The Tornado Unit Is Undergoing An Intensive Program At Nellis
AFB
Airmen from the RAF's 13 Squadron are taking part in Exercise
Green Flag in America as part of their preparations for operations
in Afghanistan later this year. The Tornado unit, which is normally
based at RAF Marham in Norfolk, is currently flying out of Nellis
Air Force Base in Nevada.
The massive desert ranges around the US base covering 15,000
square miles of airspace provide conditions similar to those faced
by British forces operating in Helmand province. And the
involvement of the United States Air Force at Nellis, which is home
to more squadrons than any other American base, provides the
experience of working in a multi-national environment that British
troops who operate as part of NATOs International Security
Assistance Force in Afghanistan, also encounter.
Wing Commander Howard Edwards, the Officer Commanding 13
Squadron, is a veteran combat pilot who completed more than 100
operational sorties in Iraq. "We are here to do world class close
air support training with our US cousins, and basically getting the
skills and experience levels up on the crews of 13 Squadron," he
said. "In the Afghanistan context close air support is vital for UK
troops and the Coalition troops on the ground. In Afghanistan the
flying conditions are not ideal, certainly at night it can be much
like here which is why again it is good training."
The mountains in Afghanistan can be up to 14-and-a-half thousand
feet high, which Edwards says can make for issues flying at night,
operating on night vision goggles, with not much light on the
ground. "It's very, very dark out there," he said. "It's very
taxing for the aircrews especially if they're not that experienced.
So it lends itself to us coming here and receiving some good
training."
For Flight Lieutenant Oliver Harbridge, a pilot deploying on
front line operations for the first time when he goes to
Afghanistan with 13 Squadron in the summer, the training is proving
invaluable. "Out here certainly is really realistic, it's hot,
we're fairly high up altitude wise above sea level, which is
similar to Afghanistan," Flt Lt Harbridge said. "We're also
training with troops on the ground. These are the same troops that
will actually be deployed to Afghanistan at the same time as us so
we're basically operating in support of those ground troops, giving
them air cover and basically providing any support that they
need."
A total of eight Tornado GR4 bombers from what is known as the
Marham Wing, one of the largest and busiest units in the RAF, are
taking part in Exercise Green Flag.
The aircraft operates in both its attack and reconnaissance role
in Afghanistan and 13 Squadron will take over from another Marham
Wing unit at Kandahar airbase later this year.