50th anniversary of William Tell kicks off at Tyndall

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TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  The U.S. Air Forces in Europe team jumped off to an early lead after officials kicked off William Tell 2004 here Nov. 8. The start marked the 50th anniversary of the Air Force air-to-air weapons meet.

This year's meet has put to rest the longest gap in its history after an eight year hiatus because of high operations tempo and participation in recent conflicts.

“Today, through the William Tell competition, we are testing the skill, strength and courage of the jet-age successors of the competition’s namesake,” said Lt. Col. Al Wimmer, 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron operations director.

“The purpose of William Tell is to have aircrews perform under simulated combat conditions in order to test the proficiency of the air-to-air combat (professionals) and give the world a first-hand view of (the Air Force's) superiority, readiness and capability,” he said.

Five major commands are represented by units flying the F-15 Eagle. Teams include:

-- 71st Fighter Squadron from Langley Air Force Base, Va., representing Air Combat Command.

-- 19th FS from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, representing Pacific Air Forces.

-- 95th FS from here representing Air Education and Training Command.

-- 493rd FS from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, representing USAFE.

-- Oregon Air National Guard’s 123rd FS at Portland representing the ANG.

USAFE posted a score of 1,268 out 1,500 flying Profile II in the meet. Scores are posted daily after they are verified.

The mission for Tyndall's 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group Airmen for the next two weeks is focused all on William Tell.

“It’s taken a dedicated effort from the (group’s) Airmen over the past year to pull this together -- all without skipping a beat doing our normal mission,” said Col. Derek Hess, 53rd WEG commander.

The group’s normal mission includes conducting the combat air forces’ weapons system evaluation program -- Combat Hammer for air-to-ground weapons, and Combat Archer for air-to-air weapons.

“Any past competitor would recognize what we’re doing at this year’s William Tell,” Colonel Hess said. “We have used William Tell’s rich history as a guide and have built William Tell ’04 to represent our 21st Century Air Force.

“Some things will never change. The competition is a test of our combat capabilities, and this year’s profiles reflect today’s air superiority mission,” he said. (Senior Airman Christian Michael and Tech. Sgt. Tonya Keebaugh contributed to this report)