Exercise in Thailand shows multilateral partnership

  • Published
  • By Capt. Erika Yepsen
  • 13th Air Expeditionary Wing
KORAT, Thailand (AFNS) --  Approximately 20 military members from Thailand, Singapore and the United States are working together to coordinate the aerial missions throughout the region for Exercise Cope Tiger 2009 March 9 through 20 here.

Cope Tiger is a two-week exercise including both flying and humanitarian missions conducted by U.S., Thai and Singaporean military forces in Korat and Udon Thani, Thailand. 

In the live fly cell, a group of Singaporean personnel works at computers while Thai and U.S. servicemembers transcribe information onto a large board tracking aircraft in the air. The information flows to the live fly cell from aircraft in the air, Airmen on the ground, and from control towers at both Korat and Udon Thani Royal Thai air force bases. It is in multiple languages before eventually appearing on the main wall in English for all to see.

"This is the live fly cell, but back home we call this 'base operations,'" said Singapore air force Warrant Officer Naranasamy Samyual, an air traffic controller and the officer in charge of the Singaporean contingent. "This is very similar to what I'd be doing back home. It is slightly different because we're working with the different countries, but we mix and match very well to get the job done."

Radio frequencies, airfield status and other special instructions are posted to their left. To their right is weather information. Behind them sit two groups of airmen working at computers made up of Thais and Americans.

"We plan the schedule and issue it out to every unit. That is our first job," said Royal Thai air force Wing Commander Arnon Charusombat, the officer in charge of the live fly cell and its Thai contingent. "Then we track the aircraft that are flying in the area, sortie achievement and any deviation from the sortie plan. We have all the information in the live fly cell, and we know if this or that aircraft is good to go, or there is a problem with the tower or the weather and it can't go."

"We coordinate the operations side of the exercise and flying-related activities," said Capt. Jeff Watts, the live fly cell liaison officer deployed from Kadena Air Base, Japan. "We coordinate everything from scheduling, airspace, and pushing the schedule to the tower."

An E-3 Sentry maintenance issue sends Captain Watts over to talk to Wing Commander Charusombat to coordinate bringing up the alternate air battle manager. A few phone calls later, Wing Commander Charusombat returns with the thumbs up and everything is ready to fly.

In addition to a mix of countries, languages and cultures in the live fly cell, the three men in charge of their countries' contingents bring a wide range of experience to the mix.

Wing Commander Charusombat is a veteran of Cope Tiger, having participated for eight years as a pilot and now for his third year as a planner. Warrant Officer Samyual is a first-time participant, but three days into the exercise he already hopes it will not be his last. Captain Watts is a three-year Cope Tiger veteran.

The three are representative of the team members they lead, whose backgrounds and experience vary greatly. However, all three agree that Cope Tiger is an excellent training opportunity.

"This is a large scale, multiplatform aerial training exercise," said Warrant Officer Samyual. "There is a great training benefit to working with the other countries. (The United States) actually has warfighting experience. We do not. We can learn from your experiences."

It is also an excellent opportunity to practice English, Wing Commander Charusombat said.

"As pilots, we use English as a common language while we are flying, but when we do our planning it's not in technical terms," the wing commander said. "You know, 'Break right,' 'Break left,' that's easy."

"These guys are very professional, very mission-focused and very accommodating when we need things," Captain Watts said. "They're very intelligent, but they're very modest. I've been very impressed by them."

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