Duck hunting William Tell style

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Tonya Keebaugh
  • William Tell Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  “It’s just like duck hunting ...” Well, maybe not just like duck hunting. The “duck” is a 40-by-8 foot target being hauled 2,000 feet behind a Learjet flying about 20,000 feet over the Gulf of Mexico. Otherwise, it is really similar to duck hunting.

During William Tell, F-15 Eagle pilots compete in five different profiles. Profile IV is the “banner gun” mission where they basically shoot their 20 mm guns at the moving target.

“It’s just like duck hunting; you’ve got to lead it,” said retired Lt. Col. Jim Pressick, who flies the aircraft towing the banner. “But, if they lead it too much, they’ll shoot it off.”

That would be bad. A shooter leads their target -- be it a duck or a huge piece of cloth with an orange circle in the middle -- when it is moving. They aim slightly in front of it instead of dead center as they would for a stationary target. In William Tell, if the pilots lead the banner too much, they run the chance of shooting the cable that tows it and losing the banner.

Profile IV is the easiest of the five profiles to score, officials said. Pilots shoot their guns at the target for two minutes. The team that gets the most holes in the target wins. But if the target is shot off and lost in the Gulf, teams get a goose egg.

“No target, no holes, nothing to count,” Colonel Pressick said. “Sometimes they will shoot it off the first time they try it because they lead it too much, but after they get their shot down, it goes well.”

Good thing for him that it goes well too. Flying a jet for the sole purpose of providing a target for the finest aircrews and aircraft in the world sounds like an extreme sport or a death wish, but the former F-4 Phantom II and F-15 pilot said he has never been shot, and he is not concerned.

“These guys are so professional, and there are so many safeguards in place -- I just don’t worry about it,” he said. He attributes the success of his banner target program to the years of training.

“Their experience coupled with our experience makes it a safe and useful training tool,” said Colonel Pressick, who is a contractor from Newport News, Va. And although he trusts the fighter pilots to shoot accurately, he still offers them a piece of advice before they fly. “I remind the crews that I’m towing the target, not pushing it.”

With the technology available to today’s fighter pilots, the weapons they use and their training environment, shooting guns at a big piece of mesh cloth may seem archaic to some. But, Colonel Pressick said, this training is more than it seems.

“Our aircraft are equipped with (electronic countermeasure) pods,” he said. “We can simulate different threats -- a (French-built) Mirage (fighter jet) or a missile -- to the pilot on his radar. They see that threat, and that’s what they come after.”

For the William Tell scenario, it is similar to the one used by 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron and 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group Airmen during Combat Archer, the air-to-air weapons system evaluation program.

“This is the best job in the Air Force for a weapons troop,” said Tech. Sgt. Jody Bledsoe, of the 83rd FWS. Normally, Sergeant Bledsoe would be leading Airmen to load weapons on aircraft, but during William Tell, he is leading the team who loads up the target onto the Leer Jet.

It takes three people -- three hook up the target to a cable, then one drives the truck as the cable rolls off the spool, one directs the truck, and the other stands on the target, ensuring it does not take off down the flightline or catch a breeze.

The team had a snafu Nov. 12 that they said had only happened once before. As the truck was driving and the cable was rolling off, it got hung up and yanked the target and the sergeant standing on it. Some fancy moves ensured he did not lose his footing.

“All that skateboarding, snow boarding and surfing finally paid off,” Staff Sgt. Alex Mouton said. And although he held up fine, the target suffered a bit. “There are about three holes in it now.”

Fortunately, 20 mm bullet holes look different than size 11 boot holes. But when teams have 500 rounds to shoot, chances are the boot holes are not going to make that big of a difference.

“It took six people to count the first target,” Sergeant Bledsoe said. But the final tally will remain a secret from the competitors until the William Tell banquet Nov. 19.

Profile IV is the only event where the scores are masked -- competitors have a chance of scoring 2,000 points on the banner shoot.