RIMPAC 2008: Combat jet pilots test their skillsBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.com
ince the beginning of the month, 30 Hawaii Air National Guard F-15 jet fighter pilots have had new "opponents" to attack, training with Navy and Canadian aviators during the Rim of the Pacific exercise.
"It's been about a 50-50 split," said Maj. Brian "Punchy" Kilty, who flew F-18 Hornet jets for the Navy until he joined the Hawaii Air Guard in 2004. "We take turns. We play the role of aggressors sometimes, and then we switch roles."
Both the Navy and the Canadians fly F-18 Hornets, while the Hawaii Air National Guard's 199th Squadron maintains a fleet of 20 F-15 Eagles that it hopes to trade in two years for the more lethal and stealthlike F-22 Raptors. The Navy's Hornets belong to Air Wing 5, assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.
"It's a building-block approach," added Kilty. "We begin with smaller engagements like one-on-one dogfights and end with an aerial exercise with a large force deployment."
That will happen on July 25 in the airspace over the Pacific Ocean north of Kauai. The scenario calls for each side to launch 16 combat jets.
"We will have to fight our way to launch a simulated attack on Kauai and then fight our way back to friendly lines," Kilty said.
Kilty, 41, recalled flying in a RIMPAC exercise in 1994, when he was an F-18 pilot on the carrier USS Nimitz.
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http://starbulletin.com/2008/07/14/news/story05.html
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