that has doubled since 1975. There are about three hundred female pilots and one hundred female navigators. In case you were wondering, an enlisted woman is addressed as “Airman.” Only 17% of the officers were commissioned through the Air Force Academy, while 42% percent are Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) graduates. (The ROTC program is offered by a diminishing number of U.S. colleges and universities; in exchange for a commitment to take military science courses, attend summer training camps, and serve for a stated number of years, graduates receive a small stipend and a commission as a second lieutenant on graduation.) The rest are commissioned through Officer Candidate School (OCS) or other special programs such as the military medical recruiting program. Today’s Air Force has approximately sixteen thousand pilots, seven thousand navigators, and 32,000 non-rated line officers in the grades of lieutenant colonel and below. There are almost three hundred generals (O-7s to O-10s) and about four thousand colonels (O-6s). Including National Guard and Reserve units, the Air Force operates about seven thousand aircraft, a number that is rapidly shrinking as entire types are taken out of service.

  During World War II, when the U.S. Armed Forces were racially segregated, top Army Air Corps generals resisted the creation of “colored” flying units, arguing that “Negroes had no aptitude for flying.” It took the personal intervention of Eleanor Roosevelt to force the creation of a black fighter squadron, which was trained at Tuskeegee, Alabama, and served with distinction in Italy. With major bases and senior officer hometowns heavily concentrated in the Southern states, the Air Force had a poor integration record, and for years the handful of black cadets admitted to the Air Force Academy and other training programs suffered extreme harassment and ostracism with quiet determination. Two of America’s first black generals, Benjamin O. Davis and the famous “Chappie” James, came from the USAF—a tribute to the toughness of the men, and the system that created them. Things are a bit better today, though the Air Force remains the least ethnically diverse of the services. In 1994, Air Force officers were 89% Caucasian, 6% African-American, 2% Hispanic, and 3% Other, mainly Asian-Americans. Enlisted ranks are a bit more diverse, with the breakdown being 76% Caucasian, 17% African-American, 4% Hispanic, and 3% Other. About 77% of officers and 67% of enlisted personnel are married, supporting a total of 570,000 dependent family members.

  By law the Air Force is under the authority of a civilian Secretary of the Air Force, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Currently, this is the Honorable Sheila E. Widnall, the first woman to ever head a military service department. The highest ranking officer is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, a four-star general appointed by the President to a three-year term and confirmed by the Senate. The present Chief of Staff is General Ronald R. Fogleman, who was previously the head of Air Mobility Command.

  The Air Force is divided into eight Major Commands, each of which may include several numbered Air Forces. In 1995 the Major Commands were:• Air Combat Command (ACC)—Formed by the 1992 merger of the Tactical Air Command, the Strategic Air Command, and elements of the Military Airlift Command, ACC, based at Langley AFB, Virginia, controls most of the fighter and bomber squadrons in service. Major components include the 1st Air Force (Tyndall AFB, Florida), 8th Air Force (Barksdale AFB, Louisiana), 9th Air Force (Shaw AFB, South Carolina), and 12th Air Force (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona). It also controls the Weapons and Tactics Center at Nellis AFB, Nevada, and the Air Warfare Center at Eglin AFB, Florida.

  • Air Education and Training Command (AETC)—Based at Randolph AFB, Texas, AETC was established in 1993 to provide unified management and direction to a vast infrastructure of schools, training squadrons, and advanced technical and professional programs, including the Air University at Maxwell AFB, Alabama. It has responsibility for the USAF Recruiting Service, but not for the Air Force Academy, at Colorado Springs, Colorado, whose superintendent reports directly to the Air Force Chief of Staff.

  • Air Force Material Command (AFMC)—AFMC was established on July 1st, 1992, from what was previously the Air Force Systems Command, and is based at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. AFMC is responsible for research, development, test, acquisition, and sustainment of weapons systems. It operates four major laboratories, the five air logistics depots, the School of Aerospace Medicine, the Test Pilot School, and many other centers and bases.

  • Air Force Space Command (AFSPC)—Established on September 1st, 1982, AFSPC is based at Peterson AFB, Colorado. Major components include the Fourteenth Air Force at Vandenberg AFB, California (missile testing and some military satellite launches), the 20th Air Force at Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming (management of Minuteman and Peacekeeper ICBM squadrons, which come under the Operational Control of U.S. Strategic Command when they are on alert), and the Air Force Space Warfare Center at Falcon AFB, Colorado (management and tracking of defense-related satellites and space objects). AFSPC is a major part of U.S. Space Command, a unified command led by either an Air Force general or a Navy admiral.

  • Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC)—Based at Hurlbut Field, Florida, AFSOC was established on May 22nd, 1990, as the Air Force component of the unified U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM). Primary missions include unconventional warfare, direct action, special reconnaissance, counterterrorism, and foreign internal defense support. Secondary missions include humanitarian assistance, personnel recovery, and psychological and counternarcotics operations. AFSOC’s main operational units are the 16th Special Operations Wing, split-based at Hurlbut Field and Eglin AFB, the 352nd Special Operations Group at RAF Alconbury, Great Britain, and the 353rd Special Operations Group at Kadena AB, Japan. These units operate small numbers of AC-130 gunships, MC-130 transports, EC-130 electronic warfare birds, and night-capable helicopters like the MH-53 Pave Low and MH-60 Pave Hawk.

  • Air Mobility Command (AMC)—AMC, which is based at Scott AFB, Illinois, was established on June 1st, 1992, replacing the Military Air Transport Command, while acquiring most of the tanker assets of the former Strategic Air Command. Major components are the 15th Air Force at March AFB, California (six wings), and the 21st Air Force at McGuire AFB, New Jersey (eight wings). The Commander of AMC also serves as Commander of U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), a unified command controlling America’s military airlift, sea-lift, truck, and rail transportation assets.

  • Pacific Air Forces (PACAF)—Based at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, near Pearl Harbor, PACAF is responsible for air operations in the vast Pacific and Asian theater. It includes the 5th Air Force at Yokota AFB, Japan; the 7th Air Force at Osan AB, South Korea; the 11th Air Force, at Elemendorf AFB, Alaska; and the tiny 13th Air Force at Andersen AFB, Guam. The loss of Clark AFB in the Philippines, which was damaged by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, and then abandoned after U.S. failure to negotiate an extension of the lease with the Filipino government, was a major setback to PACAF’s forward presence in the Western Pacific. PACAF conducts most of its training exercises with Navy
, Marine, and allied forces.

  • US Air Forces in Europe (USAFE)—Headquartered at Ramstein AB, Germany, USAFE was a major element in the NA TO defense structure that preserved the peace in Europe for over forty years. USAFE is coping with the effects of drastic force reductions resulting from the end of the Cold War, even as the operational demands of peacekeeping and humanitarian operations in Africa, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia have increased. USAFE includes the 3rd Air Force at RAF Mildenhall, UK, 16th Air Force at Aviano AB, Italy, and 17th Air Force at Sembach, Germany.

  In addition to the Major Commands, there are also many specialized agencies, services, and centers, such as the Air Weather Service, Air Force Safety Agency, Air Force Security Police, Air Intelligence, and medical services.

  The basic operational unit of the Air Force is the wing, which typically occupies its own dedicated air base. Until recently most wings were commanded by colonels, but the more important wings are increasingly commanded by brigadier generals. A wing typically includes an operations group, which includes aircraft, aircrews, command and staff officers; a logistics group, which contains the maintenance and supply units; and a support group, which can include communications, security, engineering, finance, and other services. Most officers and airmen are assigned to smaller units called squadrons within each group. A wing can include any number of squadrons, from one to seven or more. A flying squadron typically includes eighteen to twenty-four fighters, eight to sixteen bombers, six to twelve tankers, or anything from two to twenty-four aircraft of other types. A large squadron may be divided, permanently or temporarily, into several flights or detachments. Several squadrons or detachments from several wings may be temporarily grouped into a provisional wing, as was often done during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.