Altus Airmen boost Canadian forward air control training

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clinton Atkins
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFNS) --  Airmen here provided a first-time service to Canadian forces personnel with ground support for forward air controller training at Fort Sill Falcon Bombing Range, Okla., Nov. 24 through Dec. 8.

Members of the 425th Tactical Fighter Squadron from Canadian Forces Bagotville in Quebec, Canada, and Altus AFB Airmen devised the partnership due to the base's proximity to Fort Sill -- an approximate three-minute flight -- allowing the Canadian army and air force extended training time. The Canadian forces previously operated out of Naval Air Station Fort Worth, Texas.

While here, the 425th TFS used six CF-18 Hornets and 80 personnel for training at Fort Sill, which are fewer resources than when they flew out of NAS Forth Worth, according to Lt. Col. Jonathan Tamblyn, 97th Operational Support Squadron director of operations.

"When (the Canadians) flew out of NAS Fort Worth, they required tanker support," he said. "The legs, from takeoff to the range and back, were too long for the capacity of the CF-18. Coming out of Altus they don't need to use a tanker so there's no need to deploy a Canadian tanker, there's no need for the fighters who are orbiting overhead to take time off from the training to go back and do the refueling that they would require."

Since the ranges are about 50 miles away from the base, the partnership reduces the personnel and equipment needed to get the job done, which translates into millions of U.S. dollars saved, the colonel said.

Although this support role is new to Altus AFB, the 97th Air Mobility Wing met the challenge head on providing them with all the support needed, an official said.

"The 97th Mission Support Squadron and 97th Operational Group were pivotal in the support of the Canadian forces training mission," said Lt. Col. Derek Oliver, 97th MSG deputy commander. "The Canadian forces used capabilities of ours such as aircraft refueling, transportation, communication support, control tower and radar approach control. With Altus AFB providing the support, it allows the Canadians to (focus on) their training.

"The Canadian visit really showed our ability to adapt to different scenarios," he said. "We have robust facilities and world-class Airmen."

Since the arrangement enhances both 97th AMW and 425th TFS mission capabilities, the future of the partnership looks promising.

"Here it's awesome," said Capt. Taylor Evans, Canadian air force. "We're about a three-minute flight to the range, we take off and we're there right away, we do our work and then we come back here and it works out really well.

The 425th TFS has been training at Fort Sill Since 2006 as part of a 10-week training course for their forward air controllers -- U.S. Air Force joint terminal attack controller equivalents.

"Looks like we're coming back in March, that's what our plan is," Captain Evans said.